Spread of the Gospel That Cannot Be Blocked (Acts 11:1-18)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” I hope today will be the greatest time of blessing upon you. Last week, I met with a young adult who was suffering from depression, and because they were suffering from depression, they said it was hard for them to focus on their studies, and this young adult did not leave the house very much; they would only stay in their room. People need to be able to focus in order to study or work, but this young adult said they were not able to focus. So, in order to focus or grow in concentration, they are practicing Indian meditation. I want to ask you, do you focus or do you become obsessed? We call something “focus” if we are focusing specifically on God’s Word. “Obsession” is what we call a focus on the wrong things. We have members of AA who are worshiping with us today, and I hope that today you will have a very great spiritual blessing.
When people are suffering with addiction, we need to know the reason why. The young adult I was talking about earlier said they were not able to focus, and it’s because of their depression. Simply put, it is a state where their heart and their mind are disconnected. Because there is an internal disconnect, we keep on getting obsessed with the wrong things. Human beings are created spiritually, so we are meant to focus on God, but because we don’t have God, we obsess over something else instead. For example, we obsess about the scars of our past. For other people, they might obsess about their business failures, or people might be obsessed with their breakup. Because people are suffering internally, they fall into different substances or gambling. Our brain sends out commands. For example, when I’m suffering and I drink alcohol, then the suffering is numbed. For some people, they try to get rid of their suffering and stress through video games and other means. But most of the time, we don’t know what is the fundamental cause of the problem, so it doesn’t go away. When we fall into these different substances, gambling, or activities, our brain gives the command that our suffering is over. So, the next time we face a stressful or difficult situation, our brain gives us the command to decrease our pain by participating in those substances or activities again. Our brain remembers that this was a good experience and continues to command us to do that activity. Then, that results in addiction, but that addiction is the result of a fundamental cause.
What does the Bible tell us is the fundamental cause? The Bible tells us the problem is sin, of being separated from God. Humans are spiritual beings, but if we are separated from God Who is Spirit, then we cannot concentrate. Because our spirit is separated from God, our spirit is dead and controlled by Satan, and it cannot think spiritual thoughts. That is the individual spiritual problem that goes down family lines into each and every one of us. So, the parents’ spiritual problems go directly into the children. For example, there are many parents who have alcoholism and their children also end up with the same addiction. The problem is not alcohol itself; the problem is spiritual. Spiritual problems cannot be solved physically. My spiritual state must meet with God. That is the only solution, and there is no other way to meet with God other than only Jesus Christ. Because our problem was so tremendous that God Himself had to die on the cross as a human to solve it, if God Himself did not die on the cross for us, then we could not solve our problem. As He died on the cross, He finished all of the problem of our sin and the curses and disasters that come from sin.
Only Jesus Christ overcomes the authority of Satan. Only Jesus Christ lives within us as life and is the way for us to meet with God. He is the Christ, but the word “Christ” is a role or position. Only the role of the Christ can solve the problems of mankind, and the name of the Christ is Jesus. I believe in Jesus as the Christ, then, all of the fundamental problems of my past, present, and future are finished at once. If the problems of your past are not solved, then they will continue to hold you back. Right now, you might be facing problems with addiction, but the real problem is not addiction. In reality, it could be evil spirits that are using scars we received from our family or childhood to drag us around. For example, parents are supposed to love their children, but some of our parents were too oppressive. Then, these children get scars and it goes down their family line, and evil spirits work on those scars. There’s nothing else to say about it. That scar can only be solved when Jesus Christ becomes the Master of my life, because Christ is God, Christ is everything. When you’re able to believe in this, nothing in your past, present, or future can be a problem. The problem can overcome me, but there is nothing in the world that can overcome Christ Who is the Lord inside of me.
