Acts 11:1-18

Chapter 29

Prayer

Almighty God, our life is thine. When we die in the Lord surely we return unto thee, and give thee that which is thine own. We bless thee for life, notwithstanding its daily burden and its continual sorrow. Thou hast wrought into the mystery of life a subtle joy which fills the heart with an emotion which we would might abide there for ever. In the midst of life we are in death, but death itself is swallowed up in victory. In Christ Jesus we can say to Death, "where is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory?" Jesus Christ hath abolished death, and in him, our Priest and Saviour, we are more than conquerors. In death we have found life. That which we sow is not quickened except it die. Help us to seize this great truth with all the energy of love, and with all the emotion of triumphant faith, that death may have no more dominion over us. Thou art our God and Father; a sanctuary of defence, and a pavilion of daily protection. Thou art unto us as a high rock, whose cooling shadow refreshes us at high noon. We come to thee always through Jesus Christ the righteous. He is our propitiation, our living answer to an accusing law, and our infinite defence against a righteous vengeance.

We commend to thee all to whom this is a day of mournful suffering. We recall the images of our friends and make them live before the eye of a loving memory. We hear their cheering voices; we feel the contact of their friendly hands, and we would now in spirit unite with them in the higher song of the higher sanctuary.

The subject is the same and unchangeable. When we see thee as thou art we'll give thee nobler praise. Comfort those who remain. Recall to their memory all thine exceeding great and precious promises. Show them that the angel is at the grave awaiting their coming, and that his presence there is a pledge of a resurrection to be accomplished by the power of Christ. Recall all that is dearest, sweetest, tenderest in the memory of our friends who have joined the upper band, and may we vehemently desire to be united to the blood-bought host and sin no more. As for those of us who remain, may we be doubly industrious. As the ranks become thinner, may those who are left fight with redoubled strength and watch with keener vigilance. Cause some who are young and strong to come forward and take the places of those who have been called higher, that thus the army of Christ may suffer no loss, and its leadership may be continually reinforced. We are here but for a moment; presently there will be a cry, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh! go ye out to meet him." May we be amongst those whose lamps will be a flame, and who shall be ready in heart and hand to meet the only One whose presence is heaven. We will see thee presently face to face, and then will speak further with thee. To-day we must be content with these few brief broken words, with references that are a pain to themselves because of their incompleteness. Yea, with sentences pained with much agony because they cannot tell the secret which gives life to our inmost hope.

We bless thee for friends returned from places far away. They come with cheerful countenances, with loving eyes, and with new tones of trust and love in their voices. So gather us altogether from across the seas, and rivers, and wildernesses, and make of us at last in Christ Jesus, Thy Son, one house from which no foot shall ever wander. Amen.

Act 11:1-18

1. And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. [The context implies that the tidings travelled, while Peter remained at Cæsarea, first probably to Joppa and Lydda, and afterwards to Jerusalem.]

2. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended [the tense implies continuous or repeated discussion] with him,

3. Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised [men with a foreskin], and didst eat with them.

4. But Peter rehearsed [began and set forth] the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,

5. I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

6. Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

7. And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.

8. But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.

9. But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

10. And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.

11. And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Cæsarea unto me.

12. And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. [The Greek verb has a special force as being the same as that for "contended" in Acts 11:2 .] Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house:

13. And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him. Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;

14. Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.

15. And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.

16. Then remembered I the word of the Lord [ch. Act 1:5 ], how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

17. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ [the Greek construction gives a somewhat different meaning: If then God gave to the man equal gift as to us, upon their believing ]; what was I, that I could withstand God? [the Greek gives a complex question, Who was I, able to withstand God?]

18. When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God [the difference of tenses in the two Greek verbs implies that they first held their peace, and then began a continuous utterance of praise], saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Enlargement of Ideas

"AND the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God." This little common word "ALSO" is most pathetic. We find pathos sometimes in little words and in strange connections. In this instance it means more and more further and further. The light is brightening, and the lands that are afar off are enjoying its glory. The word "ALSO" is, I say, but a common little word in many connections, but in this particular connection it is the creation of a new world, an annexation of new kingdoms and provinces to the central empire of Emmanuel. The same word occurs in the eighteenth verse, wherein the Jews said, glorifying God, "Then hath God ALSO to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." The keyword of Christianity is Enlargement enclosure, continual extension of love and mercy, host upon host, army upon army, till, the whole universe is one Church, and its voice one song. Do not believe in any view of Christianity that excludes anybody. Christianity came not to exclude men, but to include them. Let that be a continual test when you are examining religious faiths, and religious propositions and plans. The theology that would shut out from Christ's heart any human creature is a bad theology is a lie! Election is not exclusive, but inclusive. The ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans does not shut out any man who would come to Christ: it tells the Jews, in startling language, that God is greater than they are, and that in his great love he is going to gather into one all the lands and peoples of the earth. Take instances of the Divine election such as we can understand, and you will see how true is this doctrine in its higher relation. God elects one day in the week; does he thereby reprobate the remaining days? Do the six poor cold exiled days gather around the elected seventh, and say, "The way of the Lord is not equal; you have been chosen and we have been shut out; God has blessed and crowned you, and left us without benediction and coronation?" Nothing of the kind. Why does God elect the one day? To get at the whole six that are outside it. He does not say, "Remember Monday to keep it holy;" he says "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy;" for no man can keep Sunday holy without keeping the whole six days holy also. You cannot keep one day holy and make the other profane. Given a Sabbath of the real kind, an open door into heaven, a highway on which we meet the angels, a garden path through the very paradise of God, and the whole week partakes of its nature reflects its love, vibrates with its music, and is glad with its joy.

