"Intro to "The Gentile Church" (Acts 11:1-30)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/25/2018 10:36 AM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Intro to “The Gentile Church”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 11:1-30

            Message of the verses:  “1 Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him, 3 saying, "You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them." 4  But Peter began speaking and proceeded to explain to them in orderly sequence, saying, 5  "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, 6 and 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. 7 “I also heard a voice saying to me, ’Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 “But I said, ’By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 “But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ’What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.’ 10 “This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky. 11 “And behold, at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from Caesarea. 12 “The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brethren also went with me and we entered the man’s house. 13  "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; 14 and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. 16 “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.’ 17 “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?" 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."

    19  So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. 23  Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; 24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. 25 And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

    27  Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius. 29 And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea. 30 And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.”

            It is not often that I copy and paste an entire chapter from a NT book onto my Spiritual Diary, but when we look at the first eighteen verses of chapter eleven we see that it is pretty much a review of what happened in chapter ten, and then the chapter moves on to talk more about how the Gentile church got started, for the rest of the book of Acts is mostly about the Gentile churches that began during this first century AD.  We also move from Peter, the apostle to the Jews, to Paul, the apostles of the Gentiles. 

            The news that the hated Gentiles were included in the church actually reached Jerusalem before Peter got there and as we read the first part of this chapter we can see that at first this certainly was not welcome news as there was still much prejudice and hatred between the Jews and the Gentiles.  This news sent shock waves through the Hebrew Christian community and it was so significant that Dr. Luke, moved by the inspiring Holy Spirit repeats what had happened to Peter as we mentioned earlier. 

            John MacArthur writes “That unusual repetition marks the event as one of unique significance.  Christianity was not to become merely another sect of Judaism.  Had that happened, the Lord Jesus Christ’s great commission (Matt. 28:19-20) would never have been carried out.  Unlike Israel before her, the church would not fail to channel the blessings of God’s grace and forgiveness to the world.

            “The church’s outreach to the Gentiles was thus a crucial step in the outworking of God’s redemptive plan.  That outreach, which began with Peter’s ministry to Cornelius and his household, now continues with the founding of the first Gentile church.  Having moved from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria, the gospel was about to take its final, yet still ongoing, step to the ‘remotest part of the earth’ (Acts 1:8).

            “The founding of this first Gentile congregation unfolds in four states:  the groundwork, the genesis, the growth, and the generosity.”

            Lord willing we will look at “The Groundwork” in our next SD as it will cover the first eighteen verses, and as mentioned the review of what happened with Peter and Cornelius.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God had always had a plan for the church from eternity past.  His plan has always included the Gentiles being a part of it.  Jesus stated in John 10:16  "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.’”  I am thankful that I am a part of the “other sheep” that Jesus spoke of in John 10:16.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to lead me and to guide me as I live for Him, praying that He will soon come back for His church.

Memory verse:  Psalm 143:10 “Teach me Your will, for You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Water” (Luke 3:16).

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Jesus teach regarding pearls?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/25/2018 11:09 AM