This is why I, Paul, am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so-called. I take it that you're familiar with the part I was given in God's plan for including everybody. I got the inside story on this from God himself, as I just wrote you in brief. As you read over what I have written to you, you'll be able to see for yourselves into the mystery of Christ. None of our ancestors understood this. Only in our time has it been made clear by God's Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this new order. The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I've been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board. (Ephesians 3:1-6 MSG)

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In part 11 (click here to read part 11), we saw how God had hidden His plans until they were in advertently executed by the religious leaders of Christ's day. We began to see the clues to God's plan to make salvation available to all of mankind without discrimination. Here we will look at how, as part of this plan; God began to extend His gift of life to the Gentiles.

[I]. The deed had been done, Christ has risen and ascended to heaven and the Church, His body on earth had been born. God was ready to begin revealing the extent of His plans to the leadership of the Church. He chose a Gentile named Cornelius.

1. "There was a man named Cornelius who lived in Caesarea, captain of the Italian Guard stationed there. He was a thoroughly good man. He had led everyone in his house to live worshipfully before God, was always helping people in need, and had the habit of prayer. One day about three o'clock in the afternoon he had a vision. An angel of God, as real as his next-door neighbor, came in and said, "Cornelius." Cornelius stared hard, wondering if he was seeing things. Then he said, "What do you want, sir?" The angel said, "Your prayers and neighborly acts have brought you to God's attention. Here's what you are to do. Send men to Joppa to get Simon, the one everyone calls Peter." (Acts 10:1-5 MSG)

2. "The next day as the three travelers were approaching the town, Peter went out on the balcony to pray. It was about noon. Peter got hungry and started thinking about lunch. While lunch was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the skies open up. Something that looked like a huge blanket lowered by ropes at its four corners settled on the ground. Every kind of animal and reptile and bird you could think of was on it. Then a voice came: "Go to it, Peter--kill and eat." Peter said, "Oh, no, Lord. I've never so much as tasted food that was not kosher." The voice came a second time: "If God says it's okay, it's okay." This happened three times, and then the blanket was pulled back up into the skies. As Peter, puzzled, sat there trying to figure out what it all meant, the men sent by Cornelius showed up at Simon's front door." (Acts 10:9-17 MSG)

3. "Talking things over, they went on into the house, where Cornelius introduced Peter to everyone who had come. Peter addressed them, "You know, I'm sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don't do this--visit and relax with people of another race. But God has just shown me that no race is better than any other. So the minute I was sent for, I came, no questions asked. But now I'd like to know why you sent for me." (Acts 10:27-29 MSG)

4. "Peter fairly exploded with his good news: "It's God's own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you're from--if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel--that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again--well, he's doing it everywhere, among everyone." (Acts 10:34-36 MSG)

5. "He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that he is in fact the One whom God destined as Judge of the living and dead. But we're not alone in this. Our witness that he is the means to forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of all the prophets." No sooner were these words out of Peter's mouth than the Holy Spirit came on the listeners. The believing Jews who had come with Peter couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on "outsider" Gentiles, but there it was--they heard them speaking in tongues, heard them praising God. Then Peter said, "Do I hear any objections to baptizing these friends with water? They've received the Holy Spirit exactly as we did." Hearing no objections, he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay on for a few days." (Acts 10:42-48 MSG)

[II]. There we have it, God took the matter out of their hands and indicated, without leaving a shadow of a doubt that salvation was also for the Gentiles. The word began to spread; Gentiles were now partakers of God's gift of life.

1. "The news traveled fast and in no time the leaders and friends back in Jerusalem heard about it--heard that the non-Jewish "outsiders" were now "in." When Peter got back to Jerusalem, some of his old associates, concerned about circumcision, called him on the carpet: "What do you think you're doing rubbing shoulders with that crowd, eating what is prohibited and ruining our good name?" So Peter, starting from the beginning, laid it out for them step-by-step:" (Acts 11:1-4 MSG)

2. "So I ask you: If God gave the same exact gift to them as to us when we believed in the Master Jesus Christ, how could I object to God?" Hearing it all laid out like that, they quieted down. And then, as it sank in, they started praising God. "It's really happened! God has broken through to the other nations, opened them up to Life!"

