Gentile Missions Through God’s Prepared Meetings (Acts 10:24-48)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ that today will be the greatest time of blessing for you. The title of today’s message is, “Gentile Missions Through God’s Prepared Meetings.” God has prepared them, and those are the blessings of meeting. Even right now, God is doing His work through the people we meet. Then, what kind of meetings are we talking about? We meet various people, but the people we meet must be within the stream of the work that God is doing.
In order for us to have those kinds of meetings, at least one person must know the answer of why Jesus Christ is the answer to our lives. The person who has that reason and the answer. Why did Christ finish the problems of my past, present, and future? The person who knows what the real problem is, and knows the solution. The person who knows that the problem of every person in the world is the sin of not believing in God, the death of our spirit, and being enslaved by Satan, and the solution is Christ. If we are separated from God, then we live our lives centered on ourselves and controlled by Satan. It’s impossible for us to escape from “me,” because we don’t believe in God, because we’re separated from God, and our spirit is dead, so we can only think about ourselves. We live according to our thoughts and our experiences. We live with the things we’ve studied in school, and our life becomes irrelevant to God.
Then, we have our own spiritual problems. What is a spiritual problem? It is a problem that is continuous and repeating in our life. We don’t know the reason for that problem or the answer to it, but that problem actually continues to flow down our family line. Only Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection is an answer to that repetitive problem. The one who knows the answer of Christ must have a firm bartizan inside of them that knows that Christ is the greatest value, knowledge, and blessing. What we mean by “bartizan,” is, whatever is inside of us that we trust in, rely on, and live for. That must be concluded with only the Triune God. Somebody like that will go down God’s prepared journey. However, if somebody does not rely on Jesus Christ and the Triune God, but instead, they rely on success and money, then that is the path they will go down. But that path is the road to destruction, completely controlled by Satan. For us, money and success should follow within the stream of Christ; that’s not something we should follow ourselves. Col. 3:11 says that Christ is everything, and Col. 2:3 says that all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden within Christ, and that everything exists for Christ, everything exists to proclaim and testify to Christ. If somebody has that strong bartizan raised up inside of them, then that is the path that they will walk.
What is holding onto me that is from within me? If we are bound by our scars, then we will go down the path of our scars to destruction. If we are bound by depression, then that is the path that we will walk, and that is the path to suicide. If I have the bartizan of anger inside of me, then I will kill people and break them down. So, I hope that Christ, only the Triune God, will be raised up as the bartizan within me to save all things, and God has prepared one person like that to testify of this fact. Meeting those prepared people must continuously take place in the journey of your life. However, if we do not have that bartizan, and instead, I have the bartizan of myself and the people that I meet also only care about themselves, then, if we’re no longer a benefit to each other, then our relationship will end, and when that relationship ends, it doesn’t just end peacefully, Satan works upon that. People all around the world, whether they are in the church or outside of the church, are in that suffering. That’s the reason people are so mentally afflicted, because money is their bartizan, success is their bartizan. That’s not God. Everything must come from within Christ, but we throw Christ to the side, and we hold onto money, success, and ourselves, so what do you think will happen? Our future is determined. No matter how much you struggle and try, whatever you struggle to rely on will become your path. If one person holds onto the bartizan of Christ, then God has prepared an important meeting in their life, and because that person will be moved by the angels of God, everything will go according to God’s plan.
1. Meetings with evangelists
1) Caesarea (Acts 10:24)
(1) Doors of evangelism, missions – Cornelius
(2) Relatives (Acts 10:24)
(3) Gathered close friends and waited (Acts 10:24)
In today’s scripture, Cornelius invites Simon Peter to his house, and has all his family and close friends in his house to hear the Word of God. That is the meeting God is working upon. When you go to school or when you go to work, there are people whom you meet like this. As you are studying or working, this may not be a lot of people, but among the people whom you meet, there is one person prepared like this. And if you are studying and working to find that one person, then you are somebody who has the bartizan of God inside of you.
