In the last article we looked at aspects of the message of Peter to Cornelius. He preached what was commanded by God and his message was fixed on God. This message to Cornelius was a God-centered message. All messages that are commanded by God are God-centered since God is God-centered. In this article we will look at some more particulars of the message of Peter that was used in the conversion of Cornelius and his friends. This Gospel message is one that we can learn from, though indeed it is not in line with some of the modern traditions.
“So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.” 34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. 36 “The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)– 37 you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. 38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 “We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. 40 “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43 “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. 45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, 47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” 48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days (Acts 10:33-48).
In this message commanded by God Peter did not proclaim how moral we should be and how opposed to the government or politically active we should be. He did not even talk about holiness directly. He did not specifically talk about the love of God as such or the love of God for sinners. What he proclaimed here is a God-centered message of salvation in Christ. If we start with the end of the sermon, we can see the result of the sermon was that the Gentiles there received the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the promise of Acts 2 which Peter had preached also. 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself” (Acts 2:38-39). It is highly likely that Peter did not understand what was meant by “for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself” when he preached it in Acts 2. But now the reality of that sermon came home. God calls Gentiles to Himself and God gives the gift of the Holy Spirit as He pleases, even to those who are far off.
Peter did not give an altar call and did not ask people to pray a prayer with him. He preached the Gospel and the Holy Spirit applied it. The goal of preaching is not simply to get people to do something for themselves, but for them to see what Christ has done and the need to have the Spirit apply what Christ has done. It was while Peter was preaching the very words of the works of God in Christ that the Holy Spirit fell on those who were listening to the sermon by Peter. This is a great encouragement and very instructive to preaching. The preacher is to be concerned with the message of the Gospel and his own heart knowing that God is the One who applies the message to the hearts of listeners. The Gospel is the power of God to save sinners (Rom 1:16) and not the methods and manipulations of men. It is not a simple message to get people to do a simple action that saves sinners, but it is the Gospel itself as applied by God. Preachers are to preach the life, the works, the cross, and the resurrection of Christ. Preachers are to preach how Christ was spoken of in the Old Testament and yet how the Holy Spirit comes through the message of the glory of God in Christ. These are the things that God has commanded to be preached.
We have looked at one of the goals of preaching which is that the Holy Spirit would come upon sinners. This is a massive difference between preaching for sinners to make decisions and things like that. This is a God-centered message applied by the living God. Peter shows us how to preach for a God-centered goal like that. One of the first things that Peter spoke about was how Christ was Lord of all and that peace with God is through Him (v. 36). The peace that is proclaimed is only as great as the One we are to have peace with and through. He then moved to how Jesus Himself was anointed by God with the Spirit and with power. So Peter began with how Christ was anointed with the Spirit and ends with the Spirit falling on those listening. This is part of what it means to preach a Christ-centered message. It is to preach the Spirit and Father of Christ.
This is not a message about an angry God who is ready to throttle all, but then Jesus comes up and tries to mollify Him. This is not a message of how Mary steps up and talks to God through Jesus. This is about God sending the Son and God making peace through the Son. It is true, however, that the message of peace does include the wrath of God, but still this is a God who saves sinners from His own wrath through the Son. The difference in that the wrathful God saves from Himself rather than having to be talked into it by someone else. The Father planned salvation from all eternity and sent the Son to save sinners from His own wrath. This is a Trinitarian Gospel that points to how the Father is behind the Gospel from beginning to end and carried out this plan by the Son. This is a Trinitarian Gospel that points to how the Spirit was sent by the Father and was the power of the Son and who then applied the Gospel to sinners. There is no true God-centeredness apart from the teaching about Christ and of the Holy Spirit. There is no true Christ-centeredness apart from teaching how what He did was from the Father, empowered by the Spirit, and then applied to sinners by the Spirit. This is not being charismatic, this is simply being Trinitarian. After all, the one God subsists as three. The only true God is Trinity.
Peter preached the Christ who was Lord of all and anointed by the Father as being put to death by being hung on a cross. But this Christ was raised from the dead by God as well and appeared to witnesses chosen beforehand by God. It is this Christ that Peter and others were commanded to preach about that this Christ was the One appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. This is an explosive message if we will hear it. The same Lord of all died on the cross and was raised from the dead by God. This same Lord who was crucified and then resurrected is the Judge of both the living and the dead. But there is even more, this same Lord is the One that all the prophets spoke about as the One that “through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (v. 43). This is what it means to preach Christ in truth. It is not just to mention Him and to tell all that He wants to be their friends. But this Jesus is Lord of all and He was raised from the dead and is now the Judge of both the living and the dead. It is by the Messiah alone that sins can be forgiven. There is a living Gospel for He is a living Savior.
The Gospel by which Cornelius and his friends were converted was the biblical Gospel. It is not just a few moralizing statements about Jesus, but it is about the Jesus the Lord. It is not just a few nice stories of Jesus helping people; it is about Jesus the sovereign Lord of the universe. It is not just about a human Jesus, but it is about how God in Jesus Christ lived, died, and was resurrected. It is not just a nice story about the cross of Jesus, it is about a resurrected Savior who is now Judge of both the living and the dead since He Himself was alive, then crucified, and has now defeated death by His death and the resurrection. It is not just about any little god, it is about the living and true God who is triune. The Christ who is alive and seated at the right hand of the living God has purchased the Holy Spirit and He is poured out on sinners as they listen to the message of the glory of God in the face of Christ. This is a Gospel of power and not one that depends on puny human beings. It is all about God.
In past months we have looked at some of the issues regarding conversion. We have looked at how it is not just a decision to be saved, but that a person is saved when God regenerates and actually converts the soul from death to live and from the power of the devil to the life and power of God. The conversion of the soul is the greatest work done in the entire universe, even greater than creation of the universe itself. There is more wisdom in the conversion of the soul than there is in the greatest splendor of the stars. The Gospel we preach, therefore, must not be watered down in order to make it palatable to sinful hearts. The Gospel that must be preached is the glorious Gospel of God who does a mighty work in the souls of human beings in order to manifest His triune nature and glory. The real story of any conversion is the glory of God. The real story of the conversion of Cornelius is that the glory of God planned it and then carried it out in all of its details. If we wish for true conversions and true revival, then we must study, pray, and then preach a Gospel of glory worthy of the God who is sovereign over it all.
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