Life for the Nations

Oct 22

Written By Jacob Haywood

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Acts 11:1-18

“Who was I to stand in God’s way?” (11:17b)

“Then to the Gentiles [nations] also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (11:18b)

What is God’s way?

God grants repentance. (1, 14, 18b)

What does it mean that they “received the word of God”? First it means they heard the Word.

Acts 10:43 – All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

Secondly it means they believed the Word. We are not to conform the Word to us. We are to conform to the Word. That includes with different lifestyles, and that includes with theology.

All our beliefs and all our life’s pursuits should be centered on and flowing from the Word of God. Through the Word and by the Spirit, God changed the thinking of these Christians on a matter that was essential for the spread of the gospel. If the Gentiles had been required to adopt Jewish rituals and ceremonies to be saved, the gospel would not have spread among the Gentiles as it had, and it would be a different “gospel.”

The fact that we are granted the opportunity for repentance is by the grace of God.

God leads to life. (18b)

Repentance leads to life. Life comes through repentance. Gentiles were separate from God’s people in the Old Testament primarily because they chased after false gods and lived lifestyles contrary to the Word of God. In the Old Testament, these were enemies of God. And just as it is today, all enemies of God deserve to die. [By the way, that’s how many Muslims see it still]. BUT that is not the way it is with Jesus. Jesus died in our place so that we can live!

Repentance means turning. It’s turning from something and it’s turning to something. There’s only one direction that leads to life, and it’s toward Christ. The people who fight against the way of Christ do so to their own detriment.

In Eugene Peterson’s excellent book, Run with Horses, he tells the story of his frustration trying to remove the blade from his lawnmower. He had tried everything and finally his neighbor came over and asked if it was possible that he was actually tightening it, not loosening it. What a great analogy sometimes for life. We think we need to keep pushing harder and harder in one direction, when all we need to do is go another (also a great metaphor for repentance).

To be told we are wrong is sometimes an embarrassment, even a humiliation. We want to run and hide our heads in shame. But there are times when finding out we are wrong is sudden and immediate relief, and we can lift up our heads in hope. No longer do we have to keep doggedly trying to do something that isn’t working.
A few years ago I was in my backyard with my lawnmower tipped on its side. I was trying to get the blade off so I could sharpen it. I had my biggest wrench attached to the nut but couldn’t budge it. I got a four-foot length of pipe and slipped it over the wrench handle to give me leverage, and I leaned on that—still unsuccessfully.
Next I took a large rock and banged on the pipe. By this time I was beginning to get emotionally involved with my lawnmower. Then my neighbor walked over and said that he had a lawnmower like mine once and that, if he remembered correctly, the threads on the bolt went the other way. I reversed my exertions and, sure enough, the nut turned easily.
I was glad to find out I was wrong. I was saved from frustration and failure. I would never have gotten the job done, no matter how hard I tried, doing it my way.[1]

The turning in Peter’s narrative was two ways. The Gentiles were now turning to Christ, and the Jewish Christians were turning to see God’s heart for the nations.

God has people from all nations. (4-9)

God has always been a God of all nations. All the way back to the Abrahamic covenant, we see God’s heart for the nations. “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). The Greek word for “gentiles” in our text is ethnos, which is often translated “nations.”

Not only throughout history past has God been a God of all nations, but that’s what we see in eternity.

Revelation 5:9-10 – 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation (ethnous), 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

God orchestrated the plan for Cornelius to come to faith through the witness of Peter. God prompted both Peter and Cornelius. It was God’s plan to save the nations because He is the God of all nations.

Peter didn’t want God to be a God of all nations. He argued against what God was telling him. The vision had to be repeated three times! But God’s plan of salvation was far bigger than what Peter and his fellow Jewish Christians imagined. And they were potentially standing in the way of God’s plan.

How do we stand in God’s way?

We put up barriers to the gospel. (2-3)

These Jewish Christians were more concerned about Peter violating Jewish laws than they were happy about the Gentiles being saved. We, too, elevate certain traditions over people being saved.

The Apostle Paul said, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Cor 9:22).

Just recently there is a Facebook post that is being shared widely. It is from a female former tv star/tattoo artist who just came to faith in Christ. She came out of witchcraft, was saved by Christ, and was baptized. She’s covered in tattoos, and the video she posted of her baptism showed people there watching her baptism that don’t look like your typical churchgoers, or at least who I see primarily at First Baptist in Portland. The sad thing is, she posted another video later saying that though she had a lot of encouragement, there was an overwhelming amount of criticism from Christians online in response.

It made me think, “Would she and her friends be welcomed here?” I’ll let you answer that question for yourself. If the answer is any form of “no” for any one of us, we are putting up barriers to the gospel.

We seek ethnocentricity.

Ethnocentricity refers to a belief that your culture or ethnic group is superior to another's. Ethnocentric individuals are biased in that they draw conclusions about other cultural groups based on their own cultural values, norms, and traditions.

The church should consist of a diverse group of people, not just “my” kind of people. Remember, the church is called to unity, not uniformity. That’s part of the beauty of the gospel. We are united by the gospel, not by our likes and dislikes. It is the blood of Jesus that binds us together.

It was Martin Luther King who said that 11 o’clock on Sunday mornings is the most segregated time in Christian America. What do we see when we look into heaven? We see the nations! We see every kind of people! And Jesus taught us to pray that “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”

We withhold the gospel. (13-14)

The angel didn’t preach the gospel to Cornelius, but rather told him that Peter would, and we see that message of the gospel in Acts 10:34-43. How often are we given opportunities to share the gospel so that someone can be saved? Every day. How often do we turn away from those opportunities? Every day. Church, let’s not stand in God’s way.

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