March 23, 2014
Scripture:
Let’s turn to Galatians 6:14. I was thinking of the pile of rocks that the children of Israel set up in the Jordan River after they crossed it. Their forefathers had crossed the Red Sea. Going across the Red Sea was a type of Christ dying for our sins. Those rocks in the Jordan spoke of our death with Him. The pile of rocks at Gilgal was a type of our resurrection with Him. We have died, risen, and are seated with Him. He has purged our sin and sat down on high, but it all has to do with the cross. Where would we be without the cross? Lost—forever lost. Well might we sing songs of praise this morning!
Hymn 312 - Jesus loves me
Prayer
Today we are going to finish going through the kings of Judah. Unfortunately, the kings after king Josiah did not follow the ways of the Lord. A warning is something that we are told not to do or to beware of. These kings are warnings for us of what not to be like.
2 Chronicles 35:20 - 27
After Josiah had the Passover, Necho, king of Egypt, came up to fight against Charchemish. Josiah prepared to go out against Necho, but Necho sent him a message asking him not to come out against him. He warned Josiah that God had sent him and that Josiah shouldn’t fight against God; but Josiah wouldn’t listen. This is Josiah, the one who cleaned up the temple, had the Passover, and got Judah following God again! Josiah didn’t listen; he disguised himself as a soldier and went into the battle. While in the battle, Josiah was hit with an arrow and later died. The people of Judah really loved him and mourned for a long time. This is a sad way for Josiah to have died: for his whole life he tried to please the Lord, but he died because he didn’t please the Lord. Josiah stands out as one of the best kings of Judah.
2 Chronicles 36
After Josiah there were four more kings in Judah. First there was Jehoahaz and he reigned for three months. Then the king of Egypt came and taxed Judah and took Jehoahaz back to Egypt. He placed Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim (also called Jehoiakim) in charge of Judah. Also, while in Judah, Necho took some of the vessels from the temple back to Egypt. After that, King Nebuchadnezzar came and took Jehoiakim to Babylon and Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin reigned in his place. Last to reign in Judah was Zedekiah. Zedekiah reigned for 11 years; sadly he didn’t want do that which was right before the Lord. All of Judah followed Zedekiah into sin. God sent messengers many times to try to get them to change, but they mistreated these messengers. In the end, most of Judah was taken away to Babylon. It’s very sad: the whole city, temple, and walls were burnt with fire and everything was ruined. This is a very important warning that when you sin against God there are consequences.
Acts 10:34-48
This meeting between Cornelius and Peter was critical in the spread of the gospel. Cornelius was a devout man, but from Acts 11:14 we know that he wasn’t saved. He respected God, had turned from heathenism, prayed, and gave alms; and God heard him. The things of God were important to this man. Darby says he was converted (for giving up heathenism), but not saved. Peter acknowledges in verse 37 that there was a teaching that Cornelius knew; something that he had heard.
Peter’s message to these Gentiles is a bit different from the one that he preached in Acts 2. Here, for some reason, he doesn’t mention repentance at all. He said that he realized that God was no respecter of persons, and Romans 10 tells us that there is no difference between Jew and Greek: all that call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. God is rich to all people, and by believing in the Lord you become neither Jew nor Greek, but a Christian.
Peter stepped back to Jesus, telling how He was sent to the Jews. That was familiar, Jewish, ground for him; but, as we said, Peter was beginning to realize that Christ was Lord of all, not just the Jews. Cornelius apparently was familiar with the teaching that spread from John and his baptism, and Peter mentions how Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost (a special anointing for His ministry, Jesus already had the Spirit). We know that the Spirit descended on Jesus when He was baptized by John. (Jesus didn’t need to repent like the others that John baptized, but being baptized was what the righteous were doing at the time, and Jesus wanted to identify Himself with them.) Besides the Spirit, Jesus was also anointed with power, and He went about using that power to expel the power of the enemy, and to heal people oppressed of the devil.
A nice, three-point, outline that Peter brings out in this passage is:
Peter was the link between the Christian Jews and the Gentiles. Christianity grew out of Judaism, and brought in the Gentiles. Peter didn’t fail to mention the cross in his presentation, because that is vital to the Gospel message. Not only that, but the cross shows how the Jews rejected Christ as their Messiah, which helped open the door of salvation to the Gentiles. Jesus was raised from His death on the cross on the third day, and showed Himself to a large, select group of witnesses. No one could say that His resurrection hadn’t happened, because now there were eye witnesses. Peter and the other disciples were told to preach the resurrection, and to proclaim Christ. We get the gospel in a nutshell in verse 43: faith in Christ, forgiveness, and the problem of sin dealt with.
While Peter was speaking—almost just warming up—the Holy Ghost fell on his audience. He had preached faith in Jesus and the remission of sins; what more do you need to say? These people received that remission and the Holy Spirit, and the Jews that came with Peter were astonished. The Holy Spirit was their gift, and now it was given to the Gentiles, too. Cornelius and his friends were speaking with tongues, but notice that they didn’t magnify themselves (like some today who claim to have the gift of tongues), but rather they glorified God.
Not only did the Spirit fall on these people, but Peter commanded that they should be baptized with water. They were baptized in the name of the Lord, and asked Peter to tarry certain days. What a precious time of fellowship they must have had!
Hymn 68 - Christ is the Saviour of sinners
Prayer