Word of Salvation – Vol. 20 No.17 – January 1974

 

Christ, The One Ordained By God To Be The Saviour

 

Sermon by Rev. W. J. Van Schie, Th.Grad. on Acts 10:42-43

 

(Introduction:)

It is hard for us to understand that the church as we have it today has not always been the same.  Today we have the complete Bible.  We have Doctrines that systematize the knowledge of the Bible.  We have a Church Order that is complete.  Everything seems so cut and dried; so neat and final.

Well the church was not always like this.

Especially in Peter’s time.  In Peter’s time there were men like Cornelius, who was a Devout person worshipping and fearing God.  Although he was a Gentile he was highly regarded by the Jews as a worshipper of God.  But his whole religion was based on the Old Testament.  His worship, his belief was incomplete.  So God sends an angel to Cornelius and tells Cornelius to send for Peter.

Peter was also in a predicament.  For years as a Jew he had been taught that the Jews had to be separate from the Gentiles, separate and pure to God.  The Jews had a special diet which put them apart from anybody else.  And then God revealed a vision to Peter: there was to be no more separation of clean and unclean, God sent Peter into the company of these Gentiles with Cornelius.

Now why did God bring these two together?  Peter who had been taught never to mix with the Gentiles.  And Cornelius and his friends who believed in the God of the O.T.

It was quite obvious to Peter.  God does not show any partiality towards one particular nation.  God’s favourites are in every nation.  The Barriers are broken down.

But there was more.  These people had an incomplete faith.  Just like the Jews they were still waiting for the Messiah.  So now Peter has to fill that Gap.  And show these people that their faith is incomplete.

The first point I want to make today concerns:

I.  CHRIST THE MESSAGE

Now this was no easy task even for Peter.  How was he going to tell these Gentiles the good news?  The whole idea of going to the Gentiles was still new to Peter.  He still had to orientate himself.  By what authority could Peter, a Jew, speak to these Gentiles?  Speak to them representing God?

But Peter had to speak.  He was commanded to speak.  Commanded to go out.  He had been given one great command by the Master Himself.  THIS was Peter’s authority.

So Peter says to these Gentiles: I come to you because I was commanded to come, by God.  But I was also commanded to speak a message to you by Jesus Christ.  I am telling you all this because He said: Go ye into the world and make disciples of all nations.

This was an order.  And I can’t disobey it.  I have been ordered to bring this message to you.  And that is why I am here today.  As one having been ordered by his Superior.”

Now not everyone received this order.  Only a chosen few have this task.  Only a chosen few have the responsibility.  This message was given to us.

= = = = =

We were commanded by Christ to preach.  To go out to the public and preach the good news.  Just like heralds, who go out into the public squares, to proclaim decrees from the King.  So we the Apostles are commanded to be Heralds.  But in Public we have to preach the message of the King.  Being commanded by our king to bring the message, in such a way that the people will hear it.

But just like the Herald, I am only the carrier of the message.  The Herald does not make up the message.  The King has made the message.  The Herald proclaims the message as it was given to him.  He cannot change the message at all,

In the same way we the apostles, says Peter, bring our message from our Master.  It is a message that cannot be changed.  We are only carriers.  We are commissioned to bring this message to the people.

And the reason why we carry this message is because we are witnesses.  We have seen what the message is all about.  And this is serious.  We know that the message that we have been commanded to bring is the truth.  We have seen it for ourselves.  We have witnessed it ourselves.  And in bringing this message to you we testify that it is the truth.

We are so earnest to convince you that this is the truth, that we are even willing to swear by oath if need be.  It is the truth.  The solemn serious truth.  Accept it as such.  The message is nothing more and nothing less than the Truth”.

= = = = =

Well it wouldn’t be hard to think that Peter made quite an impression on this small group of Gentiles.  Here stands a man commissioned with an order.  An order to be a herald of a message.  And to be a witness to that message.  God has given this man quite a responsibility.

But is it true that the apostles were the only ones given this task?  It is true that Christ commanded them to go out into all the world.  It is also true that they are the eye-witness apostles.  But this does not mean, that this command is meant only for them alone.  That one command, “Go ye into all the world”, with the Gospel of Jesus the Christ applies to all believers.  That one command, that Great Commission applies also to us.

We are to be like heralds in this world today.  People carrying a message.  BEING the message everywhere we go.  Publicly speaking about Christ.  Explaining the message to others AND bearing witness to the message by the lives that we live.  Showing that we are convinced by its truth, that the message that we bring IS the truth.  And we are to be solemn.  Earnest.  Eager.  Time is running out.  There are many people who need the message; need the message to bring them to Salvation In Jesus Christ.

