June 30, 2010

Joshua 2

“For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, . . . And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” Is it not interesting that when some hear irrefutable evidence concerning the Lord that they believe, but others, when they hear, choose not to believe and fight against Him. Is it not interesting that frequently those who hear and believe are the despised and rejected of society as opposed to the rich and the powerful. Here the woman who believed was a woman who regularly sold her body for the pleasure of men. She chooses to trust in the Lord. The Lord receives her faith. She is listed in the genealogy of Jesus. She is listed in both Hebrews 11 and James 2 as a woman of faith and works. What grace and mercy! And it is available to us all from the God in heaven above and on earth beneath. What about those who do not believe? They become vessels of His wrath. Their end is destruction. In them we see His justice displayed. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

Acts 10:1-23

At this point in the book of Acts it has been an undetermined number of years since Jesus ascended and Pentecost came. With over-conservative certainty we can say that by now the church numbers more than 20,000 men, women and children. Certainly that is a healthy number for a city the size of Jerusalem. But the church is mostly Jewish believers in Jesus, including a number of the priests and Levites. When are they going to start making disciples of the nations? They had given their stamp of approval on the Holy Spirit's demonstration upon the half-Jewish Samaritans. But they have not made any concerted effort to reach outside their Jewish culture with the good news of Jesus. Why?

They were still trapped in their turn-of-the-millennium-Jewish world-view. Any consorting with Gentiles would render them unclean. From their world-view, Jesus may be the Messiah, but the Messiah was for the Jews. If the Gentiles want Jesus, they needed to first convert to Judaism. How does the Lord of Glory communicate the need to depart their world-view and begin making disciples of all ethnic groups? He arranges a series of circumstances to coincide with two different visions given to two different men. As we will see tomorrow, He will then confirm the meeting and visions with the outpouring of His Spirit. Without this vision Peter would never have left his world-view, even though he had heard the command of our Lord to make disciples of all ethnic groups. Without Peter going to Cornelius, there would never have been the auditory and visual confirmation that Gentiles could be saved with out first becoming Jews. Without this confirmation Paul's ministry would have been rejected by the church. Our glorious Lord orchestrated all of these events to push and confirm to His church that we are to make disciples of all ethnic groups. His ability to orchestrate the details of our lives in order to accomplish His purposes is amazing! Indeed we serve a glorious king! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor John