Acts 10:36 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) Preaching peace by Jesus Christ. Taking Cornelius as an example of a devout heathen, show that the world needed a new proclamation of peace, both to individuals and to nations. A personal name must be announced; for it must be preached, not by wars and worldly power, but by persuasion and appeal to the heart. I. THE MESSAGE - PEACE. 1. Peace between man and God in atonement. 2. Peace rising up as a wellspring of new life in the heart. 3. Peace ordering the life. II. THE PREACHER - JESUS CHRIST. 1. Not destroying the Law, but fulfilling it. The gospel preached from the first. 2. The power of the message is in the messenger. Personal power. Power of love. Power of Divine supremacy inviting confidence. 3. Jesus Christ preached in his people, by his Church, in the embodiment of the Word. Test of all doctrines claiming to uplift humanity - Will they bear to be made the oasis of fellowship? Rationalism has never been able to form a Church. Jesus preached and preaches still a peaceful revolution which shall totally change the world. III. THE AUDIENCE. 1. None excluded. No other condition would harmonize with both the message and the preacher. 2. Christianity preaches peace in states and among the contending nations, not by substituting spiritual principles for laws, because it is not the preacher's province to legislate, but by proclaiming the Word of Jesus Christ. 3. The mission of the Church to the homes of men, not the peace of blind submission, intellectual and moral death, but the peace of Jesus Christ, the life of God in the soul of man, flowing out into the surrounding world. Is it peace - within, without? - R. Parallel Verses KJV: The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) |
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