Gods Program for This Age

Acts 15:1-14 (text v. 14)

The book of Acts is a transitional book going from the dispensation of Law to Grace… from Peter to Paul… from Jew to Gentiles… A nation to the local church… from Jerusalem to the uttermost… (Acts 1:8).

1. In the first seven chapters of Acts, the message of Christ has been preached exclusively to Jews.
2. In Acts 8, the Samaritans (half Jew) hear the message.
3. In Acts 10, a Gentile hears the message and is saved (10:44-45).
4. In Acts 11:20-21, the first Gentile church is established in Antioch. The name “Christian” originated here (11:26).
5. The first “missionaries” sent out from the church at Antioch (13:2-5).
6. On their missionary journey there is a new direction in God’s program (read Acts 13:44-49).

A controversy — Must the Gentiles keep the Law of Moses to be saved (read Acts 15:1-6)? Peter described how he preached the gospel to the Gentiles and they were saved by grace through faith (vs. 7-11).

In Acts 15:13-14, James sums up God’s program for this age. What is a “program?” It is a plan to reach a desired end (an agenda):

A program always indicates a starting point and a point of completion (i.e. radio/television program; exercise program).

When you go to a stage performance you are usually given a “program.” It tells you what is going to happen next.

A computer program is a set of coded instructions that tells a computer how to operate certain functions.

I.  A VISITATION program—“God at the first did VISIT the Gentiles…”

God visited the Jews through Christ and they missed Him (Luke 7:16; 19:41-44).

A. Since the Jews rejected God’s visitation, God visited the Gentiles— Cornelius (see Acts 10).

Cornelius was…

1.  A religious man (v.2)

2. A God-fearing man (v.2)

3. An unselfish man (v.2)

4. A praying man (v.2)

5. A man who fasted (v.30).

6. A man who was unsaved (11:14).

B. How did God visit Cornelius? Through His ambassador, Peter. That is how God visits the lost today—Through His ambassadors, YOU and I. Every Christians is an ambassador for Christ—A missionary!

“We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you BY US, we pray you IN CHRIST’S STEAD, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).

An”ambassador”is:

• One who represents another in a foreign land.
• He promotes the interests/views of the one he represents.
• To reject an ambassador is to reject whom he represents.
• He assists those who wish to emigrate to his country. Heshows the candidate the requirements and how to apply.

C. Do you want God to visit your unsaved neighbor, co-worker, and loved ones? He will visit them as YOU visit them in Jesus’ name. That is God’s program today. Let’s get out and VISIT the lost.