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Book: Acts
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Acts 10:34-36 He Is Our Peace
July 1996
I. I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.
A. Cornelius a Gentile centurion had just shared with Peter
how that while he was praying an angel had appeared to him and
told him that his prayer was heard, and that he was to send men
to Joppa to find a man name Simon whose surname was Peter, who
was staying at the house of Simon the tanner who lived at the
sea shore.
1. By tradition the Jews thought that God was a respecter
of persons, that the Jews had a great advantage over
other races in relating to God.
a. This tradition developed in spite of what God
had plainly told them.
DEU 10:17 For the LORD your God [is] God of gods, and Lord of lords, a
great God, a mighty, and awesome, which regardeth not persons,
nor takes a bribe.
b. When King Jehoshaphat was restoring spiritual
order to nation he said to the judges,
2CH 19:7 Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed
and do [it]: for [there is] no iniquity with the LORD our God,
nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts, or bribes.
c. In the book of Job, Elihu the young man that
sitting by listening to the arguments thought
that Job was blaming God for his calamities
saying that God was not being fair to him. He
said it is not fit to say to a king you are
wicked, or to a prince, you are ungodly.
JBO 34:19 [How much less to him] that accepteth not the persons of
princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all
[are] the work of his hands.
d. Paul declared in Romans that there is not
respect of persons with God.
2. God regards you as highly as Billy Graham or the pope.
B. Here Peter is recognizing that God has spoken to a Gentile, and
directed him by His Spirit.
1. Whoever you are today, you may feel that you are very
unimportant, and a nobody, but in the sight of God you
are very important, so much so that God sent His Son to
die for your sins, and if you were the only sinner in
the world, He loves you so much that He would have sent
His Son just for you.
2. In every nation he that fears God and works
righteousness is accepted by Him.
3. God will accept you, if you will come to Him through
His Son Jesus Christ.
II. For the word that God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace
by Jesus Christ.
A. The world has been at war with God, it is in rebellion against
God. As a result the world is being destroyed through its own
folly.
1. We see our society as well as the societies of the
world falling apart.
2. The great sociological experiments of the liberals has
been a total failure, and has left our nation in
shambles. We see the disintegration of the social
order.
3. We are returning to jungle morality and mentality.
4. In trying to throw off all moral restraints we have
been brought into an unbelievable to the
flesh.
5. We are no longer blessed to live in a free society, but
are facing more and more restraints as new laws and
agencies are being created faster than we could
possibly keep up with.
B. To a world that was falling apart because of its rebellion
against God, and had declared war on God, He sent His Son with
a message of peace.
1. Is your world falling apart today? The Son of God has
come to you with a message of peace.
2. It is peace first with God.
ROM 5: 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ:
a. God is granting amnesty to those who have been
in rebellion.
b. He will through His Son grant you a full
pardon.
c. More than that, He will negate the effects and
results of your sin.
d. He will make you a new person, He will give you
a fresh start.
3. Next it is peace with our fellowman. Those of different
ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
EPH 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition [between us];
EPH 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of
commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of
twain one new man, [so] making peace;
EPH 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the
cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
EPH 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to
them that were nigh.
EPH 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the
Father.
4. Peace with ourselves.
a. So many people have a war going on inside of
them.
b. Their lives are filled with turmoil. Their
world seems to be up side down. They are filled
with uncertainty, anxiety, and fear. To them
Jesus speaks wonderful words of peace.
JOH 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the
world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.
c. The psalmist said,
PSA 29:11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will
bless his people with peace.
PSA 56:3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
d. The prophet Isaiah said,
ISA 48:22 [There is] no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
ISA 57:20 But the wicked [are] like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest,
whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
e. Paul in writing to the Philippians speaks of a
peace that passes all understanding keeping
your hearts and minds.
III. The message of the gospel is a message of peace.
A. To warring factions, there are two roads to peace. One is by
surrender, and the other by conquering. In your war with God
the only hope for peace is by your unconditional surrender to
Him.
1. You cannot possible overcome Him, and the longer you
fight the worse your condition becomes.
2. God demands unconditional surrender, He will make no
treaty with sin.
B. In the battle against your own flesh, the self life, as your
flesh wars against your spirit, and your spirit against your
flesh, He will give you the power to overcome.
1. We have all of us experienced the rebellion of our
flesh against the life of the spirit. The mind of the
flesh is not subject to the law of God neither indeed
can it be.
2. We have all experienced what Jesus said of Peter, "The
spirit
indeed is willing but the flesh is weak."
3. For this reason God has provided us with His Holy
Spirit, so that he who walks after the Spirit will not
fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
IV. Speaking of Jesus Christ Peter said, "He is Lord of all."
A. He is the Lord over the Universe.
B. He is the Lord of Jews and Gentiles.
C. He wants to be the Lord of your life. If you will receive Him
as your Lord, He will become your Savior. "If you will confess
with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart
that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
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