[The Introduction of the Holy Spirit]
Acts 10:17-23
It is the 17th online service and 17th anniversary of the church. I only told people to do QT. I used to introduce the Daily Bible before, and now I introduce QTin. Last week, we talked about a persuasion of the Holy Spirit. To persuade, we need to be good at introducing, and we need to introduce Jesus ultimately. Let us think of an introduction of the Holy Spirit.
First, we have to think twice on the vision. Peter saw the vision of unclean animals, and God told him to eat them. He could not understand what he saw. If we dont understand the vision we see, we need to ponder upon it and doubt it. You cant have the introduction of the Holy Spirit just because you attend church. When we are introducing someone, there are many things we have to double check. We have a tendency to want to see visions when we are in suffering, but everything is about relationships. We need to think twice to be affirmative on something. We must not trust anyone just because that someone is a member of Wooridle Church. If someone acts out of the boundary of common sense, we have to think about it. But when our emotions and need for profits come first, we long for a vision that agrees with our self-assurance. Do not long for visions too much. It is hard to discern the truth out of prophecies of the cults and fortune tellers because they mix the truth with their own words. All the God-given visions must be interpreted through the cross and are about self-denial. God had Peter felt the spiritual hunger of the Gentiles at the time when Peter was physically hungry. Therefore, this vision was a call to make a self-denial and an application to think of others.
Second, we have to listen to the Word of the Holy Spirit. We have to listen to the Word if we want to deny ourselves. When Peter was wondering what he saw, the people sent from Cornelius were standing by the door. What Peter had to realize happened at once, unexpectedly. The historical turning point in Gentile evangelization came with Gods elaborate plan and a mans obedience. If we pray, God makes things happen timely. When the timing is not good, we have to pray because it is not time yet. The word think in verse 19 was also used in the story of Joseph when he decided to divorce Mary quietly. As a pious Jew, Peter could not accept the unclean food, Cornelius. In this sense, Joseph decided to stop the birth of Jesus, and Peter stopped the way for evangelization of the Gentiles. My obedience and sin can decide the life and death of the human kind. Cornelius obeyed, but Peter, who had been with Jesus for three years, could not obey in some parts. But then the Holy Spirit told him to go with the people without doubt. The Spirit told him that He sent them to break the prejudice against the Gentiles. In Romans 1, the Word mentions 21 sins along with homosexuality, but a great sin than those is making judgment. In chapter 3, it mentions an even greater sin, saying what good is about having faith. People who say so blame others. They have this belief that they have to be successful in the world, God not being their prize. Paul said that the Jews had many advantages and the first of them was that they were entrusted with the Word of God. Because we are entrusted with the Word, our only solution is the Word. We all have doubts in our ways, but the Holy Spirit is alive and He divides soul, spirit, joints, and marrow with the active Word to solve the problem at once. It is our best training to listen to the Word and obey it daily. Attend the Sunday worship services, attend the small group meetings, pray, and do your QT, then God will bring the servants of Cornelius at our door, and have us understand the Word.
Third, an introduction of a person near you is effective. Peter was already given a command to go with the servants, but he did not tell them yet. He wanted to listen to their stories in detail to double check. Even if we are led by God, we are to double check to obey the Word diligently. We have to check while we converse with them. And Peter asked them why they had come to him. The Lord admitted that it was very hard for Peter to reach out to the Gentiles. So God prepared Cornelius, who was praised by others, for Peter. The servants introduced Cornelius as righteous, God-fearing, respected by all the Jews, and spiritual that he was instructed by an angel. A God-chosen person receives compliments from all the people, especially people near him. A centurion had such a great power at that time, but the servants humbly asked Peter to come with them, introducing their master. Cornelius delicately planned about this. He sent two servants and one faithful man of his. Seeing how the men introduced their master, Peter must have gotten the courage to introduce his Master, Jesus. Peter was moved by the One Spirit. Because the men gave such a great introduction, Peter changed his perspectives and received them and let them stay at the place. He now thought of them as a member of the community, and he thought of their conditions after a long journey. The meeting of Peter and Cornelius was historical.
A member of our church, who is visibly disabled, wrote a prayer request. I was diagnosed with cataract and retinal detachment a long time ago. And I was diagnosed with glaucoma last March. I was captured by the pain of becoming blinded that I went through in the past, and I couldnt stop crying. Then I was persuaded by the Holy Spirit to fast. I didnt know what to pray so all I did was a thorough repentance. I am not sure if I was asking for the eyes to see in truth. My fear is becoming bigger and bigger. Have mercy one me who still stays in the flesh.
She has had a lot of scars since her childhood. Since she put up her first prayer request, I introduced it to you. I pray that this would be an introduction of the Holy Spirit that she would be healed physically and spiritually.
