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The Salvation of the Kuna
Acts
10:1-6
Please see a special resource about Kuna Missions at GBC
This week we were
privileged to see 189 in a remote Indian tribe come to know Christ as
Savior. Praise the Lord!
And our text is about sending the gospel to them and others like
them. It’s now about 10 years
after the day of Pentecost, and though the early church has made great
strides and reached a lot of people, they are making no efforts to reach the
Gentiles. [other races] Those 3k saved at
Pentecost…all Jews. 5k saved a couple chapters
later…all Jews. Why weren’t they trying to
reach others? Prejudice!
It’s true, they had been raised as a very exclusive group, but Jesus
came to break down those walls of division, and yet most Jews still hated
Gentiles, and thought of them as a lower life form! They felt it was defilement
to be w/, eat w/, talk to a Gentile…when returning from a Gentile city, they
would stop and take off their sandals and knock them together to get the
Gentile dust off!
And they wouldn’t eat
Gentile foods or any food prepared by one…it wasn’t “Kosher”. This wasn’t just a cultural
barrier, this was a brick wall…but a wall that God said had to come down! He had said in Mark
Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
That included the Gentiles! Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in
That included the Gentiles! And if the rest of the
world was to ever have a chance of being saved, this wall would have to come
down, and it did in Acts 10…and you and I should be very thankful
that it did!
Chances are, you and I
wouldn’t be sitting in this room if not for this occurrence!
Now the question is, will
we reach out to other races? The
Kuna Indian? How about the
Japanese, the Philippino, the Aussie, the Chilean, the German, and the
tribes of Our text gives us the
principles to apply...
It
all started with a searching Gentile soldier.
[Cornelius]
It
involved a soul-winning gospel servant.
[Peter]
It
involved a surprising Gentile salvation. First point today…
Cornelius-- v. 1-2 Centurion commanded 100 men in
Roman army. They were fearless,
steady men of backbone, prepared to die for their country. v. 2 makes it clear he was
more than a good soldier… he was a very good man…pointing out the fact that
a person can be very
moral, and
quite religious,
and still not be saved!
1.
He was a Good man.
[devout] Means he had turned away
from paganism and idol worship, which was rampant in the Ex.—many in that culture
would worship Aphrodite, the goddess of sex, aka-Venus.
They had a temple dedicated to her, and worshippers there indulged in
all kinds of licentious, perverted sexual practices.
It was gross immorality, and Cornelius had turned his back on all of
that…he knew that was wrong. He
was devout. Some here are worse off
than Cornelius…you still bow down and worship the god of sex.
You’re farther away from salvation than Cornelius was, and you’re not
seriously wanting to be free from it.
Or maybe you would profess to be saved, and if you truly are saved
then you’re like So you worship the god of
sex on TV, and the internet, and your eyes browse around people you see in
public, and your thought life is like a meditation…a worship time, of the
god called sex. You’re bound to
act on it eventually, though God already considers you to be acting on it! Cornelius knew better…he
was a devout man. Another pagan religion of
those days was the worshipping of the goddess Diana [Acts 19]. Her massive temple was a
wonder of the ancient world.
Silversmiths would make little idols of Diana and made a lot of money doing
so.
But God said not to worship
any graven image, and Cornelius knew that and believed that…he was a devout
man. Some here today are further
from salvation than Cornelius.
You may not worship statues…you prefer to worship pictures of
Presidents…money! Here’s
how you can tell if you
worship money:
·
You
don’t mind lying to get more of it.
[cheating]
·
You
don’t mind gambling to get more of it.
·
You
don’t mind spending it frivolously.
·
You
don’t mind spending money you don’t have.
·
You
don’t mind spending God’s money. A “God” is something we
give priority to, and many of us have our financial priorities all out of
whack and we spend God’s tithe on a car or truck, or to have more house than
we can afford, or on past credit mistakes or medical expenses, and then
wonder why we can’t ever seem to get our head above water!
We get behind on God when we’re away or have unexpected bills, and
never make it up to the God that we say we are worshipping! Don’t get me wrong…God
doesn’t mind us having nice things, as long as we don’t put them ahead of
Him! Luke 16:13
No servant can
serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or
else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon. [money] But Cornelius was a devout
man…he had turned away from money, idols, paganism and pleasure.
