Preached Sunday, April 18, 2010
from
Acts 10:43
Theme: This verse shows us the perfections of the message of the gospel of our salvation as viewed from four perspectives.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
It’s always a blessing when we have the opportunity—as we do today—to hear from someone who has given their full time to bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ to others, and to support them with our prayers. It not only gives us the privilege of coming alongside them and supporting them in their work; but it also inspires us to remember that we too are ‘ambassadors for Christ’ in the different spheres of life that God has called each of us to. And its a great time to become renewed in our excitement for the ‘good news’ that we’re to bear to others around us of salvation through Jesus Christ.
And in that spirit, I ask you to look with me this morning to just one verse in the New Testament—a verse that, though brief, is packed with spiritual truth about the gospel we’re to declare. It’s a good verse to memorize. And even more, it’s a good verse to share with others. Acts 10:43 speaks of our Lord Jesus, and says;
“To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43).
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Now; there are two very important things that you need to know about the background of this verse. First, you need to know that it’s the climactic ‘conclusion’ to an amazing sermon that was preached by the apostle Peter. And second, you need to know that it was a sermon that was preached by Peter under circumstances that even amazed him!
Let’s consider, first, the remarkable circumstances in which these words were spoken. They’re detailed for us in the tenth chapter of Acts—which is the book of the New Testament that tells us about the spread of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the witness of the apostles.
After the Lord Jesus had been raised from the dead and ascended to the Father, and after the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and empowered their witness, they went about and faithfully declared the good news of Jesus Christ. But they spoke that gospel primarily to their own countrymen—the Jewish people. It would hardly have occurred to them to proclaim the gospel to anyone else. And one day, while the apostle Peter was staying in the coastal city of Joppa, God did something that changed all that.
A man named Cornelius—who was, of all things, a Roman military leader; and yet, one who feared the God of Israel and who was very generous to the Jewish people—was in his home in the city of Caesarea some thirty-five miles up the coast from of Joppa. He knew something of the God of Israel, and it appears that he may even have known something about the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he didn’t know enough yet to be saved by a personal faith in Jesus. And so, while he was praying one afternoon, God in His mercy gave him a vision of an angel who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
It must have been quite a vision; because we’re told that Cornelius was afraid. But the angel told him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon 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” (Acts 10:4-6).
It would have been in the power of that angel, of course, to tell this noble Gentile named Cornelius the gospel directly. But it’s not in God’s plan for angels to bear the good news of Jesus Christ to people. Rather, He has ordained that redeemed men and women—like you and me—proclaim it to others who need to hear it. But up to this point, the gospel was primarily declared among the Jews; and believing Jews had not yet gone to the Gentiles to declare it to them. So, God told Cornelius to send some of his men to Joppa, and fetch Simon Peter to come and tell it to him. And so, he sent three of his men to make the journey to Joppa. Imagine how much anticipation Cornelius must have felt over this divine message that would soon be told to him!
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Now; as these men traveled south, and as Cornelius stayed home to make preparations for a hearing of this great message from God, God began working in Peter to make him ready to proclaim it to Cornelius. The Bible tells us that Peter was up on the roof of Simon the Tanner’s house—taking a rest, and drowsily waiting for lunch. And it was then that the Lord put Peter into a trance and gave him a remarkable vision that transformed his life—and also transformed the spread of the gospel!
While Peter’s belly grumbled for lunch (somewhat like some of your stomachs are doing right now, by the way), he saw heaven open up; and a great sheet—bound at four corners—was lowered down to the earth. When it fell open before Peter, he saw that it contained all kinds of animals—some of which were permissible for a Jewish person to eat; but others that where forbidden to them, and declared ‘unclean’ or ‘common’ by the Old Testament ceremonial law of Moses. A voice then came to him from heaven and said, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat” (v. 13).
Even though he was hungry-and in spite of the fact that the Lord commanded him to eat—Peter remained steadfast in his devotion to the ceremonial law. “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean!” But the voice replied, “What God has cleansed you must not call common” (v. 15). And just to make sure Peter got the point, it happened three times! Finally, the sheet—animals and all—was gathered together and taken back up to heaven.
And as Peter stood there scratching his head over all this—and probably rubbing his belly as well—it was right then that the Gentile men that were sent from Cornelius came to the house. And I believe it was also right then that Peter came to understand this to be about much more than just food; because the Holy Spirit told him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them” (v. 20). Peter obediently went down and found out that they were Gentile men who had come from the Roman centurion Cornelius. They told him that their master had been “divinely instructed by a holy angel” to ask Peter to come and tell him what God wanted him to know.
