GOSPEL WORK
PART I
ACTS 10
The chief thought that seems to pervade the minds of most people at Christmas is the matter of giving. We shop and discuss and shop some more in order to find just the right gift to present to a relative or friend. Giving is certainly a central part of this season. But giving is also a central part of the Christian life and the ministry of the church. We can think of giving of our financial support for Christian ministry, giving of our time, love, and energy, giving to the work of missions or benevolent causes. More than all of this, I would point you to another area of giving which needs to be at the forefront of our actions. This is our giving away the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We call this evangelism or disciple-making or missions. I think we can sum it up by calling it gospel work. As Christians, we are bearers of the good news to our lost world. Yet, it is very easy for us to relegate this privilege to others and excuse ourselves from being involved in the work. Our text calls our attention to the priority and practice of gospel work for all believers. We will seek to look at it in two parts to keep before all of us the great privilege of gospel work.
I. The Initiator of Gospel Work
Watching the unfolding drama of Cornelius' conversion shows that this was not a mere accident or chance. The careful, detailed hand of a Sovereign Initiator works through the personalities involved to bring about His saving work among the Gentiles. While we see the outward work of the messenger presenting the gospel and the recipient responding, behind it all our great Sovereign carefully works in the secret places of men's hearts that He might be glorified in the saving of sinners. He prompts the believer to speak the word of truth to a sinner. He awakens and ultimately regenerates the spiritually dead sinner so that he might repent of his sins and believe the good news concerning Christ. This is the amazing grace of salvation! We see this truth illustrated clearly in our text.
1. Why Cornelius?
Up to this point in the history of the early church, the gospel had been carried only to the Jews and Samaritans, which were half-Jews and worshipers of Jehovah. There is the solitary incident of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, who himself was a worshiper of Jehovah. But there had been no conversion of a group of Gentiles which represented the mass of population outside Judaism. Carrying the gospel to Cornelius represented a new step in the gospel work of the church. They had kept to themselves, i.e., to Jews only. Now they would branch out into the forbidden realm of Gentiles. This was not just a little hurdle for these Jewish Christians. This was leaping across a chasm that no Jew was willing to cross.
Why was Cornelius chosen to be the first Gentile convert? That is a good question, but one that I certainly cannot answer other than to point to the pleasure of God in saving Cornelius. Cornelius certainly did not merit salvation any more than other Gentiles. He needed mercy and grace as do all of us. But in the great love of God, this man was called out of darkness into the glory and light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our text tells us that he lived in Caesarea, which was a Roman stronghold on the edge of Judea at the Mediterranean Sea. It was significant as a residence of the governor and a strong military contingent. Later on we find Paul imprisoned there for over two years as he gave testimony before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa (Acts 23:31-26:32).
Cornelius was "a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort" (v. 1). A centurion was a commander of 100 soldiers who made up a Roman battalion of 6000 soldiers. So, he was one of 60 centurions that had originated from Italy and now was stationed in Caesarea. Centurions were known for their military skill, their stability, and their leadership abilities. Cornelius had evidently gained quite a reputation with his own soldiers so that they were fiercely loyal to him.
Luke adds that he was "a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people, and prayed to God continually." Piety and reverence marked his life. Cornelius was not a proselyte of Judaism, so that he had been circumcised, but he was fully sympathetic with the teachings of Judaism and was earnestly seeking after God. He had obviously rejected the polytheism (worship of many gods) of the Romans for the solitary worship of Jehovah without images (so, an abandonment of idolatry which was so prevalent in the Roman empire and among Gentiles).
How did Cornelius come to the point of leaving idolatry and polytheism to devote himself to Jehovah? Had he only followed his own nature he would have remained an idolater, blasphemer, and God-hater (Romans 1:18-32). Yet his attention was turned to this foreign God of the Jews because of the secret, invisible work of the Holy Spirit in his life (Acts 2:39; 13:48; John 6:37, 43). It is significant that his love and reverence was not so much for the religious system of Judaism, as a love and devotion to Jehovah. So many of the Jews were in love with a religious system but had abandoned a love for God.
2. Why Peter?
Peter seems to be the main character of the first half of the book of Acts. He was the chief spokesman for the apostles and the clear leader of the early church.