With these spiritual words, we heal our spirit. My family also has a lot of alcoholism, my father was an alcoholic, my older brother is an alcoholic, and I was well on my way towards becoming an alcoholic, but then the Lord changed my path. People don’t just become addicted to something. A lot of times, they face a situation they cannot solve, a situation that they cannot overcome on their own. They cannot solve it no matter what. The only thing I could do in that situation was forget the pain by drinking, and because the pain was so big, I was suffering every day, and the only thing I could do to forget was to drink alcohol. This ruined my liver and my organs, and I had no desire nor hope to live. So, I would continuously drink every day, and I almost died. My personality is that I do something every day; I don’t skip a day. I had no hope in life, and then one day, I met Jesus Christ through a missionary, and that was the changing point of my life. Even right now, the reason why our church races towards multiethnic missions is because there was something that God showed me through the missionary from the beginning. Especially for newcomers today, I hope you will have the grace to accurately believe in Jesus Christ and be set free from your problems.
1. Peter’s forum
1) Incident of Gentiles receiving the gospel (Acts 11:1)
(1) Circumcision party’s criticism (Acts 11:2)
In today’s scripture, Jewish people heard that the gospel was being preached to the Gentiles, and they began to criticize Peter about it. They were criticizing Peter saying, “Why were you having fellowship with Gentiles?” What does this mean? They were saying, “The Gospel is only for Israelites, only for the Jews; why are you giving this Gospel to Gentiles?” This is the same reason why Israel faced seven disasters.
Where does mankind’s suffering begin? “Only me, not God, me.” That is the beginning of our suffering, and even after suffering through seven disasters, Israel still had not realized. All they care about is, “Me, my family, my church,” that was everything to them, so they were continuously beat up. But when God called Abraham, he said, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” From the very beginning, that’s how God called him. When God called you, God called you not only to save your entire family, but also to bless all peoples on earth through the Gospel through you. God made it so that a fish in the ocean can swim freely across all of the different oceans, but if there was a fish that was growing up in a manmade fish farm, could they grow up correctly? God made it so that your studies and your job would be used freely to spread the gospel to the entire world, but we’re so trapped in our thoughts and our life. Whatever you’re suffering with or stressed out by right now, how could you be set free from that? You cannot keep holding onto your own conditions and your prerequisites. You have to entrust everything to Christ your Lord because He is my Lord, and so, we align our studies, our job, and everything in our lives to proclaim the gospel to all peoples, all nations on earth.
(2) Reason for associating with the uncircumcised (Acts 11:2-3)
Peter also did not want to share fellowship with Gentiles, but God kept on showing him a vision and told him to go to the Gentiles. You have to go beyond whatever ethnicity or nationality you were born into. “Oh, my family only,” if we’re not able to go beyond that, then we will continue to suffer. Everything that God has given to us—our talent, our personality, our energy, our time, our skills—was all to proclaim the gospel to all nations. So, God continuously worked through Peter and showed him His Word through visions. He was saying, “Go with this person,” God told Cornelius to go send people to bring Peter, and God told Peter, “Do not be afraid to go with these men,” so Peter followed God’s Word and followed these people to Cornelius’ house.
This is where people have a standard in their walk of faith. If I really do not want something, but God keeps telling me to go in that direction through His Word during worship, are we following God’s Word even if we don’t want to, or are we sticking with our own thoughts? When God gives you this Word through worship and you follow that Word of God, then God will give you blessings of meeting in your life. But instead of following God’s Word, we often follow our own thoughts. Then, where do our thoughts come from? Do our thoughts come from God? Our thoughts come from “me,” then where do “I” come from? I think with all of the things that I’ve experienced and learned from the world, from society. I’m so used to the culture of the world that is controlled by Satan, and that’s what I’m being led by, so even if God gives me His Word, I follow my own thoughts instead. If we say we are believers, it means we believe in the Word God gives us and then we follow those words, but when I try to follow God’s Word, my thoughts don’t agree with them. Then, what should we do at that moment? We need to choose God’s Word. Even if it doesn’t make sense to me rationally, we have to follow God’s Word. That is a person who believes in God. The Word of God heals our spirit, and our soul.
The more deeply you think, the more it will result in spiritual problems. For students, they go deep into their studies. If somebody wants to become a successful professional, they always think about and talk about their business. There is no God in them; that’s why their spiritual problems run so deep. But for us, we have the Word of God, and with the Word of God, we think about our studies and our jobs. That’s the life of a Christian, and if that priority is restored in us today, everything else will fall into line.
