Culture and tradition wanted to hamper the spread of the gospel to the gentiles! If the Jewish believers could have their way, they would keep the gospel from coming to the gentiles but the Influence of the Spirit changed everything
#July19
#ThePlatformII
#InfluenceOfTheSpirit
When you study the Bible, you will see how the Holy Spirit deliberately decided the fate of the unbelievers despite the natural inclinations and limitations of the apostles. In Acts Chapter 10, we saw the most historical and unusual event unfold in the History of Adonai and His
relationship with Israel
A gentile (Unbeliever, non-Jew) who believed in the God of the Jews was praying at his home in Caesarea! An angel of God (A Malak) previously only known to appear to select Jews exclusively throughout the old testament appeared to this uncircumcised ROMAN
It had never ever happened before in Biblical account! When angels appear in the camp of non-jews in the old testament, it was almost always for destruction in times of war!
The angel spoke clearly to Cornelius (A man praying the JEWISH way at about the ninth hour of the day)
The angel said "Your prayers and ALMS have ascended as a memorial before GOD! And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter, he is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea...
Cornelius called his servants and TOLD them what had happened to
him
Then he sent them off to Joppa to get Peter!
(please note that as a centurion, Cornelius was in command of at least 80 legionaries of the Roman Army)
The Holy Spirit knew the Idea of going into a gentile's house and ministering to Him would be too much for PETER to bear
The Holy Spirit knew that the Jewish nation and apostles would oppose the Idea of a gentile follower of Jesus due to their legal and exclusive mindset
So the Holy Spirit prepared Peter while Cornelius' men were still on their way
According to Acts 10 vs 9, the next morning, just
as Cornelius's men approached Joppa, Peter went to Simon the Tanner's housetop to pray at about the sixth hour and suddenly he became very hungry and asked that food should be prepared for him
While they were preparing the food, Peter fell into a trance and he saw the Heaven open
He saw a vessel with a sheet knit at the four corners descend from heaven and it it were all manner of "unclean" or "impure" animals, birds and reptiles
A voice said to Him "Rise, Peter, Kill and eat"
Peter replied that he had never eaten anything that is common or unclean in his
life. Then the voice said "What God has cleansed, do not call unclean"
Peter saw this vision and had this interaction three times before the net was pulled up into heaven and he came out of the trance
As Peter began to wonder what the vision meant, Cornelius' servants arrived!
Peter spoke with them and was made to understand that The angel of the Lord told Cornelius to send for Peter so that Peter can speak with him
The next day, Peter followed them
Cornelius had invited his friends and family members
Peter arrived and walked confidently into Cornelius
house
Peter said "You know it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or visit anyone who is not a Jew but God has shown me that I should not call any person or unclean! this was why I came without objection!"
Cornelius told Peter his experience with the angel and Peter said to
him and the crowd in vs 34 "Truly, i understands that God shows no partiality" Then Peter told them the story of Jesus and that Jesus commanded the disciples to testify that He is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living & the dead, to him all the prophets bear witness
that everyone who BELIEVES IN HIM RECEIVES FORGIVENESS OF SINS through His name"
As Peter was speaking, The HOLY SPIRIT fell on all who heard the word
The Jews (Circumcised believers) who were with Peter were amazed because the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT was poured out on gentiles
Cornelius, his friends, relatives and members of his household were baptized in the name of Jesus!
This was how the HOLY SPIRIT influenced the spread of the gospel to non-Jews like you and I!
I will be teaching tonight on Zoom and all GSWMI platforms on telegram
Please join us
Topic: The Platform II: “Influence of The Spirit”
Time: Jul 19, 2020 05:00 PM West Central Africa
Join Zoom Meeting
us02web.zoom.us/j/83625874127
Meeting ID: 836 2587 4127
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