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apostleship, Cornelius was a "Proselyte of the Gate," he gave alms and prayed, and was
held in good report "among all the nation of the Jews" (Acts 10: 1, 2, 22).
It was reserved for Saul of Tarsus, a man who was an Hebrew of the Hebrews, who
would sooner have died than associate with a dog of a Gentile, to be the chosen vessel of
grace to the barbarian and Scythian, the bond and the free, the Greek as well as the Jew.
That which would have been looked upon as his lowest degradation is looked upon as his
highest glory.
"I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office" (Rom. 11: 13).
"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles" (Rom. 15: 16).
"He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same
was mighty in me toward the Gentiles" (Gal. 2: 8).
"Unto me. . . . is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3: 8).
"I am ordained a preacher and an apostle (I speak the truth in Christ and lie not), a
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth" (I Tim. 2: 7).
The last reference to the Gentiles in the Acts is in that solemn passage, where, quoting
the sixth of Isaiah to the elders of Israel at Rome, Paul closed the door of the kingdom,
and opened the door of the mystery. "The salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and
they will hear it" (Acts 28: 28). Henceforth he was the "prisoner of Jesus Christ for
you Gentiles." In view of his approaching death, he wrote to Timothy his last message,
thanking the Lord Who had stood with him and strengthened him to finish his course, that
by him the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear
(II Tim. 4: 17). Have we thanked the Lord for His gift to men? He gave some apostles,
and in Paul we have the chiefest sinner made to be the chiefest of the apostles, and the
champion of grace.
Not only does the passage in Acts 9: tell us of Paul's commission to the Gentiles, but
it also adds, "and kings." Paul, as we well know, was brought before king Agrippa, and
nobly testified to the saving grace of the name of Christ. His appeal unto Caesar gave
him audience with the emperor at Rome, and although we have no record of his witness,
we feel sure that he delivered himself of his testimony in the power of the name of his
Lord. That his witness was faithful is evidenced by that marvellous expression in
Phil. 4: 22, "The saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household." Saints
in Caesar's household! Saints in the employ of that monster! How this rebukes us! If
there could be saints there, saints can be found anywhere. Dear troubled brother or sister,
your business, your home, your surroundings surely are not quite so bad as was the case
of those slaves of Caesar. Let us take courage from their example.
The last clause of the commission which we will consider here is "and the children of
Israel." One has but to read the record of the Acts, or the Epistles written during that
period, to see how large a place Israel had in the heart of the apostle to the Gentiles.
Such passages as Acts 13: 14; 14: 1; 17: 2; 18: 4, 9; 19: 8; 26: 20, and 28: 17
will demonstrate how faithful the apostle was to the terms of Rom. 1: 16, "to the Jew
first." The prominence given to the Jew by Paul in the early Epistles may be
demonstrated as follows:--