Then the modern Gentiles can look at us and say, There goes one of those Christians.  A Man with a message.  A Message that controls him.  He has been commanded to pass on the message.  You can see him doing this, by his words and deeds.

Do people say that about us today?  Do people look at us the same way that these Gentiles in that room looked at Peter?  Here stands a man ordered by God to give me a message?

Many times we are not sure of the message for ourselves.  What is this message?  This is the question that the Gentiles were asking Peter.  They had come together because Cornelius had asked them to come.  Then Peter came as a man with a message from God.  This message was going to revolutionize their lives.  What is this message that is so important?

So, secondly I want to mention

||.  JESUS CHRIST THE ONE ORDAINED BY GOD.

“Well,” says Peter, “you have been expecting the Messiah for some time.  You have been studying the Old Testament.  You have been worshipping the God of Israel as your God even though you are Gentiles.  And you are waiting for the Messiah to come.  The chosen One.  The anointed One of God.

Well He has come!!  This One that you have been waiting for.  This One that has been promised.  He has come.

And truly this man was designated by God.  He was sent by God.  Prepared by God for His task,

And there is no one else like Him.  None other will be like Him, There is only the one Messiah.  And that was the Messiah chosen and sent be God, The Messiah Jesus Christ,”

= = = = =

Well we can imagine the reaction of the Gentiles, as they listened.  “He has come!  The Messiah that we read about, that we studied about, He has come!!  Are you sure Peter?  Was Jesus really the Messiah?”

And as if Peter was anticipating a question like this, Peter says, Jesus has Divine Authority.  Divine power.  Power and Authority to Judge.  So in this sense He is really the Messiah, He is a Judge.

He is a Judge and he will call to account.  He will ask people to account for their actions.  He will separate the different peoples.  Those who live in rebellion against God.  And those who live lives in accordance with God’s will.  Jesus is this powerful Judge.

= = = = =

This One does not rule just over the living of today.  Like an ordinary emperor or king.  No this Messiah, Jesus, rules over the living and the dead.  People who are now living and people who are now dead.

Cornelius and his friends knew what this meant.  This was one of the characteristics of the Messiah that they had studied so much.

He is not just an earthly ruler.  Ruling over the living.  Judging the living.  No, the Messiah also judges the dead.  Something that no earthly king can do.  The Messiah is truly Divine.  Sent by God.  Being God.  Having God-given powers.  To rule everyone… Both the living and the dead.

We can just see the Gentiles sitting there in that room.  What a message: The Messiah, the Judge almighty has come.  Well this means something for our present beliefs.  They are now incomplete.  We must change them, the Judge has come.

Jesus being the Judge appointed and sent by God has a claim on us.  We must change to meet this Judge.  We must change our beliefs.  Change them to suit the truth.  We can’t go on in our O.T. beliefs as if Jesus the Judge has not come.  We cannot continue on in our simple worship via the priest, carrying out the law, carrying out the different sacrifices, waiting for the Judge.  We can’t go on like this, the Judge HAS COME.  We must change to include the truth.

= = = = =

The situation is very much the same today.  Jesus Christ the One sent by God is still Judge.  All power and Authority is still His today.  Christ is in heaven and one day He will judge the living and the dead.  He has that power as Judge: even today.

Christ as Judge has direct bearing on us today.  For we will be judged for the actions that we do today.  Man will be called to account for his whole life.  How he lives now will determine how he will be judged.

The judgement will be inescapable.  All men will have to face that judgement.  All men living or dead will have to face Christ, and account for their whole life.

So Christ just being the Judge… having all that Power and Authority though not fully exercising it yet, has a claim on the lives of men today.  And just like the Gentiles people are being warned by this message.  If we have an inadequate belief, or a wrong belief, then we must change it to the truth.

But then the question comes up.  What is the truth?  This is the same question that the Gentiles could have been thinking.  When Peter told them all this, they might have asked themselves, “Is this the truth”?  Jesus the ordained Messiah from God?  “Jesus the Judge”?  “Is this a new religion”?  “A new religion for everybody”?

Which leads us to the third point:-

III.  CHRIST THE SAVIOUR PROPHESIED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.

“No,” says Peter.  “No, this is not a new Religion.  No, this is the true religion as you have been studying it in the Old Testament.  This message is the continuation of the Old Testament.  The Fulfilment of the Old Testament.  The whole Old Testament looks forward to this Messiah.  It is not a new religion: it is the same as the old.

What is new is that the Old Testament that you have been studying has been fulfilled.  All the prophets have been speaking about this Messiah.  Not just some of the prophets but all of them.  All of them pointed forward to the Christ.  And Jesus was this Christ.  Christ the Judge: of the Living and the Dead.”