(3) Those for whom the gospel isn’t enough
2) Changed Peter’s standards
(1) Vision – Unclean food (Acts 11:5-6)
(2) God said to eat – 3 times (Acts 11:7-10)
(3) Peter said he could not eat (Acts 11:8-10)
3) Act according to the Word
(1) Holy Spirit – Spoke to Peter (Acts 11:12)
(2) Don’t doubt, go with them (Acts 11:12)
(3) Followed the Word and went to Cornelius’ house (Acts 11:12)
2. Works of the Word
1) Cornelius’ house
(1) Angel – Bring Peter (Acts 11:13)
(2) Cornelius’ whole household received the Word of salvation (Acts 11:14)
(3) Proclamation of the Word – Holy Spirit fell on them (Acts 11:15)
When Peter went over to Cornelius’ house and said, “Why did you call me to your house?” Cornelius explained that he also received God’s Word through a vision. Cornelius said God told him in a vision that Peter would have life-saving news for him, and when Peter began to speak, the Holy Spirit came upon them. During this time of worship, I hope the Holy Spirit will completely take over your thoughts, your spirit, even your emotions. Our thoughts really are the problem because our thoughts are not aligned with God. So, we acknowledge that and ask for the Holy Spirit of God to completely take over my thoughts, emotions, and spirit. So, right at this moment, you could pray to God and wonder, “God, what are You trying to tell me right now?” Then, you’ll be able to hear God’s Word, “Oh, this is the Word of God that He is trying to give me specifically.” That is when you will have correct communication and relationship with God. On the other hand, if God is continuously giving you His Word through worship, but you tune it out because you don’t understand it, then your relationship with God has been broken. And if somebody says, “These words are boring and they don’t inspire me,” so they stop listening. Or some people say, “This isn’t making me realize anything new, so it’s nothing.”
Why do we fail in worship? When you’re talking with another person, it’s important to understand what they tell you, but if you only hold onto your own stubborn thoughts, then that is broken communication. Even with our friends, we try not to do that, but we’re talking about the Almighty Creator God right now. Even the president like Donald Trump can invite people to the White House and they would go to listen to what he says, and even if someone doesn’t agree with what he’s saying, they kept asking questions to understand what he was saying, but right now, the Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe is giving us His Word, then we listen with a posture to hear what He is saying. When the Word of God was being proclaimed here, Peter realized, “This is what Jesus Christ meant when He told us to receive His Holy Spirit.” So the Israelites were criticizing Peter saying, “Why were you giving the gospel to Gentiles?” and Peter is saying, “I agreed with you, but God continuously gave me the Word to give the gospel to Gentiles, and who am I to block the Word of God?” We must be able to experience and confirm the Word that God gives to us in the fields of our lives. The “normal” Christian is able to receive God’s Word during worship and then confirm and experience that Word being confirmed in their daily lives. That person will never shake because God continuously gives His important Word to that person, because they don’t think that God’s Word is a joke. Because that person holds onto the Word of God as their only lifeline; God continuously gives them more. Imagine if you were the owner of a company, and there’s an employee who always did exactly as you said, then you would tell them more, but on the other hand, if you’re the owner of a company, and there’s an employee who doesn’t do what you say and takes your word as a joke, then you wouldn’t give that person more work, then the business wouldn’t operate. It’s the same thing for the work that God is doing; in order to save lives, He gives His Word to the people who will think of His Word as a lifeline and carry it out.