Something must have dramatically changed in Peter; because we’re told that he invited these three Gentiles in and lodged them for the evening. That’s a pretty remarkable thing for a devoted Jewish man like Peter to have done! But he was beginning to get the idea that what had formerly been ‘unclean’ to him had now been declared ‘clean’ by God—and that the work our Savior had completed on the cross for us had changed things dramatically! And so, on the following day, Peter gathered six other believing Jewish men with him; and they began the trek northward together to Caesarea.
When they arrived a day or so later, they came to Cornelius’ house; and Cornelius fell before Peter in reverent anticipation of whatever message from God it was that Peter was bringing. Peter graciously raised the Gentile centurion to his feet and said, “Stand up: I myself am also a man” (v. 26). When he walked into the room, he saw that Cornelius had called many of his family and friends together to hear the message from God that Peter had for him. But God had apparently also been bringing a new message to Peter. As he beheld the eager faces of all those Gentiles, he told them his own story—how unusual it was for him, a Jewish man, to go into the home of Gentiles and keep company with them; but that God was showing him that he “should not call any man common or unclean” (v. 28).
So; that’s the background to our verse this morning. Cornelius then told Peter his own story, it was then that Peter opened his mouth to preach a sermon that you can be sure he never imagined in his wildest dreams he would preach—and to a congregation that he never thought he’d preach to. We’re told that he opened his mouth and told that room full of Gentiles the gospel of Jesus the Messiah. Imagine what it must have been like for these spiritually hungry people to hear the message of the gospel for the very first time! Peter 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 of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead” (vv. 34-42).
And it was then—as the climax of his amazing sermon—that Peter said,
“To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43).
What a sermon! What circumstances! And what’s more, what a result! The Bible tells us that, while Peter was still speaking, “the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who hear the word. And those of the circumcision 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 they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God” (vv. 44-46; see also Acts 2:2-3). Peter said, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (v. 47). And so, those believing members of the household of Cornelius the Roman centurion were baptized!
The gospel of Jesus Christ had come to the Gentiles!
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This amazing sermon—and the amazing, world-transforming circumstances that occasioned it—helps us to appreciate just how remarkable the words of verse 43 are. The gospel of Jesus Christ is truly a wondrous thing! And it’s your and my privilege to bring it to people who desperately need it.
This morning, I’d like to share with you four “perfections” of the gospel that are found in that short verse—four amazing features that demonstrate how thoroughly complete and utterly effective it is.
First of all, look with me at its perfection . . .
1. FROM THE STANDPOINT OF ITS WITNESS.
Peter said, “To Him [that is, to Jesus] all the prophets witness . . .” Peter’s use of the word “prophets” is meant to communicate the Old Testament Scriptures. It certainly refers to the books of the Bible that we refer to as the “writing prophets”; but I believe it’s also meant to refer to the whole of the Jewish Scriptures.
Perhaps you remember how, when Jesus was walking along the road to Emmaus after He was raised from the dead, how He came upon two disciples who were mourning His death. They didn’t know that it was Him; and we’re told that He gently rebuked them, saying, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25-26). And we’re told that “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (v. 27). Later on, He told His disciples, “These are the words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (v. 44).
Dear brothers and sisters; all of the Old Testament is a witness about Jesus! He is the great theme of the Scriptures! It would not be true, of course, to say that every passage of the Old Testament Scriptures speaks about Jesus directly. But it’s very true to say that the thrust of all those passages together is to point us to Him—and to tell us who He is and what He would do. And that’s very important to remember! Our gospel is not something “new” and “different”—as if we were somehow proposing something that God never hinted at before. We’re simply proclaiming what the Old Testament Scriptures had been proclaiming all along—the witness of Jesus Christ! It is a perfect and complete witness; because it’s based solidly on what God had already declared!
And what’s more; do you notice that Peter spoke in the present tense? He didn’t say, that “to Him all the prophets witnessed“; but rather, that they “witness” to Him even now! Our gospel, as Paul put it, is “according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
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So; there’s one marvelous aspect about the perfection of the gospel. It’s perfection is shown in the perspective of its witness—that it’s about Him to whom “all the prophets witness”.
And here’s another. The gospel’s perfection is shown . . .