Peter would not voluntarily come up with the idea of carrying the gospel to the Gentiles. Such a move would have been offensive to the Jewish mind. Yet this was the clear mandate of Jesus Christ to the disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). Obstacles of tradition in Peter's mind would have to be conquered for him to move outside the comfortable setting of Judaism.
He was beginning to move away from the enslaving traditions that held his nation in spiritual bondage. This is evident by his staying for a period of time ("many days" in 9:43) with a tanner by the name of Simon in the city of Joppa. Tanners were considered to be despicable among Jews because their trade was unclean. They continually dealt in dead animals, touching them, handling them, working with them. Such a practice caused a person to be ceremonially unclean so that he could not participate in the religious practices of Judaism. The trade of a tanner was on par with being a leper, so that a woman could legally sue for divorce from a husband who was a tanner since he engaged in an unclean practice. [A. Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life, 158]. For Peter to stay with Simon the tanner showed that the legalism and prejudice in which he was reared was beginning to be stripped away by the renewing work of the Holy Spirit.
Peter was God's choice instrument to break down this massive barrier held in the minds of the Jewish Christians concerning the furtherance of the gospel among the Gentiles. If Peter could go to the Gentiles, then so could every other Jewish Christian! Behind his going was the secret work of God.
3. Divine Coordination
You can be assured that Peter would not go the Gentiles without divine persuasion! Nor would Cornelius even consider sending for Peter without divine direction. We see in this chapter of the book of Acts a marvelous symphony of divine work to bring about the conversion of a group of Gentiles, opening the door for the gospel to extend to the Gentiles. Yes, Cornelius had a great interest in knowing God. Yes, Peter became the vessel through which the liberating truths of the gospel was proclaimed. But how did it all come about? God did it!
This is an area in which we must become more conscious. Our Lord is more interested in saving the lost than any of us can imagine. Look at the difficulty of this task. On one hand you have reluctant witnesses who lack confidence, who are afraid of reprisal, who fear that they will not be able to adequately explain eternal issues. On the other hand you have a sinner whose heart and mind are darkened by the deadliness of sin. The sinner has no interest in God, no interest in eternal issues, no thoughts of turning to God in faith. Only the living God can work in both the believer and the unbeliever to bring about the salvation of the lost!
The Bible resounds with the truth that salvation is wholly a work of God's grace. Even in the fine details of a person coming to faith in Christ, you can see behind it all the gracious work of God. It takes a divine coordination to bring a sinner to faith in Christ. This is evident because the sinner is not interested in the things of God until God intervenes (Eph. 2:1-4). The believer has so many fears and inhibitions to deal with that without God's grace for him as a witness he will not begin to tell unbelievers about the Lord Jesus.
Where do you fit in this whole work? If you are a believer then be conscious of the prompting of the Spirit to proclaim Christ to others. Realize that day by day in your routine the Lord may be opening the way for you to tell sinners about their only hope, Jesus Christ. You are God's messengers, so carry forth the eternal message of the gospel of Christ.
If you are an unbeliever, then my friend recognize that the fact you even realize this shows the grace and mercy of God to you. Seek Him. Listen to His Word proclaimed to you. Consider the work of Jesus Christ and His sufficiency for your salvation. Turn from your sins and trust in Christ alone to save you.
Whether you are a believer proclaiming the gospel or a sinner turning to Christ, God is at work to bring this about. This is why Paul could write, "In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:4b-6). It is to the 'praise of the glory of His grace' that we can testify of the good news and receive the gospel of Christ in all its saving power. The Lord is the Initiator in gospel work.
II. The Messengers in Gospel Work
There is a grand consistency in gospel work throughout the New Testament. God works through human vessels to declare the goods news of Jesus Christ. This consistency gives unity and continuity to all the redeemed of the Lord. We are all spiritually related. We all come to Christ in the same way, i.e., as a response to the proclamation of the gospel. It may be written, recorded, public, or private, but in some way the gospel is presented to an unbeliever and he responds with saving faith. It is imperative to recognize that all who know Christ savingly are messengers in gospel work.
