Sermon Tone Analysis

We have been looking for the passed few weeks at the components of Salvation.We looked at the pursuit, the acknowledgment, obedience, believing and listening and now we come to the conclusion which is the receiving of Salvation.

Receiving

The final component of Salvation would be the actual product right, receiving the Salvation.

This receiving is very important and we will look at exactly what we receive when we receive salvation.

As we have been looking for the passed few weeks at Salvation there is one thing we have not really defined, what are we being saved from?

When we receive salvation what are we receiving and why is it important?

As we look at this sixth and final component of what we receive we receive so much the forgiveness of sin that leads to death, we receive an inheritance, we receive a Seal, we receive a circumcised heart and we receive continued instruction, to put it all into one word when we receive salvation, we receive unity.

Let’s go ahead and take a look at this final component.

Let's go ahead and look at our passage this morning we will be focusing on Acts 10:44-48 but I would like to begin in verse 34.

Luke writes here,

In verses 34-43 Peter brings to Cornelius and his family and friends the gospel message.

They are all there waiting on Peter and now that Peter has arrived he brings to them what they need, the message from God about Jesus Christ and why Jesus came to the earth to begin with.

The gospel message is the only way people can be saved.

It is only by listening to the truth of God's word and what God has done and is doing and what He will do that people can receive salvation.

I want you to understand something about the gospel.

The gospel is not about being moralistic, the gospel is not just fire insurance, "I have trusted in Jesus as my savior so I can do what I want and not worry about going to hell."

That is not the gospel.

The gospel is also not about receiving a Mercedes, or a Bugatti or a big house on LBI, or having a big bank account.

That is not the gospel Jesus didn't die so you can receive stuff he died so you can receive the most important relationship in the world, a relationship with God the Father, with your Creator.

He died so the rift can be mended and so that we could receive what we truly need forgiveness of our sins.

This is what Peter says in verse 43 as he is about to provide the Scriptural proof of who Jesus is and how God has in His providence provided a means of forgiveness in Jesus and the Hebrew Scriptures, what we refer to today as the Old Testament, points to the very fact that Jesus had to come and die and be buried and be raised on the third day ascend to heaven and take His throne as both King and Judge of the world.

Peter says this in verse 43, "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins"

Here is what God has done since Genesis 3:15, in Genesis 3, we have the account of the fall, when Adam and Eve disobeyed a direct command from God not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

There disobedience broke their relationship with God the Father who would come down and walk with Adam in the garden.

What a serene and wonderful thought.The unity that Adam had with God in the Garden which is seen in Adam communing with God fully, without any barrier what so ever.

What we long for he experienced yet Adam gave it up for what, for a taste of fleeting pleasure.

He gave up the awesome position he had to worship God without any encumbrance and he throw all that away for a bite of a fruit that was probably the sweetest bite he ever had until it became the most foul of aftertastes when his eyes were opened to what he had done.

He had turned his back on his Creator and for what a piece of His creation, he abandoned the unique relationship he had with the Father for a life of hostility against Him.

Adam brought sin into the world, he brought animosity between himself and God, which he passed down from generation to generation.

Once Adam sunk his teeth into that forbidden fruit it was to late and there was nothing he could do to fix the rupture he caused, which he tried to do.

First he made inadequate coverings for himself and for Eve.

He know he did something wrong and when God came calling out Adam's name Adam and Eve hid from Him. Sin is devastating because sin separates man from God and God from man.

There is nothing man can do to fix this, there is no way man can repair the rift caused by the initial disobedience of Adam.

Our harmony with our Creator was severed.

Man can't do it, man can’t fix the problem, there is no amount of duct tape that can patch this up and God knows man can't fix it.

That is why Adam and Eve received a promise from God in the Garden.

In Genesis 3:15, as God is cursing the Serpent for his part in the fall of humanity, God provides a promise to both mankind and to the serpent.

This is God putting in place the repair for the rift.

This is the very first prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, of the coming of Jesus Christ.

This is the third chapter of the first book of the Hebrew Canon of Scripture and God points to the cross.

As the rest of Scripture unfolds God's plan unfolds until finally it comes to fruition in the gospels.

The plan is to provide the forgiveness of sins through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Jesus going to the cross, His crucifixion was an atonement for the sins of humanity.

Man can't atone for their sins but Jesus did.

His dying on the cross was the redemption of mankind back to God.

