Who Was I That I Could Stand In God’s Way?

Acts 11:17

“If God therefore 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?”

Peter returned to Jerusalem and told the apostles and Gentiles what had happened. Notice the complaint was not that Peter had preached to the Gentiles, but that he had eaten with them. Eating with someone is a sign of acceptance and fellowship. Peter now clearly understood the vision of all the animals in the sheet and how God had worked in his life. He explained that vision to the others and the clear direction of the Spirit to visit the Gentiles. The Holy Spirit falling upon the Gentiles at the time of salvation just as he did with the Jews at the beginning of the church (Acts 2) was a clear sign of equality. Believing Gentiles would have the same standing before God as believing Jews.

When the apostles and brethren heard Peter’s explanation “they quieted down, and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” They began to understand that their mission was to the whole world.

Neither Peter nor the rest of the apostles anticipated that God was going to act in the way He did. I’m impressed that when they recognized this fact, they accepted it readily. We need to be careful to act the same way. God does not always act the way we anticipate. When we see His leading, as Peter did, we need to step out in faith, realizing that He is preparing the way for us.
I don’t know what opportunities God may put in your path or how He may reveal them to you. I pray that you will be sensitive to God’s leading and respond to it in a way that pleases Him.

Peter Witnesses to Gentiles

Acts 10:34-48

In this passage we see the visions of Cornelius and Peter come together. Cornelius had been instructed by an angel to invite Peter into his home. The instruction included details as to exactly where Peter was residing. Peter had also had a vision; of a great sheet full of animals. In this vision Peter was told that men were looking for him and he should go with them.

Cornelius knew the Lord had sent Peter to tell him about God. In v. 33 he said “we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.” Peter then made an important statement “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome (acceptable) to Him.” Peter grasped for the first time that salvation was for every man, not just the Jews.

While Peter was explaining that Jesus had died for the sins of all and was raised up on the third day and that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins (v. 44), the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening. God used the sign of tongues to validate the reality of Gentile salvation. As a public testimony of their salvation, they were baptized and then Peter remained a few days to help them begin to grow in the faith.

Although God doesn’t often speak in visions any longer He certainly uses the Holy Spirit to encourage us to share our faith with specific people we encounter. We should be obedient to the nudging of the Spirit, for we will be blessed. Personally, I believe that if we don’t do that, we will miss the blessing and God will put someone else in that individual’s path to bring them into a personal relationship with Him. It is apparent that the Holy Spirit works in the heart of non-believers to bring them into a relationship with the Father.

Finally, if we have the privilege of leading someone into a relationship with him we should help them begin to grow as Christians. We should be willing to study the Bible with them, help them get located in a good church, or put them in contact with some one that will help them mature in their Christian lives.

I pray you will be sensitive to the Spirit’s direction to share your faith with others.

“By No Means, Lord”

Acts 10:9-16

We see a significant contrast in this passage. Peter had a custom of praying three times a day and at noon on this day had gone up on the housetop of his host to pray. In those days the houses had flat roofs that were used almost like patios today. Peter went there for privacy.

I’m sure you have been taught about the vision of the great sheet full of animals coming down from the sky. Peter was hungry and God told him to kill one of those animals and eat it. Look at Peter’s response in verse 14 “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” The contrast is that Peter recognized God as his Lord, but then refused to be obedient.

This contrast seems to be a pattern with Peter and I believe is also a relatively common trait of many Christians. This is the third time Peter had rebelled at God’s will. In Matthew 16:21 Jesus told His disciples that He was going to die. Notice in v. 22 “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” Note that Jesus response was that Peter was not setting his mind on God’s interest, but man’s.

We see Peter doing the same thing in John 13:8 which tells of Jesus washing the disciples feet. When Jesus came to Peter his first response was to question the action “Lord, do you wash my feet?” When Jesus explained that Peter would understand His actions later Peter replied “Never shall You wash my feet!”

In all three of these situations Peter looked at what was transpiring from man’s perspective rather than from God’s point of view. That is natural for all of us but we need to remember that God’s actions do not always follow man’s logic. My exhortation to you is that if you strongly feel God leading you some way in your life, but it doesn’t seem logical, obey Him. We need to be careful not to thwart God’s will in our life because it doesn’t seem logical. It is good to have wise mentors and counselors, but we must also remember they are human and may misread God’s will just as Peter did.

Three Types of Rest

Three types of rest:
Physical
Mental (emotional)
Spiritual

Physical rest:

Applicable verses:
O.T. Gen. 5:29 Rest from work
Gen. 18:4 Abraham invites angels to rest
Ex. 23:12 Six days work, one day rest
Animals rest
Deut. 5:14 Sabbath rest (servants, animals, visitors)
II Sam. 4:5 Ish-bosheth rested at mid-day
II Kings 4:11 Elisha rests on a bed
I Chron. 22:9 Rest from enemies
Eccles. 4:6 Rest better than labor
N.T. Mark 6:31 Disciples rested after being sent out
Mark 14:41 Disciples rested when they should have been praying
Rev. 14:13 Dead rest from their labor

Conclusions:
Many recent articles about people not getting enough sleep
God designed creation to need rest
Animals resting – have not sinned
Land needs rest from growing crops
Rest/relaxation is not sin
We should not feel guilty about resting
Purpose of rest: restoration