2) Meeting
(1) Fell down at his feet and worshiped (Acts 10:25)
(2) Cornelius in the presence of God (Acts 10:33)
(3) Peter – I too am a man (Acts 10:26)
When Peter comes to Cornelius’ house, Cornelius falls down to his feet in reverence, and then Peter says, “Stand up, I am only a man myself.” Do you think that Cornelius was really bowing down to Peter? Really, Cornelius was bowing down to God because God would give His Word through Peter. We do not need to exalt people; however, if we know that God is giving His Word through this person, then our posture towards them must change. Through the meetings, through the worship, what is the Word that God desires to give to me personally? That is worship. There is one way for you to have victory in worship today. Through today’s scripture, what is the Word God wants to tell me? If you keep praying and concentrating on that question, then there is a Word that God is giving to you specifically. God is invisible but He is alive and working right now, and He is giving each of you His Word.
Cornelius bowed down before Peter to receive that Word of God. That is the first secret to have victory in worship. Failing in worship means that you listen to the pastor’s sermon like a lecture at school, like a person. There is a characteristic thing that a lot of American people say after a message, “Oh, I learned a lot from you,” but those words are wrong. Yes, it might be a person who is talking, but God is the One Who is speaking. But especially a lot of Caucasian people want to be taught something, and then they say, “I want to teach, too.” This is not education right now. Worship is God proclaiming His Word through people. Then, really the way you should express it is, “God revealed this to me through you,” but to say that I taught them, that’s the wrong sense. That means that this person is standing in front of people, and they were not standing before God at work, either.
The reason why there are so many mental illnesses and addictions and shootings in America is because people are not standing before God. There are so many people who are doing Bible studies and reading the Bible and even memorizing the Bible, but why isn’t it working out? Because you’re not standing in front of God. You just accept it as words of people; then, it’s finished. Then, no matter how much you go to church, it’s not going to work. God is alive right now. You need to listen to hear what God is telling you right now, but if you just take this as knowledge, then your spirit is dying. If you just take this as some sort of education, then your spirit is dying. Right at this moment, God is alive and He is working, and I must receive the Word of Life that He is giving to me. During that moment, your spirit comes to life. The Bible says, “May all things go well as your spirit gets along well.” The Spirit, not knowledge. If you apply the Word of God as knowledge, then you will die. That’s why there’s more and more Bible studies, but people are dying, more and more. With the Word of Life that God gives me, I can save myself and others. Cornelius stood before that God today in order to receive the Word of the living God.
Cornelius is somebody whom God had prepared. When you have victory in worship, you receive the Word that God is giving to you, and when you hold onto that Word in prayer, then there is someone whom God has prepared in your field. There is somebody in your field who is waiting to receive the Word that you’ve received during worship, and that is what happens at your school field or work field. You need to confirm that in order to realize that God is living and working in your field as well. But most people just give worship and they just end it with, “Oh, I received grace,” or, “I didn’t receive grace.” As soon as they leave, they live with their own thoughts. So, their studies or their job is their number one priority in life. There is no God in their life then. When do they look for God? When their studies are not working out, when their job is not working out, when they’re facing hardship, that’s when they look for God. It’s the same as Buddhism, Islam, or any other religion. They are living their walk of faith, centered on people. However, during this time of worship, if you’re able to receive the living Word and the living God, then with that Word, you will save your job, your work, your field, and your studies.
3) Communication through God’s Word
So Peter was led by the Word of God to meet with Cornelius, and he asked him, “Why have you called me here?”
(1) Peter – Should not call any person unclean – Word (Acts 10:28)
(2) Why did he send for Peter? (Acts 10:29)
(3) Cornelius – Word to send for Peter (Acts 10:32)
In Acts 10:28, Peter says, “While I was praying to God, God showed me this vision and led me to meet with you. Why did you call me?” And Cornelius answered, “When I was praying, this is the Word God gave me.” So both Peter and Cornelius are talking to one another with the Word of God. As you’re listening and receiving the Word of God, there is somebody who will come to your mind, then you will need to go and meet with that person. Tell them, “I received this Word from God, and I thought of you,” then, that person will say, “I was actually going through something related, so I’m glad you came here.” Those are the meetings whom God has prepared. But if you fail in worship then you will lead the rest of your week with your thoughts and your ways. Then, you’ll never be able to see the meetings God has prepared. If Peter had stuck with his own trait of thought, then he never would have met with Cornlius, because Cornelius was a Gentile, but the Word that God continuously gave Peter is to meet with Cornelius, so he met with Cornleius. So, the Word of God is not only for us, God is working us with the Word of God and there is somebody who must receive that Word through us.
