Cornelius Bows Before Peter
God's Display of Mercy
God told the whole world through Isaiah: "Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else....unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear (confess)". This was repeated by Paul in Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:9-11.
A lot of people have trouble with this. The world at large has BIG trouble with it. God made every person in the world and He died for every person He made.. Salvation is of the Lord (Ex.14:13 and 37 other places).
God has made it His responsibility to show every person He made what He wants them to know at any given time and He does it quite well. He may speak through His creation, history, fulfilled prophecy, the ordering of events, or through His servants. He may use angels, visions or dreams to those who have no Bible and no human contact. This is happening in the Moslem world often today. God has chosen to provide His printed word in many languages. However, most people throughout history have never seen a Bible nor have they ever heard of Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son. No dream or vision or impression of our spirits will ever contradict the Word of God. God draws people to His Son and without it they cannot come to Him (John 6:44). Jesus said: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32).:
God told the whole world through Isaiah: "Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else....unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear (confess)". This was repeated by Paul in Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:9-11.
A lot of people have trouble with this. The world at large has BIG trouble with it. God made every person in the world and He died for every person He made.. Salvation is of the Lord (Ex.14:13 and 37 other places).
God has made it His responsibility to show every person He made what He wants them to know at any given time and He does it quite well. He may speak through His creation, history, fulfilled prophecy, the ordering of events, or through His servants. He may use angels, visions or dreams to those who have no Bible and no human contact. This is happening in the Moslem world often today. God has chosen to provide His printed word in many languages. However, most people throughout history have never seen a Bible nor have they ever heard of Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son. No dream or vision or impression of our spirits will ever contradict the Word of God. God draws people to His Son and without it they cannot come to Him (John 6:44). Jesus said: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32).:
God says: "...the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:20). In Psalm 19 He said: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. (Ps 19:1-3). It is the Godhead who speaks to the whole earth: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God spoke through a donkey (Numbers 22:28-30), and confirmed His word through a rooster (Matthew 26:75).
Beyond God's witness through His creation, He also calls every one of His blood-washed children who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9) to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8; Mark 16:15). His total witness is enough to make every soul on earth responsible to exercise faith in what God has shown them. He not only shows everyone enough to make them without excuse, but we must assume that if people respond in submission to what God has shown them, their faith is counted for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). When one sees the God of creation, he/she has also seen the God of redemption (John 1:3).
The ultimate truth is that God gave His Son to die on a Roman cross on behalf of every soul, and that He rose from the dead just as God's Word said He would do (1Cor.15:3-4). But God did not begin His message there. In John 4, Jesus began His message with the woman at the well about giving him water to drink. To her He said nothing about going to the cross and rising from the dead. Most of his preaching to great crowds was without the message of the cross and the resurrection. He talked about things they understood such as bread, light, sheep, thieves, sowing and reaping, etc.
In God's own good time, the masses would have to face the truth of the crucifixion and the resurrection. The Roman Centurion had a serious moment when the sky turned dark and the earth shook beneath his feet and the veil was ripped in the Temple from top to bottom. "Surely this was the Son of God!" His own brothers did not believe in Him until after He rose from the dead. One thief on the cross believed on him and the other thief cursed Him with his last breath. Thomas. one of Jesus' disciples, had seen and heard it all but he would not believe the resurrection unless he could put his fingers in the nail scars of Jesus' hands and feel the scar of the spear in his side. Jesus showed Thomas what Thomas needed to see in the exact time it should be shown. That is God's way.
Cornelius is an example of one who managed well what God had shown him and in God's own time He showed him the rest of what He was going to show him. Cornelius is worth his weight in gold for understanding God's way of reaching the people of the world. God appointed Peter to be a faithful witness to the crucified and risen Lord he had seen and handled, just like He has appointed you and me to be a faithful witness. "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)
This article is in response to my high school teacher's question to me 55 years ago in Stevenson, Alabama after I had witnessed to him several times: "Can the heathen be saved before you get there to preach to them?" The same question was asked me by a senator in the N.C. Legislature. I think the above material will give any honest person some food for thought in wondering about God's faithful witness to all men and how much information does a man have to have to be saved? Does a man have to hear, understand and believe every sentence of a sermon to be saved? Or is it sufficient that one sentence in a sermon may strike a man's heart like a flaming sword and melt him to conviction of his sin and the sufficiency of the crucified and risen Savior? We do not have to dodge the question. I wish I could find that teacher and sit down and talk with him.