Take the case of the human family. God made one man, but he made that man that in him he might make all men. God elected one family, that through one family he might bless all the families of the earth. And this idea of his love has been perverted; this wine of heaven has been turned into sourness; the very election that should have doubled the Gospel beauty, as the river throws back the sky, has been turned into an occasion of controversy and separation, and of mutual misunderstanding, and devils have laughed at the divisions of Christendom.

Here we have the marvellous power of prejudice. "When Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him." They had been trained in a certain view, and they were faithful to that view; so far of course they were not to be blamed, for they believed that they alone had the truth, and so believing they contended valiantly for it. The power of prejudice is probably the greatest power under which human life withers. The man against whom you have a prejudice can do no good. If required to vindicate your unfriendly attitude by fair and equitable argument, you would not have one word to say, but that you do not like the man; you are turned against him; he repels you in some way or other, reasonable or unreasonable, and that prejudice will be more difficult to conquer and eradicate than any number of reasons which you could advance in fair language. Here was a sect that could lay its arms upon its breast, drink in its own Christian satisfaction, and let all the world go down to the devil without one moment's remorse. Any religion that is fully comprehended, that will enable a man to do that is diabolical. There are some people in Christian countries today who, imagining themselves to be the chosen favourites of heaven, can allow all outsiders to go down to darkness without ever troubling them on their descending way. But for the spirit of Christ, I could call down fire from heaven upon such sectarians! Yet it is possible yea, it is real yea, more, it is the curse of Christian society. To see what we have seen of narrow-minded, bloodless men, pale, shrivelled, hunger-bitten, thinking that they had so attracted the Divine notice as to become the favourites of a discriminating Heaven, and that others had gone to live eternally with the devil because of a Divine decree! Personally I know of nothing in Sodom, or in Gomorrah, so terrible as such a damnable self-complacency. "God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life." He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours ONLY, but for the sins of the whole world." If I have today to elect my Gospel, I elect that, WHOSOEVER, EVERY CREATURE under heaven, a WORLD redeemed, and not a little company selected. Christianity destroys all complacencies. Christianity tells the most self-complacent man amongst us that the very poorest human creature that crawls on the streets is his brother. Nowhere does the Christian Gospel speak one contemptuous word of any human creature. Never did Christ say to any one, "You are too bad." No; as the sins piled themselves one upon another, blackening the blue heavens with their shadow, he said, "Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee." How is it, then, that the human heart shuts out this human religion a religion that takes up the weak, that represents the dumb, that looks for what the blind have lost, and turns away with haughty independence from every man that would offer it the cruelty of his patronage? Surely this is a mystery to the angels!

We think "they that were of the circumcision" is a sentence which refers to people that lived many centuries ago. It is not; it is a sentence which includes men and women who are breathing in this house at this moment, and who are to be found under every ecclesiastical roof in the world. Every one of us has his own "circumcision." Each says, "We must draw the line somewhere." So say I. I would lay my line on GOD'S LOVE! God did not make me a line-layer. He made me a minister of his grace, and wherein any word of mine is less than God's love, reject my unholy Gospel, for Gospel it is none only a word that would wither and blight the heart of man. Some men's "circumcision" is the regularly-turned out creed, numbered, partly written in capitals, partly in italics, itemed, and arranged, weighed out, defined, indexed, settled. If you believe this creed you are good, if you doubt it you are infidels, if you reject it you are atheists. Others have a notion that there is what they term "a regular ministry." You would be surprised at the fine lines that have been drawn amongst ministers. One man is "only a missionary," nothing more! Another man is "only a home missionary," nothing more! Another man is only "a sort of a home missionary," and others are " regular ministers," properly made, clothed, decorated, and otherwise classified, so as to have no ambiguity about their exact standing. Others have been "educated" for the ministry. Sometimes they can look contemptuously upon men who have not been "educated" for the ministry. Educated to tell mankind that Christ came to the world to save sinners, and that he tasted death for every man. I would that we could escape this "circumcision," narrowness of mere creed, and mere ministry, and merely ecclesiasticism, and know that all men who bow at the altar of the Cross are the ministers of Christ. The Lord's fire consume all priestism! They that are of the "circumcision" know exactly where the right Church is. In their estimation you who now hear me are not a Church at all! You are labouring under an amiable delusion if you imagine that you are a Church; and we on our side have prejudices quite as narrow, and in some cases even more irrational. "Then hath God also" to every sect and name and party and class granted of the glory of his light and the quietness of his peace. Seize that idea and drop your angry controversies and miserable wrangles over interpretations which there is no human authority sufficiently infallible to determine. I do not know whether to rejoice more over the fifteenth verse or over the eighteenth. The fifteenth verse reads, "And as I began to speak the Holy Ghost fell on them;" that is enlargement. The eighteenth verse reads, they "glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." The work of extension took place in two directions. The mind of the Church was expanded. Not only did the Gentiles receive the rising light, but the Church itself, on hearing that the morning glory had lifted itself above the lands that sat in darkness, became sensible of a great outstretching of mind; so the Gentiles sang their new hymn, and the Church uplifted its anthem, and hymn and anthem blended into one music-offering to heaven, and the Jew and the Gentile knew that "the middle wall of partition" had for ever fallen down!