2. Triune God
1) Cornelius
(1) One person who was prepared
(2) Gathered to hear the Word commanded by the Lord (Acts 10:33)
(3) In the presence of God (Acts 10:33)
Then, the things that were trapped in the field for Peter began to open. He realized, “Oh, there are people God has prepared in all the nations.” In the field, Peter was able to confirm, “I thought God had only given His grace to our selected nation, but God has given His grace to all nations.” You need to confirm this gospel in your field as well. There is a difference between the gospel you’ve heard and the gospel you’ve confirmed in your field. You need to confirm that people are dying in your field because they don’t know the gospel. That person who has confirmed it will never shake, but if you just heard through Bible studies, then you will shake because you haven’t confirmed it in your field yet. “Oh, exactly according to God’s Word, there are many people who are dying, and when I gave them the Word of Christ, they came to life. Evil spirits were cast out, addictions were healed; these things were actually happening.” Peter was able to confirm this, and the thoughts he used to have broke. Then, he begins to proclaim the gospel. Why do you think God gave you this meeting? He allowed you to meet them to give them the gospel. So, Peter begins to explain Jesus Christ as the Lord of all.
2) Peter
(1) Realized there are people prepared in every nation (Acts 10:34-35)
(2) Through Jesus Christ Who is Lord of all (Acts 10:36)
“Jesus Christ as the Lord of all” means He is the Master of everything. But this is not taking place inside of our families. I am the Lord. This is not taking place when you study. Jesus is the Lord but we keep on acting as if we are the Lord. Through the people we meet, Jesus Christ must be the Lord, but we keep on acting as if we are the Lord, then of course, Satan, the devil, will burrow in. Then, Satan will keep doing the work of dividing people and causing divisions and breaking up. Then he says, “Announcing the good news of peace.” This gospel is the good news of peace, there must be peace between me and God. There must be peace between us and other people. There will be peace within me and my studies, or me and my job. Because that is what happens when you are able to correctly meet with God through Jesus Christ. Why are things so difficult for you? Why is it such a struggle? Because there is no peace between you and God, because you are the master of your own life, so you are bearing the heavy burden of your own life. Even as you are sitting here, you’re worried about everything. For students, your studies are such a heavy burden. For working professionals, your job is such a heavy burden. Your academics and your jobs are not doing anything wrong; I am the one who is wrong. Who am I? Christ is my Lord, that’s who I am, but if I’m acting as if I am the Lord, then yes, I’m wrong, so the incorrect person is doing the incorrect work. Then, I will keep having the incorrect meetings. I hope you will change from this stream. Christ is the Lord of all areas of my life, and God gives peace in every area of my life.
Do you have peace? Where is that peace from? The true peace is only with the people who have met with God through Jesus Christ. If you keep on trying to be the master and lord of your life, then that peace will go away. Only when God becomes my Lord will God’s Kingdom be established upon me and the peace of His Kingdom will overflow from me to others.
3) Jesus Christ – God is with (Acts 10:38)
(1) God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power (Acts 10:38)
So, Peter is explaining Jesus Christ, and he says, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.” In that one sentence it talks about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit at once. God anointed Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit. The Triune God always works together. Why was Jesus Christ anointed? In the Old Testament, God anointed the prophets, priests, and the kings with oil. To be “anointed with oil” means that they would pour oil on your head, and you would be raised up in that position or role, and that was symbolism to say that the Holy Spirit has come upon this person, and God will do the work through this person. So, Jesus Christ Who was born on earth as a human, God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit to do the three works of the Christ: the prophet, priest, and king. So through Jesus Christ, the problem of sin and the curses of our sin are finished. Through Jesus Christ, we are set free from the authority of hell and Satan. Only through Jesus Christ does the life of God enter into us. That is the work of the Christ, and the name of the Christ is Jesus. If you believe in Jesus Christ, it means you’ve been set free from the three problems.
