Glory to God for another exposition on the Gospel of Grace with which He is ready to refresh us! I’m sure you were blessed with the Part 1 of this series and you have seen how Jonah reacted to God’s evangelism instruction, how the message he preached went and how the people responded.
Glory to God for another exposition on the Gospel of Grace with which He is ready to refresh us! I’m sure you were blessed with the Part 1 of this series and you have seen how Jonah reacted to God’s evangelism instruction, how the message he preached went and how the people responded.
Now we shall consider another evangelist but now in the New Testament (Grace)…how God convinced him, the message he preached and the response of people to his teaching. The name of this evangelist is PETER! Let me begin by showing you a major similarity between the reaction of Jonah and that of Peter to their specific evangelical calls.
* God had to convince Jonah 2 different times before Jonah agreed to go to Nineveh! (Jonah 1:2, 3:2)
* God had to convince Peter 3 different times before he could go and preach at Caesarea! (Acts 10:10-16)
Hmm… Around 12noon on a faithful day, when Peter was about to eat, he fell into a trance, saw heaven opened and a great sheet was lowered towards him comprising of ALL manner of animals, reptiles, and wild birds! Then a voice said to Peter:
‘…Rise, Peter; kill and EAT’! (Acts 10:13)
Hmm… Peter’s response was:
‘…Certainly not, Lord! For I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean’! (Acts 10:14)
Wow! Now listen carefully: Peter was not ‘disobedient’ by refusing to eat of those animals! He was actually obeying the LAW!
‘…thou shalt NOT eat any abominable (unclean) thing… the camel, the coney …the eagle, the ossifrage …the vulture…’ (Deut 14:3,7,13)
Hmm…. But Peter was yet to understand that there has been a change of covenants!
‘For if that FIRST covenant had been FAULTLESS, then should no place have been sought for the SECOND’! (Heb 8:7)
Hmm…. Many believers are like Peter! They know a lot about the LAW and virtually NOTHING about Grace! The easiest way to identify a believer who is ignorant of God’s Grace is …when the Gospel is preached, the first thing that comes to their mind is: ‘this is a license to sin’!… or ….’This message is too easy’!
Paul said:
‘But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the SIMPLICITY that is in Christ’! (2Cor 11:3)
SIMPLICITY remains the acid test for the true Gospel! Hmmn… Let’s go on! The voice that spoke to Evangelist Peter corrected Peter, saying:
‘…what GOD has cleansed, that call not thou COMMON! (Acts 10:15)
Peter eventually agreed to go and preach at Caesarea to an Italian man named Cornelius who had gathered his family and near friends to hear what Peter had to say. Now, recall what Jonah preached when he got to Nineveh:
‘…yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown’! (Jonah 3:2)
That is how the Old Testament evangelism goes! God is AFTER you! If you don’t repent within FORTY DAYS…you shall be doomed’! Your sins shall find you out! It so surprising to see that many Pastors today preach in this format! Hmm… Well, let’s see what Peter preached when he got to the Italian’s house:
‘…the word which God sent unto the Children of Israel…preaching PEACE BY JESUS CHRIST: (he is LORD OF ALL:)…how God anointed Jesus…who went about doing GOOD….that THROUGH HIS NAME whosoever believeth in Him shall RECEIVE remission of SINS’! (Acts 10:36-43)
Wow! What did you notice? There was NO CONDEMNATION at all in ALL his statement! He was busy exalting the FINISHED WORK OF JESUS ON THE CROSS! Hallelujah!
When Jonah declared judgment over Nineveh…
‘…the people of Nineveh believed God, and PROCLAIMED A FAST, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.’ (Jonah 3:5)
Funny! The preaching of the LAW makes you feel God is so far… you must fast for about 3days before you can convince God to forgive you! But this is not so in the NEW covenant! At the very moment Peter said these last recorded words:
‘…that THROUGH HIS NAME whosoever believeth in Him shall RECEIVE remission of SINS’! (Acts 10:43)
The next verse says:
‘….the HOLY GHOST FELL ON ALL THEM THAT HEARD THE WORD’! (Acts 10:44)
Wow! I wish you are as excited as I am! They did not FAST for the Holy Ghost to Fall on them!
Let me say that again: They did not FAST for the Holy Ghost to Fall on them! The Holy Ghost fell on them at the very instance Peter declare the GOSPEL OF GRACE!!!Hmm….In fact Peter confirmed that these people received the Holy Ghost….THE SAME WAY HE HAD EARLIER RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST’! (Acts 10:47b)Hallelujah!
Let me conclude this teaching by reminding you that Jonah was not happy that God was Gracious to the people of Nineveh! Well, it was the same with the case of Peter too! Only that this time around, it wasn’t Peter who was displeased, it was the Jews who thought Salvation is only meant for those who fulfil the LAW! I love the way the Amplified Bible reveals this:
‘So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party (certain Jewish Christians) FOUND FAULTS WITH HIM (separating themselves from him in an HOSTILE spirit, OPPOSING and DISPUTING and CONTENDING with him), saying….why did you go to the UNCIRCUMCISED men and even EAT with them’! (Acts 11:2-3 AMP)
Wow! These people were making the same mistake Peter made when God showed him vision of eating what men see as ‘unclean’! Peter had to use 15 verses to convince these guys that it was God’s decision to be Gracious to the Gentiles! What I love most here was the definition these guys gave to the whole scenario which Peter explained to them:
‘When they heard this things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, then hath God also granted to the Gentiles REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE’! (Acts 11:18)
Wow! This marvelled me because Peter NEVER told the people he preached to to REPENT! He was only preaching what Jesus did for them! And now the Bible defined the effect of the Gospel on them as REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE! Hallelujah! That is the TRUE repentance!
Some people always attack those who teach the Gospel of Grace as people who don’t preach repentance! Hmm… But left to God….they are the ones actually preaching the REPENTANCE unto LIFE! Glory be to God!
Never forget: the preaching of the Gospel of Grace always leads to REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE!
Amen.
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