2. FROM THE STANDPOINT OF ITS BASIS.
Peter says that the prophets witness about a salvation that is “through His name”. The word “name”, as Peter is using it here, has to do with far more than simply the letters that compose the name “Jesus”. It has to do with the summation of all that Jesus is and does. It has to do with all that His name denotes with respect to the entirety of His being.
Now; I believe it does have something to do with His literal “name”. Our Savior has a wonderful name—Jesus Christ. The name “Jesus” means “Yahweh is Salvation”. The first time we read of His name being spoken in the New Testament, it was when the angel told Joseph that his betrothed bride-to-be Mary was with child of the Holy Spirit; and he said, “and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). And that He is called “Christ” also indicates to us that He is “the Anointed One”—the Messiah that was promised from long ago in the Scriptures. Jesus—who is named “Yahweh is Salvation”, and the Christ—who is “the Anointed One” promised long ago in the Scriptures, is the same wonderful Person. And what’s more, there’s another wonderful name introduced to us early in the story of our Lord—Immanuel. As we’re told in Matthew’s Gospel, with respect to the announcement of His incarnation, “all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us'” (Matthew 1:22-23).
So; our salvation is certainly based on the truths that are given to us through Jesus’ literal names. They tell us a wonderful story, don’t they?—that “the Anointed One”, promised to be the King of kings and Lord of lords from long ago, came into this world as one who is also called, “Yahweh is Salvation”; and that when His work for our salvation is completed, His name ‘Immanuel’ is fulfilled in that God is fully “with us”! But the basis of our salvation is much more than the literal names of our Lord. It is fully based on all that He is and does!
He came into this world as the incarnate Son of God; and so, there was no sin in Him. He lived an utterly sinless life—a life that was completely pleasing to the Father. He fulfilled all the righteous standards of the law on our behalf; so that all of His righteousness can be credited to the account of the man or woman who believes on Him. And because He was without sin, He was able to take the guilt of all our sin on Himself and pay the debt of sin in our place.
When you and I stand before God one day, we will not be accepted on the basis of what we have done—but strictly on the basis of His “name”; “Nor”, as Peter has said elsewhere, “is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Jesus is the “Author” and “Finisher” of a perfect salvation; and so, He’s the basis of a perfect gospel!
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Now; not only is the perfection of the gospel shown from the standpoint of its witness; not only is it shown from the standpoint of its basis; but it’s also shown . . .
3. FROM THE STANDPOINT OF ITS RECIPIENTS.
If I may speak without sounding irreverent, it certainly wouldn’t be a perfect gospel if it only announced “good news” to a few people who might be able to make themselves worthy to hear it. If only some very good people who were already deserving were able to be saved by it, and if those of us who were far away from God by nature would be left unsaved by it, what would be so good about the “good news”?
But Peter goes on to say that, through the name of Jesus, “whoever believes in Him receives the remission of sins”. “Whoever . . .”! Peter was saying something that, before that point, he didn’t fully understand; because he never would have imagined that Gentiles would be saved by the gospel. But here he was—standing in the house of a Roman centurion, preaching the gospel to a house full of Gentiles by the very commission of God Himself!
The greatest proof of this aspect of the gospel’s completeness is found in the apostle Paul. He is given to us by God as a living proof of the fact that “whoever” believes in Jesus is saved by Him. Paul wrote;
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life (1 Timothy 1:12-16).
Paul was a “pattern to those who are going to believe” on Jesus “for everlasting life”. That’s the only qualification—”whoever believes in Him”! What a perfect gospel! How unlimited its reach! The recipients of the good news are “whoever believes in Him”!
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And finally, note the perfection of this gospel . . .
4. FROM THE STANDPOINT OF ITS RESULTS.
Peter says that whoever believes in Him “will receive remission of sins”. What’s in view here is not simply the taking away of a threat of future penalty. The good news isn’t simply that God still looks at us as guilty sinners, but promises not to punish us for it anyway. It’s not that we will simply receive the “disregarding” of our sins. That’s not “perfect” enough! Rather, the good news is that we will receive full “remission”—that is, the full removal of our sins from us, guilt and all! As it says in 1 John 1:8-9;
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9).
Full cleansing! Washed absolutely clean before a holy God! As Isaiah 1:18 says;
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
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What a perfect gospel it is from every perspective!—from the standpoint of its witness, from the standpoint of its basis, from the standpoint of its recipients, and from the standpoint of its glorious results!
If someone has not believed on Jesus Christ, then this is a verse they need to hear! And if you have already placed your trust in Jesus Christ, then this is a verse you need to study, and memorize, and become inspired by, and share with others . . .
“To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43).