God's Vision For All People - Acts 11
Pastor Dan Walker, PhD, MDiv
Introduction
This morning we’re going to talk about God’s Vision for All People. God has a vision and plan for the people that he has created. His vision for humanity is inclusive and expansive.
God’s vision encompasses people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, uniting them together into His family. God’s vision is a vision that we are called to embrace and seek to accomplish in our own lives.
Revelation 7:9 (ESV) After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.
This verse gives us a picture of heaven now and forever where God’s will is perfectly expressed. We see a vast uncountable multitude of people worshipping before the throne. The people we see are individuals from every conceivable background.
God’s love and salvation has a universal reach. God’s kingdom is not limited by geographical, cultural, or language boundaries. This vision is how we should view and treat others on earth, recognizing that everyone is invited to be part of God’s family.
2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
The reason that Jesus hasn’t returned yet, the reason that each of us is alive, is that God does not desire for any human being to perish and spend eternity in hell. So He gives each and every person multiple opportunities to repent and believe in Jesus.
No one is predestined to hell; that is a false teaching. Everyone has a chance to repent. Will everyone accept His free gift of eternal life? No, God’s Word makes it clear that the majority will decline God’s amazing free gift.
We as believers are here on this earth to spread the gospel, God’s truth, to the ends of the earth and help fulfill God’s vision.
John 3:16 (ESV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
The world is not planet earth but all the people living here created by God. Circle the word "whoever." Everyone has an opportunity to believe in Jesus and receive eternal life. Everyone has an opportunity to become a child of God and part of His family.
It does matter where you come from, what you’ve done in your past, or what you look like. God’s vision is for everyone to have the chance to choose Jesus. And uncountable multitudes have and will continue to believe in Jesus until His family is complete. Then Jesus will return.
This morning we’re going to see how this divine vision is meant to shape our lives and our church. As God’s love extends to every corner of the earth, our vision should mirror His.
Our vision is to spread God’s truth not just in St. Louis but around the world through missions. Our vision is to help everyone experience God’s Spirit so we have the power to reach our world. So that we can share life together, that is, eternal life both here and now and forever.
Understand God’s Inclusive Vision
Last Sunday we learned how God arranged a divine appointment between Peter and the Gentile soldier Cornelius. If you missed last Sunday’s message, you can watch it and the whole service on our website lifechurchstlouis.org or on our YouTube channel lifechurchstlouis. If you miss a service, make sure you take time to watch the online service so you don’t miss out on what God has for you.
Last Sunday we learned how God saved Cornelius and his household and baptized them in the Holy Spirit.
Acts 11:2–3 (ESV) So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
When Peter went to Jerusalem, there were many believing Jews who had the same prejudice that Peter had. They thought that Gentiles were not God’s chosen people and should not be associated with. So Peter began to share his God Story with them.
He told them about the vision he had of the animals coming down from heaven and being made clean. It was a picture of God’s truth that God loved and wanted to save every person, no matter if they were Jew or Gentile.
Acts 11:12 (ESV) And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house.
The Holy Spirit instructed Peter to go to the house of the Gentile Cornelius, something he would never have done before. Peter then continues his God story on what happened next.
Acts 11:15–16 (ESV) As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
Peter told Cornelius’ household that they must believe in Jesus to have their sins forgiven. After they believed, they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Peter then concluded…
Acts 11:17 (ESV) If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?
The baptism in the Holy Spirit of these new believers was evident because they heard them speaking in tongues. They were speaking in a language they didn’t know and praising God. Baptism in the Spirit is evidence that a person has been saved, so only someone who has been saved through faith can be Spirit-baptized. Peter had learned about God’s inclusive vision.
Application
The gospel and the gift of the Spirit are for everyone, no matter where they come from, no matter what color their skin is, and no matter what language they speak. God calls on us to embrace His inclusive vision. To see God’s vision of eternity where people of all nations, colors, and languages are worshipping before the throne. And to work to see that vision accomplished here on earth. Our responsibility is for our own city, nation, and around the world through missions.