One thing is for sure: every soul must respond in faith and submission to what God chooses to show that soul about the sinner himself and about God Himself. In the New Testament we find these words: "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).
One final observation: I don't think I am capable of advising God on what He has to show every soul before He counts the sinner's response in faith...as righteousness.
Thomas A. Edison, who invented the light bulb and many other things, said he would not be an evolutionist until someone could make a blade of grass. Indeed, God has not left Himself without a witness and no man will ever be able to face God and tell Him that he didn't have enough knowledge to believe on Him, to repent of his sins and to submit to God as his absolute Lord of his life. END
Beyond God's witness through His creation, He also calls every one of His blood-washed children who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9) to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8; Mark 16:15). His total witness is enough to make every soul on earth responsible to exercise faith in what God has shown them. He not only shows everyone enough to make them without excuse, but we must assume that if people respond in submission to what God has shown them, their faith is counted for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). When one sees the God of creation, he/she has also seen the God of redemption (John 1:3).
The ultimate truth is that God gave His Son to die on a Roman cross on behalf of every soul, and that He rose from the dead just as God's Word said He would do (1Cor.15:3-4). But God did not begin His message there. In John 4, Jesus began His message with the woman at the well about giving him water to drink. To her He said nothing about going to the cross and rising from the dead. Most of his preaching to great crowds was without the message of the cross and the resurrection. He talked about things they understood such as bread, light, sheep, thieves, sowing and reaping, etc.
In God's own good time, the masses would have to face the truth of the crucifixion and the resurrection. The Roman Centurion had a serious moment when the sky turned dark and the earth shook beneath his feet and the veil was ripped in the Temple from top to bottom. "Surely this was the Son of God!" His own brothers did not believe in Him until after He rose from the dead. One thief on the cross believed on him and the other thief cursed Him with his last breath. Thomas. one of Jesus' disciples, had seen and heard it all but he would not believe the resurrection unless he could put his fingers in the nail scars of Jesus' hands and feel the scar of the spear in his side. Jesus showed Thomas what Thomas needed to see in the exact time it should be shown. That is God's way.
Cornelius is an example of one who managed well what God had shown him and in God's own time He showed him the rest of what He was going to show him. Cornelius is worth his weight in gold for understanding God's way of reaching the people of the world. God appointed Peter to be a faithful witness to the crucified and risen Lord he had seen and handled, just like He has appointed you and me to be a faithful witness. "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)
This article is in response to my high school teacher's question to me 55 years ago in Stevenson, Alabama after I had witnessed to him several times: "Can the heathen be saved before you get there to preach to them?" The same question was asked me by a senator in the N.C. Legislature. I think the above material will give any honest person some food for thought in wondering about God's faithful witness to all men and how much information does a man have to have to be saved? Does a man have to hear, understand and believe every sentence of a sermon to be saved? Or is it sufficient that one sentence in a sermon may strike a man's heart like a flaming sword and melt him to conviction of his sin and the sufficiency of the crucified and risen Savior? We do not have to dodge the question. I wish I could find that teacher and sit down and talk with him.
One thing is for sure: every soul must respond in faith and submission to what God chooses to show that soul about the sinner himself and about God Himself. In the New Testament we find these words: "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).
One final observation: I don't think I am capable of advising God on what He has to show every soul before He counts the sinner's response in faith...as righteousness.
Thomas A. Edison, who invented the light bulb and many other things, said he would not be an evolutionist until someone could make a blade of grass. Indeed, God has not left Himself without a witness and no man will ever be able to face God and tell Him that he didn't have enough knowledge to believe on Him, to repent of his sins and to submit to God as his absolute Lord of his life. END
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