“Acts 11:1-18”

Sunday, January 10, 2016

“Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him, saying, ‘You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.’ But Peter began speaking and proceeded to explain to them in orderly sequence, saying, ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came right down to me, 6and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But I said, “By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But a voice from heaven answered a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky. And behold, at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from Caesarea. The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brethren also went with me and we entered the man’s house. And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, “Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.” And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?’ When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.’”

---End of Scripture verses---

When the brethren in the Jerusalem church asked Peter why he “went to uncircumcised men and ate with them (verse 3), he recounted the story of the conversion of Cornelius and his Gentile companions to them. Just a couple of observations about some of the details of Peter’s meeting with the apostles and brethren in Jerusalem.

Acts 11:14 – We learn that the angel told Cornelius that Peter would “speak words to you by which you will be saved.” God has chosen to make salvation available to mankind through inspired words. Any “salvation experience” that takes place apart from revelation from the mind of God is not authentic. Some people are convinced that the Holy Spirit “moved” upon them and saved them apart from anything they had learned or personally did in response to God’s inspired word. Notice though that Cornelius and the people with him were not saved by the Holy Spirit “falling” on them (Acts 10:44). That action happened in tandem with Peter speaking the Gospel of salvation to them to divinely demonstrate that they should be baptized and be saved (Mark 16:16; Acts 10:47-48). The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The power of God to save our souls is packed within His living word and only obedience to it can produce salvation (Hebrews 5:8-9).

Acts 11:18 – “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.’” I love the fact that these men glorified God when they understood that He accepted the Gentiles into the body of Christ. No matter what kind of preconceived notions they may have had, and no matter how long it took them to come to the realization of this truth; when they were made aware of it they celebrated it. I also appreciate the fact that they accepted Peter’s word as truth and used logic to come to the proper conclusion. They trusted the inspired apostle’s description of the events without having to “see it to believe it.” When we read the inspired word today it should be good enough for us as well. We shouldn’t require some type of “miraculous intervention” to learn and do the will of God. We should be satisfied with God’s chosen method of speaking to us through the Bible, and just humbly and obediently do whatever He tells us to do.

For tomorrow please read Acts 11:19-30.

Hope you have a blessed Lord’s Day!

- Louie Taylor

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