Never believe that someone is so far from God they cannot be saved. God’s vision and desire are for everyone to be saved. We must recognize God’s inclusive vision.
Welcome Diverse Fellowship
Acts 11:18 (ESV) When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
When the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem heard Peter’s God story, they also changed their minds. They embraced what was once unthinkable. That Jews and Gentiles could be saved and worship and glorify God together. It was not to be Jews and Gentiles worshipping in different churches. No, they were to worship together, showing the unity of heaven here on earth.
Acts 11:20–21 (ESV) But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
The vision that the Gospel was for everyone began to spread. Some Jewish men from Cyprus and Cyrene came to the city of Antioch as witnesses for Jesus. There they began to preach about Jesus to some Greek Gentiles. Something that would have been unthinkable just a little while ago. God was with them and many of the Gentiles in Antioch were saved.
The church leaders sent a man named Barnabus to Antioch to help in the revival there.
Acts 11:23 (ESV) When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.
Barnabus began to help disciple the new believers in Antioch and many more were saved. He also went and found the new believer Saul who had previously persecuted the church.
Acts 11:26 (ESV) and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
It was at Antioch, one of the largest cities in the Roman empire, that the disciples were first called Christians. The word Christian means a follower of Jesus Christ. No one is born a Christian; you become a Christian by believing in Jesus and following Him. God calls us to embrace diverse fellowship.
Application
What does that mean for us today? Our vision for Life Church St. Louis is to be a diverse church that reaches out to and embraces people of all colors and backgrounds. A biblical church should reflect heaven and reach all the kinds of people in the region around it. St. Louis has a diverse population of different colors and ethnic backgrounds.
I do not believe that having black churches, white churches, Chinese churches, Indian churches, and so on is God’s best. I believe that God desires for each church to represent the diversity of heaven and the diversity of their area. We must spread the truth that God loves every kind of person, and so should we.
Churches should not be recognized for reaching a certain type of person but only as discipling followers of Jesus, Christians. We must embrace a diverse fellowship.
Actively Participate in God’s Mission
Acts 11:27–28 (ESV) Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over
all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).
We see here that the ministry of prophets continues in the New Testament era, of which we are a part. Prophets speak God’s word to the church and to the world. In this case, a prophet named Agabus prophesied that a great famine was coming over the Roman world. The disciples prayed as to how they should respond.
Acts 11:29 (ESV) So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
The prophecy was given in Antioch, a largely Gentile city. Apparently, the famine situation was more severe for the church in Jerusalem and Judea. So the believers in Antioch decided to send funds to help the church in Judea make it through this difficult situation.
Acts 11:30 (ESV) And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
The funds were entrusted to Barnabas and Saul to take to the churches of Judea. We see the new Gentile churches helping the largely Jewish churches. They were actively participating in God’s mission.
Application
How can we participate in God’s vision for all people? We must respond to the needs around us, prioritizing helping those in our church family. Yet also reaching out to those in need who are not yet believers. God calls us to serve Him by serving others, supporting God’s work, and spreading God’s love.
God calls each of us to serve in a ministry in our church, to support our church with your giving, and to support missions around the world. As we do that, not only will we further God’s vision, but we will also be blessed.
Conclusion
God’s vision for all people must become our vision individually and as a church family. We are to be God’s hands and feet to carry out and complete His eternal vision. As we remember the heavenly vision of every kind of people worshipping Jesus, God calls us to actively seek out and welcome people from all backgrounds.
We grow as we interact and show love to people who are different than us in many ways. Yet we find fellowship and unity in our common love for Jesus and the truth of God’s Word. God calls on us to all be baptized in the Spirit so that the Spirit can join us together. May our church be a beacon of light and love in a dark world.
May we experience God’s Spirit, spread God’s truth, and share life together. Until one day we join the multitude before the throne worshipping Jesus forever.
