(Nuggets from Acts 10:45)
Cornelius, the Centurion was a devout, and just man who feared God, and was of good report, but his moral uprightness was not enough.
God saw his SINCERITY and decided to show him mercy by offering him SALVATION, SANCTIFICATION and HOLY GHOST BAPTISM instantly.
‘The circumcised believers, (the Jews), were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, (the non-Jews). For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God’ (Acts 10:45).
Again and again throughout human history, God has made a crucial intervention that absolutely no one was expecting, He has done incredible things that have shown His supremacy and unpredictable nature.
Abram was not expecting God to make him a promise, but He did!
The Israelites were not expecting God to send Moses, but He did!
The Jews were expecting the Messiah, but when He came they didn’t recognize Him.
Absolutely no one was expecting the Messiah to be crucified;
No one was expecting that God would raise Jesus from the dead, despite the fact that Jesus had repeatedly told His apostles this would happen!
The believers were expecting the Holy Spirit but none of them knew what was about to happen at Pentecost. (The crowd was so bewildered, (Acts 2:6) that the leading evangelistic sermon ever preached began with the statement; ‘these people are not drunk!’ (Acts 2:15).
As it was in the case of Cornelius and his household, nobody was expecting the Holy Spirit to come on the Gentiles!
The Holy Spirit didn’t even wait for Peter to finish his talk; at the precise moment when Peter had stated that there is forgiveness for everyone who believes in Jesus, the Spirit fell on the believing Gentiles and they spoke in tongues and praised God.
‘God showed that He accepted the Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 15:8).
The outpouring of the Spirit on the Gentiles is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham; He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Galatians 3:14).
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29).
God acted and every single person in the room was in shock! The Gentiles were astonished that they were encountering Christ in the Spirit, and the Jews were astonished that God had poured out His Spirit on the Gentiles!
Many who are the first will be last, and many who are the last shall be first. (Matthew 19:30, 20:16); In other words, there are going to be a lot of surprises!
SALVATION IS FOR ALL, IT IS UNIVERSAL AND INCLUSIVE; DO NOT RELEGATE OR LOOK DOWN ON ANYONE BECAUSE THE STAUNCH SINNER TODAY IS A POTENTIAL PROSELYTE AND HEAVENLY CANDIDATE IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.
This is HOLINESS CHALLENGE
DAY 46 OF 365 (2026)
No comments:
Post a Comment