Acts 10-12
Until this chapter, the church remained in and around Jerusalem with its members only being Jews. The Jewish law made it mandatory that Jews remain a distance and do not associate with non-Jews (Gentiles). This chapter is a pivotal point in the history of the church. Cornelius is a Gentile Roman Army official who oversees 100 roman soldiers. His wealth and power would be great. However, in his time spent outside Jerusalem in the coastal city of Joppa, he began to fear the God of the Jews. In a vision, God instructs him to send for Peter who is north a few miles in the city of Caesarea. While this is going on, Peter has a vision of his own. In his vision, God makes it known that there are no longer "unclean" foods such as pork and other animals that were by law not allowed to be eaten. This was a preparation for Peter's mindset to be changed concerning association with gentiles as well. When Peter meets with Cornelius and his household, he begins to preach and many of the same evidences of God pouring out His spirit on the Christians of Jerusalem occurred in Cornelius' house.
What were they for? In the beginnings of the church, there was not yet the New Testament Bible for the Christians to know God's teachings. Therefore, God would offer certain spiritual gifts to the Christians to have divine revelation as to what God wanted Christians to know. They would be coupled with other gifts possessed by other people. For instance, if one person had the gift of speaking in tongues, it was the gift of someone else to interpret the tongues therefore keeping one man from being able to warp the revelation from God.
These in and of themselves did not save people though. As they were showing signs that they had received the gifts of the Spirit, Peter still instructed them to be baptized-which will forgive their sins (Acts 2:38).
When he left there, he met with the church leaders in Jerusalem to explain how God is now converting gentiles as well as jews. And about this time, a famine began to spread throughout the land. There was a church north in a town called Antioch which will send assistance to the church in Jerusalem for the were badly hurting from the famine. God always uses Christians to help fellow Christians. We must remember that we do not only belong to the church in our local community; however, we also belong to the global church that is ONE and is GOD'S.
From there, the church in Jerusalem sends more people back to Antioch to spread the good news. This will begin the first missionary journey by Paul (formerly Saul) in Acts 13.
Many of the proverbs in this chapter offer God's perspective on the consequences and the blessings of right living. For instance, when one is honest, they are guided and they please God. However, when they lie and cheat, it angers God and they will be destroyed. In our society, however, is this always the case? It seems that people teach more today that if you lie and steal to get ahead, it is okay so long as you do not get caught. In recent news, there was a Wall Street scandal in which one man squandered $50 Billion of investors money...but he was caught and now it is devastating his life! Remember the theme of sin in the Bible--it always has its consequences, although not always immediate, they will always see to happen. I have been writing proverbs on a notecard that I hope to one day spend time teaching my children. I hope you can find lasting value in some practical application like this for your children or even for yourself!
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