1. An angel or a man?
Luke gives clear details of the story related to Cornelius' conversion. "About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in to him, and said to him, "Cornelius!" And fixing his gaze upon him, and being much alarmed, he said, "What is it, Lord?" Now at this point, though Cornelius was not a believer, he recognized that when the angel was speaking he was actually a messenger from the Lord. The word 'angel' in the Greek can be translated as 'messenger'. This heavenly messenger was not the Lord Himself. But he was sent from the Lord to communicate directions to Cornelius. "And he said to him, "your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now dispatch some men to Joppa, and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; he is staying with a certain tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea."
The obvious question we must ask is why did the angel not deliver the message of the gospel to Cornelius? He certainly was wise and articulate. As an angel he has the chief job of being a messenger, capable of declaring all that God had given him to speak. There would be no fear or hesitation with an angel in proclaiming the gospel. There would never be an unwillingness to speak to anyone. There would be no fear of reprisal or persecution or opposition. The appearance of an angel would certainly be a rather striking reality to any listener.
But the angel explained nothing of the gospel to Cornelius. He directed Cornelius to another man, Simon Peter. Was the angel capable of delivering the gospel? I certainly think he was capable to relate the gospel message, but as an angel he had never experienced the gospel. He did not know firsthand the reality of being a sinner and being at enmity with God. He did not know what it was to struggle with temptation to sin. He did not know what it was like to live under the effects of the Fall. He did not understand what it was like to come to faith in Christ and receive mercy and grace, the forgiveness of sins, and an eternal relationship of adoption into God's family. So anything an angel might say would be second hand!
Look at Peter. He was merely a man. But he was a redeemed man! He certainly did not have the eloquence of an angelic messenger, nor the glorious appearance, nor the consistency of obedience to the demands of God, nor the fearlessness in divine tasks. But he knew what it was to be a lost sinner saved through the atoning death of Jesus Christ. He understood what it was to be dead in his trespasses and sins, then made a new creature in Jesus Christ. He knew the struggle with sin, disobedience, failure. And yes, he knew what it was to be forgiven and raised up from the mire of sin to walk in newness of life.
Who would you send: one who knew about the message or one who knew the message experientially?
What qualifies any of us to proclaim the gospel to unbelievers? The fact of our personal redemption through the saving work of Jesus Christ alone qualifies us to testify of the gospel of Christ. My friend, when you were saved you became a messenger of the good news. Now it is imperative that you seek to understand everything you can about the good news so that you might proclaim it with clarity!
2. An essential realization
We must not get cocky at this point. It is rather overwhelming to realize that the Lord has committed to us the word of reconciliation (II Cor. 5:19). To think that you have been chosen by the Creator to tell His human creation about the most important gift the Creator desires to give is rather mind-boggling! If we are not careful, we can slip into an attitude of pride and haughtiness that we are so blessed and chosen by God over even the host of angels.
An important realization settled in on Peter in the midst this narrative. He entered the house of Cornelius after receiving the command to go by the Holy Spirit (vv. 19-20). As he did, Cornelius prostrated himself before Peter and began to worship him (v. 25). Now some people would have enjoyed all the attention and adoration. But those people do not understand the grace of God. Peter responded promptly. "But Peter raised him up, saying, 'Stand up; I too am just a man'."
Do you understand this simple truth? You may be a messenger of the Lord for the gospel. You may be chosen out of the host of humanity for bearing the good news. But you are just a man. You are not God Himself, who can turn people's hearts or save people. You are just a man. You are not all-knowing and all-powerful in dealing with sinners. You are just a man.
As a man, you must be continually aware of your need for dependence upon the Holy Spirit as a messenger of the good news. You must never attempt to use the work of evangelizing for your own glory or self-gain. You must never think that someone gets saved because of your abilities as a witness. You must realize that you are just a man. You must never trust in your intelligence or speaking ability or cleaver words. You are just a man and as such, you need the power of the Spirit to witness of the good news of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8).