He was a good moral man, a religious man…but he wasn’t saved. v. 2 “feared God”
2.
He was a God-Fearing man. Prov. says the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom…it’s a good thing to fear God, for you can’t
be saved until you at least have that healthy fear!
[a holy respect!] “No Fear” is the motto of
our lost world around us. Even
today’s religious world has no reverence, no awe, for Almighty God!
His name is spoken in vain
because they don’t fear God. Our older folks remember a
time when lost people had more respect for the name of God than many
so-called Christians have today! Immorality runs rampant
because people don’t fear God. Hebrews 13:4
Marriage is
honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers
God will judge.
People don’t believe that.
They think of God like some old man w/ a long, white beard, in a
rocking chair, winking at our indiscretions!
Hebrews 10:31
It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. “but I thought He was a God
of love?”
Yes!
That’s why He sent His Son to die on the cross!
But if you reject His offer of love, you’ll soon see another side of
God…the Judge. His wrath and
anger against sin deserve respect! Psalm
God is angry with
the wicked every day. Proverbs 2:22
But the wicked
shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out
of it. You can stand against God,
but not for long! The point:
Cornelius understood all of this, he feared God…but he wasn’t saved.
3.
He was a Generous man. v. 2 He gave to
charity…much like
And Cornelius was like
that…but He wasn’t saved! You
can’t buy your way into heaven…and don’t start tithing for any reason other
than obedience to God’s command to do it, trusting in His promised blessing!
4.
He was a Praying man. I used to say God doesn’t
hear the prayers of lost people…but I was wrong!
v. 3-4 This passage proves that he
wasn’t saved, and yet his prayers were heard and answered!
So, don’t ever use answered prayers as a proof of your
salvation…don’t say, I know I’m saved, because I’ve had prayers answered…it
may be that God did that to demonstrate to you that He’s real, and that if
ever you realize you need to be born again and ask Him to save your soul,
He’ll answer that prayer too!
God
took note of these facts that
Cornelius was good, giving, praying, fearing God and was seeking Him,
but let’s be
crystal clear, none of
that could save Cornelius.
In spite of all his prayers he still wasn’t saved…in spite of his
devotion/generosity/respect for God and country…
Proof… Acts
Who shall tell thee
words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. God told Peter to go tell
this man how to be saved!
Cornelius’ searching did
not save him, but God honored his searching, and sent Peter,
whom He had prepared! This answers the age old
question: what about people in
other countries who never hear the gospel, and die…do they go to hell?
The answer from the Bible
is yes!
We
all have a “God-consciousness”. Romans 1:20
For the invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;
so that they are without excuse: Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare
the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Everyone has been given
enough light to then have the chance to demonstrate to God whether or not
they want more light…and then God is obligated to send someone to them.
When God sees a
heart that is searching, He’ll send them more light!
This is why we’re obligated
to do our part for our Missions program.
[many new people here]…for God places in the hearts of some to leave
it all behind and dedicate their lives to taking the gospel to remote
regions not spoiled w/ the gospel as America has been, and we’re obligated
to help them.
3
choices:
We
can pray, and we can give, or we can go!
We can’t all go to And we can ALL go to those
searching that are seated right next to us at work, or living right next to
us!
We,
like Peter, need to get past our prejudices and share the gospel
as if we were truly thankful that it was shared with us,
here
and around the world! Cornelius’ searching did
not save him, but God honored his searching by sending him more light…matter
of fact, God dispatched an angel!
[to tell Cornelius what to do] v. 5-6 No doubt there’s some
listening right now, and you’re seeking, and God loves you so much that He’s
made sure you are hearing this at this very moment…He’s sending the light
you’re looking for, now will you receive it? Maybe you’ve assumed you
WERE saved because of good works, good intentions, or just having a good
heart, but today you realize you’ve never crossed the threshold…today you
realize you can’t save yourself, only Jesus can save you!
Please see a special resource about Kuna Missions at GBC
Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
NOTICE! Our sermons are free to download, copy and paste, edit and use as you see fit...but only our free subscribers get the newest messages, featured sermons, and some free gifts we shower on them from time to time! Help keep this service free by recommending it using the links above the sermon
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