(2) Went about doing good (Acts 10:38)
Then, Acts 10:38, it says Jesus Christ went around doing good, which means proclaiming the gospel.
(3) Healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38)
“Healing all who were oppressed by the devil,” people are oppressed by the devil right now. Even invisibly, he is pressing down on your shoulders, and when Satan is oppressing somebody, do you know what their posture becomes like? Their spirit is dead. Because their spirit is dead, their mind loses power as well. Then, someone will be burdened by depression and dragged around by that. People are so pressed under their scars and their traumas that they are being dragged around as slaves. People are so bound and burdened by the spiritual problem that keeps on repeating in their family line, again and again. Addiction to alcohol or substances, the actual substance is not the problem, the real problem is the mind. There is a problem in our mind. Why is there a problem in our mind? It’s because of the spiritual problem. It’s because our relationship with God is broken, we don’t believe in God, we don’t believe in Christ, so then Satan is working, that’s the real problem. The way that Satan is working repeats again and again down the family line, but no one is talking about this right now. People in the world are dying because of mental illnesses, addictions, suicides, but no one is talking about this. You cannot solve this with American citizenship, you cannot solve that by graduating from an Ivy League. It doesn’t matter how good you are; through American culture, you cannot solve that problem.
God will work through the person who knows why every individual needs Jesus Christ; the real problem and the real answer. But if you don’t know the real problem, you’ll think, “But I just have to go to church, right?” That’s not it. You need to know the reason why we need to believe in Jesus. The one who knows the reason why we must believe in and testify of Jesus Christ has to work and study. Why am I yelling so much? So, because I go out into the field, yesterday I saw this Caucasian woman who was holding a baby, and she was broadcasting on a mic her family problems, and after her, someone else came up and talked about their family problems, and it broke my heart. All of these people would come up on the stage and talk about these problems they have with their family, and I was standing a little far away, but I could tell that they were burdened and oppressed. We were in a program for people who are going through recovery for addiction, but will they really be recovered? The real problem these people have is they don’t know Christ, everyone is centered on themselves, so I fight with that person when I disagree, so that’s why their family is breaking. So they’re coming out and saying, “This is a difficult process,” why? Because their family is not within the Kingdom of Christ; their family is centered on, “I will lead this family,” that’s the Kingdom of Satan. Because they don’t know the real problem, then of course, they don’t know the real answer, and they cannot give the answer to anyone. And when I see these fields, it really breaks my heart and I wish I were better at English so I could talk to them more. I would ask them, “What are you doing? The field is dying, what are you guys doing? Is your job that important? Are you that important? That’s why you’re dying. Everyone dies, only caring about ‘me, me, me.’” But people don’t see that, so the church really isn’t just a church. The Church is the place where Christ is the head, Christ is everything, and we do everything for Christ. Anyone who lives for their job or business has failed. We run our business for Christ, we study for Christ, that person will have victory no matter what. That was Peter.
3. Proclaiming the Word of the gospel
1) Witness – Peter
(1) Death on the cross (Acts 10:39)
(2) God raised Him on the third day (Acts 10:40)
Then he talks about Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection. Why did He have to die on the cross? Human beings had such a big problem that Jesus Christ Himself had to die on the cross. Whatever you read in books, whatever you learn in the world is not going to cut it, this problem can only be solved if Jesus Christ dies on the cross. God Himself must die as a human being on the cross to solve our problem. Only if he resurrects after three days will the problem of sin, curses, disasters, Satan, and hell be broken down.
(3) Appeared to those chosen by God (Acts 10:41)
Peter explained that death on the cross and resurrection. Every problem is finished, because even right now, Christ has resurrected and he does not show himself to everybody, but only to those he has chosen. All 7.5 billion people know that Jesus Christ was crucified. Even nonbelievers know this historical fact, but the people who have seen Jesus Christ resurrected are a small minority. What is the resurrection? The people who Jesus Christ revealed Himself to as living and active right now, is a small minority of people. So, Jesus Christ has revealed Himself to you and me, a small minority. Everybody knows that Jesus died, but the people to whom Jesus Christ shows that He has resurrected and is with us, is a small minority.