What keeps us from physical rest?
Busyness – the Martha syndrome – Luke 10:38-42
Misplaced priorities – Haggai 1:9
Guilt – rest is a waste of time
Inability to say “NO”

Mental/Emotional rest
Ex. 33:14 Israel in wilderness, discouraged; God promises rest (includes spiritual/mental)
Deut. 28:65 Israel scattered among nations; a “trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul” given by God
Psalm 22:2 We can’t rest because we think God doesn’t answer our prayers
Psalm 37:7 David reminds us to “rest in the Lord”
Also describes how to do that:
v. 1 fret not yourself because of evil doers
don’t be envious toward wrong-doers
v. 3 trust in the Lord
do good
v. 4 delight yourself in the Lord
v. 5 commit your way to the Lord
v. 8 cease from anger
Prov. 29:9 Controversies with the foolish can keep us from rest
We allow them to get under our skin
Eccles 2:23 We allow our labor to become painful and grievous
Jer. 45:3 We feel sorry for ourselves (Woe is me!)
2 Cor. 7:5 Afflictions, conflicts, fear keep us from resting
Rev. 14:13 Death gives rest from labors

Conclusions:
We need emotional (mental) downtime as well as physical downtime
Emotional downtime takes effort and planning
More difficult than simply sitting down or lying down for physical rest

What keeps us from mental rest:
Fear – lack of complete confidence in God’s protecting hand
Inability to give up control
Fear of getting out of our comfort zone
Unresolved anger
Outside influences: job, financial concerns, health concerns, children, interpersonal conflicts
Discouragement
Lack of relationships with others (we need Christian fellowship)

How can we rest mentally?
Get involved – significant work pressures left at office because of other responsibilities
Hobby, volunteer work,
Engage our mind – read good (enjoyable) books (How many have you read this year?)
Study God’s Word carefully (observation, interpretation, application)
Be quick to forgive
Don’t violate the Peter Principle – going one step beyond your capability
Work at something you enjoy
Avoid things that depress you (TV, news, etc.)

Spiritual Rest:
Ex. 33:14 God promises rest through His presence to the Israelites
Psalm 116:7 Psalmist reminds his soul to rest because the Lord has dealt bountifully with him
v. 8 rescued my soul from death
my eye from tears
my feet from stumbling
Job 3:13,17,26 Job speaks of the rest of death
Isaiah 30:15 We are saved through repentance and rest (in God)
Reflect on the day of your salvation
Our spiritual strength comes from quietness and trust
Jer. 6:16 If we live in obedience to God we will find rest for our souls
Jer. 31:2 Israel found rest when it recognized God’s grace
Jer. 50:34 God will bring spiritual rest to the earth
Matt. 11:28 Jesus promises us rest
Stresses gentleness and humbleness of heart
Rom. 15:32 The presence of other Christians can bring “refreshing rest”
Heb. 3:11 Not all enter God’s rest
Heb. 3:18 The disobedient do not enter God’s rest
Heb. 4:1 Fear (reverential trust) allows us to enter God’s rest
Heb. 4:3 God allows believers to enter His rest
Heb.4: 9-11 God’s people can enter a Sabbath rest
We can rest (have satisfaction) through our spiritual works knowing that through the ministry of the Holy Spirit God efficiently uses them
It takes diligence to enter that rest

Conclusions:
Spiritual rest comes through a confident faith in God
Death provides ultimate rest – our earthly struggles are over
Spiritual rest comes from obedience, quietness, and trust and the recognition of God’s grace in
our lives
Fellowship with other Christians gives us rest
We have to intentionally work at resting spiritually

What keeps us from spiritual rest?
Being out of fellowship with God
Busyness
Lack of recognition of God’s grace in our lives

How can we rest spiritually?
By spending concentrated time alone with Him (prayer and reading the Bible)
By keeping short accounts of sin in our lives
By confidently trusting in Him
By seeking fellowship with other believers

Cornelius

Acts 10:1-8

“Now there was a certain man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish peoples, and prayed to God continually.”

These first two verses of Acts 10 give us a good picture of Cornelius who is recorded as the first gentile convert of the disciples. First, we see that he was a respected military leader. A centurion was an officer who supervised 100 men. To reach this level in the military indicated he must have been a man of intelligence and one who had leadership capabilities.

The second characteristic we notice about him is that he was a Godly man and led his family that way. At this point it is not apparent that he is a Christian, but most likely attended the synagogue and followed the Old Testament scriptures to the best of his knowledge and ability. He gave of his wealth generously and also prayed to God frequently.

Later in this passage we will see that when Peter presented the message of salvation Cornelius trusted Christ as his Savior. We should note here that in spite of the positive characteristics of Cornelius we noted earlier, he was not a Christian. Obviously, his heart had been prepared by the Holy Spirit and he was ready to receive the gospel.

There are many in our community in the same situation. They may even be known as “Godly” people, but they don’t know the Savior. I know personally an individual who appeared to all around him to be a Christian, but at 65 years of age realized he was trying to live a good life in his own strength and trusted Christ as his Savior. It is as important for us to share the gospel with these friends and neighbors as well as those who are obviously not Christians, whether they are our neighbors or in a foreign country.