3. Overcoming reluctance
Messengers are not always willing participants in delivering their message. Jonah was to go to the city of Nineveh, the great Assyrian capital, and preach repentance as the messenger of God. But what did Jonah do? He fled! He was unwilling to deliver the message of God to the sinful Ninevites. So, the Lord graciously brought Jonah to obedience by using three days in the belly of a great fish for the prophet to consider his responsibility. The sad thing is that Jonah never really overcame his reluctance. He so despised the Assyrians that he did not want God to show mercy to them. He knew that if he preached the message of God that God would probably show mercy. He was right about that but so wrong in his own attitude. He was full of prejudice and even bitterness toward other people. God used him in spite of his reluctance.
But not so with Peter. God worked in his life in order that Peter might overcome his own reluctance. The attitude in Jonah was typical of Jews toward Gentiles. When a Jew became a Christian he was still a Jew in the national sense. He still had years of prejudice to overcome. With that first group of Christians we find that they were quite satisfied to stay in Jerusalem, so God brought about circumstances of persecution to drive them out of Jerusalem and into the world with the gospel. Crossing the Gentile barrier and overcoming reluctance was essential.
The vision of Peter that showed the unclean animals on the sheet lowered from heaven with the verbal command, "Arise Peter, kill and eat!" served to arouse Peter to the fact of his own prejudice against the Gentiles. The vision puzzled him (v. 17) so that he was not sure how to respond to it. God's command was clear, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy" (v. 15). At just that moment the team dispatched from Cornelius' house came to the gates of the home where Peter stayed. The Holy Spirit told Peter to go with these Gentiles without misgivings (v. 19-20). Then he did a most amazing thing, he invited these three Gentile men to spend the night with him as his guests. Jews just did not do this! They had nothing to do with Gentiles, especially in regard to showing hospitality to them. Part of the battle was won!
After Cornelius related the story of the angel appearing to him with the message to send for Peter (vv. 30-33), he gives a response which shows that his reluctance was conquered. "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality." The Lord had already told this to Peter and the disciples, but it did not dawn upon them. "And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold [i.e., Jews]; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd" (John 10:16).
As a messenger of the gospel, you may have some reluctance to carry out your responsibility. My friend, God is at work in your life, your circumstances, your understanding to shatter what ever may stand between you and gospel work. Seek, by God's grace, to overcome your reluctance by the power which God provides.
What stands between us and gospel work?
III. The Barriers to Gospel Work
It is those barriers, some hidden, some obvious, which stand between us and gospel work. Some of the barriers are simple to cross. Others are more complex and require change on our part. Let's consider this in relation to the whole matter of overcoming our reluctance and crossing barriers to deliver the good news of the gospel.
1. Natural barriers
Some barriers are just natural. These include geographic and linguistic hindrances to proclaiming the good news. The little band of disciples in Jerusalem could not even begin to imagine traveling to the ends of the earth to proclaim the gospel. In all likelihood, they had been nowhere but their own little country. Transportation was difficult in their day, since most of it was on foot, through rugged terrain, and often with grave danger of personal attack. So the extent of the great commission's addendum in Acts 1:8, "Unto Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the remotest parts of the earth," would have been like telling us to go to the moon!
These barriers were crossed one at a time, step by step. The scattered disciples preached in Judea. Philip preached in Samaria. Now Peter faced the task of going to the remotest parts of the earth. Geographically, he did not have to go very far--to Caesarea, which was about 70 miles from Jerusalem. But culturally he traveled many miles, for Cornelius was an Italian who would one day likely return to his own country at the end of his military service.
We are most fortunate in our day of seeing geographic barriers broken down by the availability of air travel. There are indeed some places that are difficult to visit due to the lack of development, but this is changing rapidly. We must see the technological developments in travel as opportunity for the gospel to go the ends of the earth. Early missionaries like William Carey, Adoniram Judson, and Hudson Taylor traveled for months in perilous conditions to reach their destinations. We hop on a jet and get to our goal in just a couple of days. We must see the hand of the Lord in this.
Another big natural barrier is that of language. The Lord brought about the widespread usage of the Greek language to help pave the way in spreading the gospel. Many people around the world are trying to learn English and will gladly listen to your explanation of the gospel in English. While street witnessing in Kiev, I discussed the gospel with two young ladies who were studying English in the university. But if you speak English and the person to whom you are witnessing speaks only Russian or German or Spanish, you will probably not get very far with hand signals. Fortunately, there are translators that can come on the scene to help out. But the down-side of this is that some translators do not understand the gospel, so they are trying to translate something which is foreign to them. God can use this and He has many times. But the best way to communicate with a person is in his own language. That is why our missionaries spend typically their entire first year in language study. There are hundreds and hundreds of languages with many dialects that need to hear the gospel clearly.