When Peter told the Israelites about the working of God that he saw in the Gentile field, the other Israelites had to acknowledge that God’s Spirit and salvation were for the Gentiles too. I was driving in the car with my daughter, and I told her, “Last week, God gave me this Word, and this week, He fulfilled it in this way, so you can watch and see.” A lot of children see God’s Word as a joke; they think of it as something the Pastor says. They’re not able to see God’s Word taking place in their field. Somebody in the family needs to be able to share their forum with evidence that God gave me His Word and then He fulfilled the Word in my life. So, they realized, “God is alive and He is working right now.” The person who says that will never shake. Even if people tell him not to heal, the healing will happen naturally. Right now, we are facing so many different problems, mental problems, and problems with addiction; there is no other solution. When my thoughts and my heart go back to alignment with God’s Word, then that is healing. Right now, I’m worried and stressed about things because my thoughts are not from God’s Word, so I cannot confirm it with God’s Word. God is fulfilling His promise even now. Is my life inside of that promise? Or, is my life in my own plan that I created for myself? Whatever life plan I have for myself will fall like the Tower of Babel, so I hope that you will change anew. We must place our lives upon the promise God promised us. That’s how Abraham was called at the beginning, and that’s how he stayed. Joseph was dragged as a slave, but it didn’t matter at all to him because that was part of the process to fulfill the promise God had given him. If someone does not know the promise that God gave each individual, they say a lot of things like, “Oh, that person believes in Jesus, and look, they were sold as a slave.” No, that’s actually part of God’s guidance to take things in the direction to fulfill the promise He gave Joseph.
One day in Egypt, Joseph was falsely imprisoned, but it wasn’t unfortunate, it was the fulfillment of God’s Word. Can you understand this? Let’s say my life is suffering from the problem of addiction. That is actually the greatest opportunity of my life, because this becomes an opportunity to change my life to look at only Christ. When we acknowledge that we cannot live with our own strength, we go back to Christ. But the harder we try on our own, the more we’re holding onto ourselves still. The reason God gives us suffering is so we can go back to only Christ and receive those blessings. May you remain within God’s promise.
2) Peter
(1) Confirmed the Word of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:16)
(2) Who can stop the work God has done? (Acts 11:17)
(3) Experiencing the field with fulfillment of the Word
3) Reaction of the circumcision party
(1) When they heard these things they fell silent (Acts 11:18)
(2) Glorified God (Acts 11:18)
(3) God granted Gentiles repentance that leads to life (Acts 11:18)
3. Gospel that cannot be blocked
1) Lord’s promise
(1) Holy Spirit – Witness until the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)
(2) Abraham – All peoples on earth will be blessed (Gen. 12:3)
(3) All peoples and tribes, young lamb – Disciple, healing (Mt. 28:18, Mk. 16:15-18, Jn.
21:15-18)
2) During the end times
(1) Age of suffering (2 Tim. 3:1)
(2) Lovers of self, money, pleasure more than God (2 Tim. 3:2)
(3) Gospel of heaven – End of the world after proclaimed to all nations (Mt. 24:14)
Jesus Christ promised, “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be my witnesses until the ends of the earth.” This problem is still being fulfilled. He says, “Go make disciples of all nations.” He says, “Feed my lambs.” Your life must be within this promise of Jesus. Your studies and your job have to work together with Jesus’ promise, and God gave you your studies and your job in order to fulfill that promise. Then, God carries out His promise.
The Bible tells us what the end times will be like. The end times is any time after Jesus Christ comes during the second coming. The Bible says that the end times will be great suffering, and the Bible tells us why this suffering is happening. The real problem is love. The Bible tells us that people love God, but they love themselves more than they love God, and the Bible says that people love pleasure and money more than they love God, and that’s why they suffer. So, America has built a system that leaves everyone else no choice but to suffer. Sometimes I talk to kids and get shocked. They say, “I don’t care,” so much. Do you know what “I don’t care” means? They say, “I don’t care whatever you say. Whatever you say, it has nothing to do with me.” That is me being with my own God, that’s why people suffer. This is a big problem in America. America has so much knowledge and money and many things, but why do people continue to suffer more? Because our posture should not be that, “I don’t care,” our posture should be facing what God cares about, but instead, people only care about “What I care about.” They say, “It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what you say; it has nothing to do with me.”
Maybe you could live like that if you were God, but we’re not God, and that’s why we suffer. We need to come out of that mindset. It’s not about “I don’t care,” but we ask, “What does God’s Word say about this?” People try so hard to protect their rights and protect their privacy by saying things like “I don’t care,” but that’s actually the reason they suffer. We shouldn’t be saying “I don’t care,” but we should be wondering what God says about this. Then we will be set free from our suffering. 2 Timothy 3 says that the people in the church have the form of holiness, but they don’t have the power. Simply put, Christians nowadays will go to church and look the part of a Christian, but on the inside, “I don’t care. I am God.” We need to believe in God, but instead, I am my own God. We need to follow God’s Word, but instead, I trust in my thoughts, and we trust in people’s words, and I follow my environment or circumstance. But for us, we must follow God’s Word because the Word is God. In Genesis 1:2, it says the world was empty, dark, and formless, and when the Word of God spoke, there was light. The Word of God that He gives to us is a light that shines the light and saves us from darkness. We are so trapped in ourselves; we don’t know God such that we are so trapped, but God’s Word enters into us and shows us.
