March 16, 2014
Scripture:
Scripture:
Let’s read Revelation 4:1. The Lord came down so He could be lifted up. He was lifted up so we could be taken up. This is a little picture of it in advance.
Hymn 101 – Look, thou lost one, to the Saviour
Prayer
Luke 15 is a famous chapter of the Bible. You could say it has either 3 parables or 1 parable with 3 parts. The three parts are connected with similarities. In each part something gets lost, and then found, and then there is joy. Last time, we read about a sheep and its shepherd.
Luke 15:8 - 10
In today’s story, a piece of silver was lost. This woman thought that she had 10 pieces of silver, but once she counted her coins, she realized that she was missing one. My father-in-law used to tell a story of a man walking in the woods many years ago. After walking for some time, he realized that he was walking in circles. He stood where he was and cried, “LOST LOST.” A little while later, a first nation man came walking through the woods and said, “White man lost? Follow me.” It wasn’t until he recognized that he was lost was he able to get help. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. The house in which the silver was lost is a picture of those who profess to be Christians. In that group there are a lot that aren’t really saved. To find the silver, the woman needed to sweep the house diligently. She had to put all her effort into it. Then the woman lit a candle: this is a picture of God’s word. In Psalms we read, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” The silver is a type of those who are precious to God. The light shone in the house and showed where the lost piece of silver was. When God’s word shines into the heart of an unbeliever, it shows them their need for a saviour.
Once she found the missing piece of silver, she celebrated the find with her neighbours. The Lord rejoices when a sinner gets saved. The lost is found!
Acts 10:19-48
Peter was a very Jewish person. He had been brought up under the Jewish law—which puts a wall around the Jews to keep the Jews in and the Gentiles out—so you wonder what he thought about opening the door of the kingdom for the Gentiles.
Let’s look at Ephesians 2:13–15. The “but now” in verse 13 changes everything for us Gentiles. The work that the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross broke down the wall between the Jews and the Gentiles. It’s the same work that saves us that did this; for it took the blood of Christ. We still have Jews and Gentiles today, but we now also have a 3rd group: the church of God (which includes both Jews and Gentiles, when they are saved). This was all accomplished at Calvary, but God used Peter to put it into effect here in our chapter.
Peter had to go through a vision in order to prepare him to bring in the Gentiles. The Holy Spirit then told him, “Three men are looking for you. Go with them, because I sent them.” Peter went down, found the men from Cornelius, and told them, “I’m who you’re looking for.”
Cornelius was devout with what truth he had. Being in a position of leadership, it would have been easy for him to have been proud, but instead he was just. In verse 22 the servant gave Peter Cornelius’ resume, if you will, but interestingly doesn’t mention any of his good deeds.
Peter went with the men, and took some of the brethren from Joppa along. He mentions these brethren later in chapter 11, verse twelve. As he pointed out to Cornelius, what he was about to do was unacceptable under the old law, so he made sure that he had witnesses of what happened. When he arrived at Cornelius’ house, Peter found that he had gathered a lot of friends and relations together to listen to him. Cornelius felt that something important was going to happen and had loving concern for these people.
At first Cornelius fell down at Peter’s feet and worshipped him, but Peter told him not to do it because he was only a man. Paul similarly hindered worship of himself, claiming to be a man “with like passions with you” (Acts 14:15).
These people gathered together afforded a real opportunity for Peter. It wasn’t lawful for him to associate with them, but he wasn’t under the law anymore; he was under grace. Grace had worked, and the partition between them was down. The phrase “what God has cleansed” in verse fifteen is precious, because that’s who we are: people whom God has cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Through our cleansing God has levelled the field, so to speak, between us and the Jews.
Cornelius dealt with God throughout all of this. It was during prayer and fasting that he was told to send for Peter; and he told Peter that they were all present “before God” to hear, not Peter’s philosophy, but what God was saying. His focus was on God.
What an opportunity! Peter realized that God was no respecter of persons. This morning we read that if the Lord was lifted up, He would draw all men unto him. All men; not just the Jews. Romans 10:12-13 tells us that there is no difference between Jew and Greek: all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Also, our chapter mentions that Jesus is Lord of all; not just the Jews. Marvellous truths were being opened up here; truths that we have been brought into.
Hymn 96—If a gained the world, but lost the Saviour
Prayer