But he was not prophesied as Judge alone, Psalm 110 says, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand till I make Thy enemies a stool for Thy feet.”  He was prophesied by all the prophets as being the SAVIOUR.  The One who will save his people.

Isaiah 33:22,

“For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Ruler, the Lord is our King, He will save us.”

Isaiah 53:5,

“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.  Upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes we are healed.”

Jeremiah 31:34,

“For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.”

Ezekiel 34:15,

” Myself will be the shepherd of My sheep, and I will make them lie down says the Lord God.  I will seek the lost and bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over, I will feed them in justice.”

The Gentiles with Cornelius knew these prophecies.  All the prophets looked upon the Messiah as the Saviour.  And then Peter says Jesus is this Saviour, who does this work for God.  Jesus forgives sins.

Jesus by dying that torturous death on the cross.  By giving his life a ransom for many…  Gave Himself so that the Old Testament prophecies may be fulfilled.  By His stripes we are healed.  He was wounded for our transgressions.  He was bruised for our iniquities.  His chastisement made us whole.  And we the lost sheep have been returned to God.

This has been prophesied centuries ago.  And it has happened, says Peter.  Our sins have been dismissed by Christ’s actions.  Our sins have been taken away from us.  And we are pure.

God didn’t just close His eyes to our sins.  Forget them.  No, He punished Jesus Christ in our place.  By-passed us.  And gave our punishment to Christ.

= = = = =

Concerning this Saviour, Peter immediately adds, “You must believe in Him.”  Believe!  Believe in Him and then the forgiveness of sins is yours.

Now a lot depends on that little word “believe.”  The devils believe but they are not saved.  They even do more than just believe, they know for a sure fact that Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God chosen by God.  But they are not forgiven or saved.  So what does “believe” mean?

It means to be convinced.  Not just believe in the sense of to accept or to know.  It means more.  To know, to accept, but also to be convinced, to be persuaded.  Be persuaded by the truth to such an extent that we are committed to the truth.  Believing to the point of commitment.

This kind of belief doesn’t come and go.  This kind of belief comes and stays.  The person is convinced by the truth.  The truth has such a hold on him that he won’t reject it.  He is convinced by it and he will stay convinced, and will stay committed to the truth.

Stay committed to what?  A theology?  A written set of rules?  A new interpretation?  What must the believer believe?

He must believe in His name.  Jesus’ name reveals who He is.  He is the Saviour.  He is the Saviour alone.

No one else can bear that name.  Bear that name and live up to it.  Only Jesus is the Saviour.

And we must believe on that one Person, That one name as being the only name.  Being the only Person Who can save us from our sins.

This is quite a message.  The Messiah has come.  As a JUDGE, He is prophesied in the Old Testament.  As a SAVIOUR he is prophesied in the Old Testament.  And now Peter says, as One being sent by God, Jesus has this power as a Judge.  Jesus has died for our sins.  Jesus is the promised Messiah.  We must believe in Him, trust in Him, commit ourselves to Him alone, for our Salvation.

= = = = =

 (Conclusion)

Modern man is in very much the same situation.  Cornelius and the Gentiles with him had an incomplete belief.

And as such it wasn’t adequate, it was wrong.  But modern man also has his beliefs.

Modern man says that he has no beliefs at all.  That this is something of the past.  Something that belongs to superstitions and fears of the unknown.  Now we know so much more, we don’t need beliefs.

But in saying this people are saying that they believe In themselves.  Believe in their own knowledge.  Believe in their own thinking.

Then there are others who also have a belief.  Who believe that man can improve himself.  That all the world needs now is love.  They have their own causes for which they work.  But it is all the same… working to improve man.  Trying to improve the world from the outside.

But all this is vain, it is all useless.  It may be good to believe in yourself, it may be good to believe in a cause.  While you are living and working.  But this message of hope, of improvement ends in death…. and then what?  Is death the end?  This is the message of the humanist.  No hope at all.  In life or in death.

But Peter came with a different message.  He gave a different message to these Gentiles.  A Message of hope.  Hope for the present and a hope for the future.  And that message of hope is also a message for man today.  We too can have hope.

For the message is Jesus Christ.  As the Son of God.  Chosen by God.  Sent by God.  To Judge and to save men from their sins.  Prophesied for centuries.  Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.

What is our response to the claim of Scripture?  “Jesus is the Messiah!”

Will you respond as these Gentiles responded?  “We must change to accept the complete truth.  We must stop looking at our present beliefs and change to the fuller truth.”

Believe in this Jesus, the Christ, alone for our Salvation.  How will you meet Christ in the future?  What do you think of Christ now in the present?

Amen.