This atonement is what makes the offer of forgiveness possible.

It is through Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice that we can receive the forgiveness of sins.

This was God's plan all along.

Paul tells us this in Ephesians 1:7-8

We have been redeemed, that is bought back.

Bought back from what, from being slaves to sin, from being owned by the darkness, from an exile from the presence of God.

We have been bought back from this.

Look at the price that was paid, it was with the blood, and the blood was the blood of Christ.

Blood is the only way to atone for sin.

Adam and Eve had blood spilt to cover up their sin, this happened when God sacrificed the animals used to make adequate covering for them.

Blood needed to be spilt because of sin in order for forgiven to be granted.

The problem with the animal sacrifice, it is not sufficient enough.

It can not completely atone for the sins of humanity so the blood of Jesus needed to be spilt.

It is His blood that is the cost of my sin.

Paul continues, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us.

It is only through Jesus we can be forgiven, it is only through Jesus that we receive forgiveness.

It is His sacrifice on the cross that is the atonement for us, the only way to repair our relationship with God.

What God has pointed to from Genesis 3:15 through the entirety of the Old Testament.

Paul adds this in Colossians 2:13-14

Do you see this Paul tells us when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, we were dead.

Mankind is dead.

That is what sin causes death, and death is not just expiring, it is not that the heart stops pumping or the lungs stop bringing in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide, or even that the brain stops firing off those neutrons and signals that keep everything working together.

No our death is so much worse then that because what it means to be dead is that you are no longer able to be in the presence of God.

That is what it means to be dead, it is darkness and terror and weeping.

But Jesus is the source of life, look Paul says here, "He made you alive together with Him," apart from Jesus there is absolutely no life.

"Having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us."

We receive forgiveness for all of our transgressions, all of our sins, not in part but the whole.

This is a big deal receiving forgiveness means we have all of our sins taken away, God doesn't look on our sins anymore.

He holds nothing against us if we trust in Christ and believe in who He is and what He has done.

Paul takes it a step further and illustrates this for us, he illustrates what it means to have our transgressions forgiven.

It is a cancellation of our certificate of debit.

This is one of my favorite illustrations in the Bible but in our modern thinking it doesn't work.

See in Paul's day they didn't have computers or cell phones where things get stuck in cyberspace which if the right people get their hands on it can bring things back or even get a trace of what you had there.

In his day they would use parchment, which was pretty much leather, they would take ink and write it on the parchment and the ink wasn't water proof so to erase they would wipe it off with a wet rag.

This is how Paul illustrates our being forgiven of our sins, it is not that our sins are covered up but completely wiped clean.

These sins as Paul wrights, "which was hostile to us" our sin is hostile sin is not your friend.

Jesus has taken them out of the way, "having nailed it to the cross."

This is what salvation is, this is what we are saved from, we are saved from an eternity apart from God's presence.

When we are Saved what we receive is forgiveness of our sins which is what keeps us from God's presence, which brings unity to our relationship with God and this not of ourselves but God has Saved us from death to Himself because He wants this unity with His creation.

So this component of Salvation is receiving forgiveness of sins which is receiving unity where there was once disharmony, it is also receiving a sign of the unity who is the Holy Spirit.

Luke continues in verse 44-48, "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.

All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Sprit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God.

Then Peter answered, 47 "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?

48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Then they asked him to stay on for a few days."

Peter wasn't finished with his sermon, his message was nowhere near complete and his message was interrupted by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on this crowd of people who have gathered for the sole purpose of listening to the message of the Lord.

This pouring out of the Holy Spirit is significant, this is the third instance of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on a group of people with incredible visible signs.

The first time was when the Holy Spirit came down on the Israelites in Jerusalem and they began speaking different languages and then again in Acts 8 when Peter and John went to the Samaritans and laid hands on them and they recieved the Holy Spirit.

Now in Acts 10 we find this again with the Gentiles and later we will see a similar event happen also with people who were baptized by John but not yet baptized in the Holy Spirit.

What is truly going on here has been overshadowed in many church by the whole issue of what were the tongues that they were speaking.

They were more then likely real languages but languages that they didn't normally speak and didn't know themselves.

The point here is not so much what were these tongues that actually takes away from the big picture of what God is doing.

God is unifying mankind to Himself and to one another through this wonderful new era the church age.

Salvation is brought about when we receive forgiveness of sins and we receive the Holy Spirit.