(Acts 11:17-18 MSG)

3. "Those who had been scattered by the persecution triggered by Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but they were still only speaking and dealing with their fellow Jews. Then some of the men from Cyprus and Cyrene who had come to Antioch started talking to Greeks, giving them the Message of the Master Jesus. God was pleased with what they were doing and put his stamp of approval on it--quite a number of the Greeks believed and turned to the Master. When the church in Jerusalem got wind of this, they sent Barnabas to Antioch to check on things. As soon as he arrived, he saw that God was behind and in it all. He threw himself in with them, got behind them, urging them to stay with it the rest of their lives." (Acts 11:19-23 MSG)

[III]. This was just the beginning. God was preparing His next major move in replacing the Old Testament law. Central to this plan was a man who had been one of the most devout of Jews and the most vehement opponent of the Church. He had fought the church with unrequited zeal. That is until Christ caught up with Him.

1. "I am a good Jew, born in Tarsus in the province of Cilicia, but educated here in Jerusalem under the exacting eye of Rabbi Gamaliel, thoroughly instructed in our religious traditions. And I've always been passionately on God's side, just as you are right now." (Acts 22:3 MSG)

2. "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, hardly noticed--he only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all his glory with Jesus standing at his side. He said, "Oh! I see heaven wide open and the Son of Man standing at God's side!" Yelling and hissing, the mob drowned him out. Now in full stampede, they dragged him out of town and pelted him with rocks. The ringleaders took off their coats and asked a young man named Saul to watch them. As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed, "Master Jesus, take my life." Then he knelt down, praying loud enough for everyone to hear, "Master, don't blame them for this sin"--his last words. Then he died. Saul was right there, congratulating the killers." (Acts 7:55-60 MSG)

3. "I went after anyone connected with this 'Way,' went at them hammer and tongs, ready to kill for God. I rounded up men and women right and left and had them thrown in prison. You can ask the Chief Priest or anyone in the High Council to verify this; they all knew me well. Then I went off to our brothers in Damascus, armed with official documents authorizing me to hunt down the Christians there, arrest them, and bring them back to Jerusalem for sentencing." (Acts 22:4-5 MSG)

4. "As I arrived on the outskirts of Damascus about noon, a blinding light blazed out of the skies and I fell to the ground, dazed. I heard a voice: 'Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?' "'Who are you, Master?' I asked. "He said, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, the One you're hunting down.' My companions saw the light, but they didn't hear the conversation. "Then I said, 'What do I do now, Master?' "He said, 'Get to your feet and enter Damascus. There you'll be told everything that's been set out for you to do."(Acts 22:6-10 MSG)

5. "There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: "Ananias." "Yes, Master?" he answered. "Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He's there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again." Ananias protested, "Master, you can't be serious. Everybody's talking about this man and the terrible things he's been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he's shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us." But the Master said, "Don't argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to Gentiles and kings and Jews. And now I'm about to show him what he's in for--the hard suffering that goes with this job." (Acts 9:10-16 MSG)

6. "So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, "Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul's eyes--he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized," (Acts 9:17-18 MSG)

7. "Well, it happened just as Ananias said. After I was back in Jerusalem and praying one day in the Temple, lost in the presence of God, I saw him, saw God's Righteous Innocent, and heard him say to me, 'Hurry up! Get out of here as quickly as you can. None of the Jews here in Jerusalem are going to accept what you say about me.' "At first I objected: 'Who has better credentials? They all know how obsessed I was with hunting out those who believed in you, beating them up in the meeting places and throwing them in jail. And when your witness Stephen was murdered, I was right there, holding the coats of the murderers and cheering them on. And now they see me totally converted. What better qualification could I have?' "But he said, 'Don't argue. Go. I'm sending you on a long journey to outsider Gentiles.'" (Acts 22:17-21 MSG)

Lets call the fire down

They urged Christ that day

The "Sons of thunder"

Seeking Elijah's fame

Not discerning the spirit of the day

---

You know not

What manner of spirit you are

To save mankind

Is the ultimate aim

To love, not destroy

This is the Abba spirit

Of the covenant of grace

---

Perhaps the Lord has changed His mind

As the prophets of doom declare

God is now prone to send disaster

To cause the hearts of men

To fail them for fear

---

Only one problem with that

He is not a man to repent

He is the same yesterday and today

Forever His love remains the same

For those He died to save

(To be continued..)

Every Blessing

Breadoflife 

click here to read part 13

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