Sabbath: Peter and the Gentiles
Read for This Week’s Study: Acts 2:5-21; Acts 10:1-8, Acts 10:23-48; Rom. 2:14-16; Acts 10:9-22; Acts 11:1-10; Acts 15:1-35.
Memory Text: Then Peter said to them,
Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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(Acts 2:38-39, NKJV).For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call
Peter was the first apostle to proclaim salvation to the Gentiles. He continued to provide leadership in the church for a number of years after its foundation, even after Paul became the missionary to the Gentiles par excellence. Peter, together with Paul, helped the early church and its leadership, mostly Jews, understand the universality of the Great Commission.
Peter worked to bring about an integrated church, uniting Gentile converts, who were unaware of the finer points of Jewish culture, and Jewish converts whose customs tended to take on the character of divine absolutes. Like all pioneer missionaries, Peter had to discriminate between unchangeable divine absolutes and those practices that are cultural and relative and of no important consequence in the life of the believer, whether Jew or Gentile. Thus, it was Peter who, at the Jerusalem Council, declared of the Gentiles that God put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith
(Acts 15:9) and who helped work through the issues that threatened the early church’s unity.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 29.
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Amen to Our God for His plans to Reach out the Gospel to All Nations without favour,,
Indeed God is the Creator of the Universe and Saviour of all People.
Amen
For a few years now the remnant church has been earnestly praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the form of the latter rain, the anticipated second Pentecost (Joel 2:23, 28-32). While the brethren long for this special refreshing the timing is really up to the Lord and like the disciples previously the living saints will have to patiently wait for it (Luke 24:49; James 5:7).
The question though is, are the people ready? No, not the fields; for they are ripe for harvest (John 4:35). Yet the reapers need to be available and ready (Luke 10:2). The purpose of the latter rain is to effect a gathering in from the nations, a miraculous wave of evangelism of Pentecostal proportions, which encourages those who would face very difficult times just ahead.
The Lord has already sent/given the Holy Spirit to all who have asked (Luke 11:9-13). And the convicting and guiding work of the Holy Spirit by way of the former rain is already in progress in the lives of the believers. Those who have benefitted from the ongoing work of the Spirit (Philippians 2:12-16) are made ready for the great outpouring.
Only those who are in position (Acts 1:13, 14) and prepared to witness to even strangers may expect to receive the latter rain; for it will not be wasted showers. Any cherished or clever three- or four-step method which appears to bring result by careful human calculation and strategy will give way to unusual displays of power through straight testimony preaching as at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-8). The impotence of the arm of flesh will be exposed.
The privilege of the closing work is reserved for those who are purged of self and totally submitted to do the Lord. These are they who allow the Spirit to use them as He wills, and not as they prefer. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Revelation 14:4).
I look forward to learning how 'to discriminate between unchangeable divine absolutes and those practices that are cultural and relative and of no important consequence in the life of the believer'
Our GOD haven't any kind of descrimination that's why commanded us to preach the gaspel to every one, MATH 28;19,we have to copy that x-ter in order to convice the world toward him.
The word discriminate means to be able to discern the difference between things and to choose the best, however it is now more commonly used to describe people treating other people negatively because they are different.
The Word of the LORD tells us to test & discern what people preach/teach and to choose only the good and true messages.
1Th 5:19-21 Quench not the Spirit. (20) Despise not prophesyings. (21) Test all things; hold fast that which is good.
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits to see if they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1Co 14:29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
Hug,
Indeed we are waiting for the second Pentecost. Inspiration tells us that it will be greater than the first.
Getting form your comments above, this outpouring has already began.
For we know that type meets the anti-type.
The apostles we in one accord, when they receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Will it not be wise for God to send the second Pentecost when the Church is purified (1Pt 4:17) remaining people with one purpose ready to harvest the world?
We are all the same in the eyes of God, Christ came for the world and given that Stephen was stone which sent the gospel message to the us while we were yet sinner Christ die for us all. Amazing God who our Father.
Thanks to the disciples for taking up the cross and spreading the gospel to this dyeing world.
Yes we're failing to share the gospel because of ethinic issues, culture and the like, but Jesus says go into the world and preaching the gospel to all the Nations