2) Jesus Christ
(1) Evangelize to the people (Acts 10:42)
(2) Judge of the living and the dead is Jesus Christ (Acts 10:42)
(3) Forgiveness of sins through believing in Jesus’ name (Acts 10:43)
This Jesus Christ was chosen by God to judge the living and the dead. What does that mean? It means that God the Father has given all authority to judge to Jesus Christ. And when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again for the second time, we will all stand before Him as the judge. If we believe in Jesus Christ, we will go to heaven as righteous, and if we don’t believe in Jesus Christ, we will go to hell with our sin. And that is God the Father Who has given the authority to judge to Jesus Christ. There is no other name; only the name of Jesus Christ. What happens if we believe in Jesus Christ? Our sins are forgiven. What sin is this talking about? The Original Sin of not believing in God, and all of the actions of sin that we have committed, they are all forgiven. We will always commit more and more sin, but by believing in Jesus Christ, those sins are forgiven. Then, we become righteous. Our actions do not make us righteous, believing in Jesus Christ makes us righteous. Then, immediately at the same time, what happens? We are set free from the authority of Satan. Satan sinned against God is heaven, so Satan actually has the authority of sin. Because we are forgiven from our sins, we are set free from the one who has authority over sin, and that is Satan. Satan’s authority is now broken down. If we don’t know this, then how will we live in this world? You need to enjoy and testify to this fact like Peter did.
3) Proclamation of the Word
(1) Holy Spirit fell (Acts 10:44)
(2) Amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles (Acts 10:45)
(3) Gave baptism (Acts 10:47-48)
When the Word of God was proclaimed, the Holy Spirit came upon them. If the Holy Spirit does not come upon you, then you do not have faith. Because Peter was just testifying to the Word of God, without even realizing it, the Holy Spirit came upon Gentiles, and when these people started jumping up and down, praising God, Peter was shocked to see that God was even working upon Gentiles. So, he proclaimed the gospel and he received the grace. Because the incorrect laws and the incorrect thoughts he had inside were breaking down. So yes, you do receive grace when you hear the Word of God, but when you testify of the Word of God in your field, there is another grace of change that happens inside of you. When you see people in the field, receiving the Word of God and coming to life, you will come to life yourself. But you’ve lived your life looking for something else than this. You’ve lived your life only for success at school or at work, and you think that that is the greatest value. But if you just see one time, a life being saved through Jesus Christ, then your life will be changed. If you see a family that is dying due to mental illnesses or addictions, and you see them come to life because of Jesus Christ, then your life will be changed, too. But this gospel has become so tainted, that churches only care about themselves, “Us and the Church,” that’s the Jewish mentality.
Conclusion
1. One person who has the answer of the gospel
2. Doors for the one person prepared for evangelism, missions
3. Gospel is relayed to the ends of the earth
If you receive God’s Word in worship, then you take it to your field, and then the works of life saving will take place in your life. That one person, they will save their family line, the region where they live, where they work and study, because through one person who really has the gospel, God will prepare them to meet other people. So, this gospel gets proclaimed to the ends of the earth through meetings like this. God knows our weaknesses, so He gives us realizations, and then God carries it out. I bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you will have these historical meetings in your life and week just as Peter and Cornelius did.
Message Prayer
Let us pray together, holding onto the Word each of us has received individually.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We thank You for allowing us to be within the path that knows, enjoys, and testifies of Christ Who is the solution to all problems. Allow all our life to be within the path of Christ, and allow us to hold onto the Word of Christ, pray, and evangelize. May our studies, our job, our life be within that path, and may the stream of our life be used to save.
We have returned Your materials as offering. Everywhere this offering is used, may lives be saved. May families and nations and societies be restored. 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 saving the world with this gospel and being in prayer, be with them now and forevermore always, amen.
God saves the world through you, one person!