When will the world end? Matthew 24:14 says the world will end after all the world has heard this gospel. That’s the same with our life as well. If we have received the gospel, then we will die and go to heaven when our mission to proclaim the gospel is finished. But if we lose hold of our mission to proclaim the gospel, and instead we live our lives for our own pleasure or glory, then we have a shameful or embarrassing salvation. We need to have true joy within Christ. Whenever we face a problem, we should enjoy it. When someone hurts my pride, we should be able to enjoy it. When something happens at work, you need to have the true joy, in the fact that God is with me. Then, no matter what anyone says, instead of responding with, “I don’t care,” We respond with, “God is with me.” God is guiding my life, we need to enjoy Christ like that. But if we’re not able to enjoy the gospel, then we feel stressed every day, and then one day, occasionally, we travel for vacation, but does that really relieve your stress? It just changes your view and your thoughts for a little bit. But instead, you’re still your own master; that’s not going to change. The Triune God is my background, even if I fail, I will live, even if I die, I will live, because the Lord is with me forever. It’s not, “I don’t care,” but God cares. Then, you overcome the devil. You overcome the evil spirits that are oppressing you every day. Through Jesus Christ, God is with me forever and always. Right now, He is with me; in the past, He was with me, and for now, always in the future, no matter what problems I face, it cannot overcome God. No matter what anybody says, I will only listen to and follow the words of God Who is within me. One day, you’ll realize you’ve been healed, one day, you’ll realize you are no longer addicted, because if you keep concentrating on the fundamental things, then everything else will change.
3) Me
(1) Set up God’s bartizan (covenant)
(2) Go the journey that God has prepared
(3) Set up milestones for my life’s masterpiece God has prepared
Conclusion
1. Gospel is everything (Col. 3:11)
In conclusion, the gospel is everything.
2. All answers are inside the gospel (Col. 2:3)
Col. 2:3 says that in Jesus Christ are hidden all treasurers of wisdom or knowledge, but for those who have an ulterior motive, they cannot see this value. For people who have an ulterior motive, they think they can find something outside of Christ, so they concentrate there. They think, “If I try a little harder, then I can make it,” so they head in that direction, and they lose hold of all of the blessings that are inside of Christ. All answers come from inside the gospel of Jesus Christ within God’s time schedule. It’s not because you did something diligently. That might just be the case of input vs. output, just like believers and nonbelievers are the same, but you cannot receive the true blessing from all your hard work.
3. All things exist for the sake of spreading the gospel (Col. 3:11)
Everything exists for Christ. Our life, our business, everything exists to testify Christ. I bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that our lives may remain within the stream of testifying this Jesus Christ and this blessing.
Message Prayer
Let us pray together holding onto the Word God has given to us individually. God, allow us to remain within the stream of Your Word and the Gospel. Allow us to remain within the stream that proclaims the gospel. Let us pray together.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We desire to hold onto the Word You have given to us today as our “only” and to take it into the field. Allow us not to lose the Word of God to other peoples’ words or their circumstances, and allow us to only follow God’s Word. We have returned Your materials as offering. We pray that everywhere this offering is used, that the churches, the regions, and the future generations will come to life. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. God, we pray You will bless the thoughts, the heart, and the spirit of all the newcomers so they may go out into the world with the greatest blessing of Christ. We pray You will give them a turning point in their lives so they will no longer be obsessed with the problems of their life, but instead, they will focus on the words of Christ. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.
Closing Prayer and Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit be upon the heads of all of the people of God, the people of all nations and the remnants who desire to be within the stream of God, world evangelization, be with them now and forevermore always, amen.
The Gospel cannot be blocked!