Man creates and constructs things that oppose God, and vengeance always follows. Nevertheless, the opportunity for forgiveness remains available on this side of eternity through Jesus Christ, for God is a merciful and gracious God.
Psalms 99:8 KJV Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
We are saved by the gift of grace through the gift of faith. This grace is evident from the Book of Genesis, starting with Adam, to the very last verse of the Bible in the Book of Revelation, where we see God's desire for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with us all. The Age of Grace has existed since the Age of Man and will endure to the very end through God's mercy. Only a fool would refuse such grace.
Romans 5:15 KJV But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Revelation 22:21 KJV The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
If you are a recipient of God's grace, you will exalt and worship Him today and every day.
Psalms 99:9 KJV Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.
I spent my career as a soldier in an army that hasn't always aligned with the righteous values of the Almighty, much like Cornelius and other soldiers highlighted in the New Testament who remained faithful to God despite their circumstances. Regardless of an army's allegiance to God, armed forces will continue to exist alongside the world. Just as the Lord sends missionaries to every corner of the globe, He also sends them to the military. I was one such missionary, serving as a regular soldier, not as a formal chaplain.
Acts 10:1 KJV There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
Acts 10:2 KJV A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.
If you have been cleansed by God, you have been cleansed threefold: by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Acts 10:15 KJV And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Acts 10:16 KJV This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
Rome was an enemy of the Jews, yet the Roman soldier Cornelius was respected by the Jews. Cornelius fulfilled his God-ordained purpose as a soldier by being a witness to his fellow soldiers and enemies. He was content with his wages, did not abuse his authority, and loved his enemies, as God has commanded. Soldiers or not, we are commanded to do the same.
Acts 10:22 KJV And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.
Gospilled Minute #126
Respect has boundaries that demand no man be idolized or worshipped, except for the Son of man, Jesus Christ. Peter simply rebuked Cornelius in love and then moved on with their mission.
Acts 10:25 KJV And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
Acts 10:26 KJV But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
Fellow Christian, we are not to despise any image-bearer of God or condemn them without hope - not even those who despise us in this manner, including the Jews.
Acts 10:28 KJV And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Shamefully, I haven't practiced fasting regularly for much of my Christian life. However, this year I've made a change and now fast for one 24-hour period each week.
Acts 10:30 KJV And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
Acts 10:31 KJV And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.
The Jews are no better than us, and we are no better than the Jews, from a human perspective. In Christ, however, we are all made better.
Acts 10:34 KJV Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Acts 10:35 KJV But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Acts 10:36 KJV The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
Peter, a Jew himself, preached that the Jews from Jerusalem slew and hanged Jesus on a tree. Yet, spiritually speaking, our sins have all contributed to His crucifixion.
Acts 10:39 KJV And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
The chosen exist, and they all know that Jesus Christ exists and worship Him.
Acts 10:40 KJV Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
Acts 10:41 KJV Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
The message of salvation has never changed throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Word of God. We are forgiven and saved through faith in the Judge of the living and the dead.
Acts 10:42 KJV And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Acts 10:43 KJV To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
If you want to be filled with the Holy Ghost today, hear the Word.
Acts 10:44 KJV While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
During the formation of the New Testament canon, the hearing of the Word extended into the realm of the miraculous, enabling people to hear the Word of God preached in a foreign language they had not previously learned. However, the cessation of such a sign gift is evident, as this phenomenon is no longer witnessed on a large scale today. The 'circus tongues' of our day are not it.
Acts 10:44 KJV While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
Acts 10:45 KJV And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 10:46 KJV For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
Notice that these believers were baptized after they had been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God.
Acts 10:47 KJV Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
The Name of the LORD includes the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Acts 10:48 KJV And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
Matthew 28:19 KJV Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
A well-functioning church, consisting of God-fearing and obedient elders and members, will see the glory of the Lord. Whereas, dysfunctional churches glory in themselves.
Leviticus 9:23 KJV And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.
Antichrist Israel will lose, it's only a matter of time, judgment, and fire. They have fooled the world with their ethnic cleansing when little do they know, they will be spiritually cleansed.
Isaiah 4:4 KJV When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
Father, thank You for the King James Bible. In Jesus' Name, Amen.