I offer this as a challenge. Our country is weak in learning other languages. It is a problem of pride rather than intelligence. We think that everyone needs to learn English since we have the greatest country in the world. Many people across the globe are doing this. But we need to consider the greater effect that we can have by learning someone else's language in order to speak the gospel to them in personal terms. To our young people, let me urge you to study foreign languages with a passion so that you might communicate Christ to others in their own language. You may never become a career missionary, but you can use your language skills in both short-term situations and in communicating with visitors to our own community. There is an incredible need for translating good books written in English into every language in the world. Some of you could become instruments in God's hands to affect thousands by translating gospel books into other languages.
Some of us as adults can take this as a challenge as well. We may have studied a language or two while in school. Would you consider rekindling your study of a language in order to be a witness for Christ to people of other languages? Let's seek to do all that we can, by God's grace, to cross the natural barriers we face.
2. Cultural barriers
Peter's biggest barrier was cultural. He was a Jew, Cornelius was a Gentile--and not just any Gentile. He was a Roman, part of the military which occupied Judea and enforced the dictatorship of Caesar. The general attitude of Jews toward the Romans was absolute hatred! They despised them in every way. The atmosphere in which Peter lived was one which considered a hatred of Romans to be perfectly permissible.
Now Peter was called to carry the gospel to this man. All that he had been taught, all of the cultural influences which had shaped his life were being put to the test. For the sake of Jesus Christ, all of this was crushed by the love and mercy of God!
We face cultural barriers that have been built by racial prejudice, social prejudice, economic prejudice. For the sake of the gospel, we must lay all of these in the dust at the foot of the cross. Whatever stands between you and communicating the gospel to a sinner must be broken. We must go to the root of it all and recognize "that God is not one to show partiality," and neither should we who are adopted into his family. This may call for repentance on our part. This may call for a re-focusing of our whole mindset and a changing of attitudes. A good, practical way to work through any cultural barriers you may have to proclaiming the gospel to those who are different from you would be to join our own Richard Hamlet and others as they minister in a local prison and rescue mission. God does not show partiality and neither should we.
3. Personal barriers
We can erect plenty of our own personal barriers in order to excuse ourselves from being witnesses of the goods news of Jesus Christ. Perhaps it is a barrier of an inability to speak. Then consider Moses and Jeremiah, who both excused themselves because of their inability only to discover that God conquers even our inability to speak.
Perhaps it is a barrier of our knowledge of the Bible which we use to excuse ourselves. Then heed the command of Scripture to "be diligent to present yourselves approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth" (II Tim. 2:15). Avail yourself of the many opportunities you have to study the Word. Be a student of the Word and not ashamed of your lack of understanding.
Perhaps it is a barrier of fear of man which we use to excuse ourselves. Then consider those early believers who lived in a powder keg of persecution who risked everything for the sake of the gospel. You are part of their legacy. You have the gospel today because of those first century brethren and multitudes who have followed after them. Look at a William Tyndale who in the 16th century lived as an outcast and hunted man because he dared to translate God's Word into English so that "John Ploughman," the ordinary citizen, might read the Word and understand the gospel. Tyndale and multitudes of others died for the sake of the gospel. How can we cower in fear when we have such a 'cloud of witnesses' before us?
We could go on, but I think this will suffice to point out that whatever our barriers on a personal level may be, God has given us something to overcome them. He provides the grace, strength, power, and ability to carry forth the goods news of the gospel of Christ.
Conclusion
The Lord is working as the Initiator of gospel work, we can be assured of that. And He has given to each of us the word of reconciliation--the message of the gospel. That is not the job of angels, it is the job of the redeemed. Now, let's cross every barrier possible! Let's lay aside every fear! Let's carry the good news of the redeeming work of Christ to helpless, hopeless sinners that they might join all the redeemed in eternity where we will praise the Lord forever and ever!
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