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  THE GENTILES ALSO
  by G.W. North
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Summary: The sermon explores the significance of the Gentiles receiving
the Holy Ghost and the importance of understanding the gifts of the
Spirit in God's universal provisions for men.

Topics: "Unity in the Spirit", "Gifts of the Holy Spirit"
Scripture References: Acts 10:44

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DESCRIPTION
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G.W. North emphasizes the significance of the Gentiles receiving the
Holy Spirit, highlighting the unity and humility among early believers
who recognized that all gifts come from God. He explains that spiritual
gifts are not measures of a person's worth but tools for ministry that
reveal one's character and effectiveness in their calling. North points
out that the events in Jerusalem and Samaria were not the ultimate
pattern for the Church, as God's plan extends beyond these groups to
encompass all humanity, particularly the Gentiles. He encourages
believers to understand the broader implications of God's work and the
importance of recognizing the gifts given to each individual for the
purpose of ministry.

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CONTENT
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Upon arrival at Caesarea , Philip found that through the ministry of
Peter, the Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost, which provides us with
much food for thought. But there was no jealousy among those early men
of God; they all knew that a man can receive nothing except it be given
him from God. They did not strive about the qualities and differences of
ministries, but simply got on with their work according to their calling
and measure. They knew that when a man receives a gift from God it does
not automatically make him a greater man than he who has not received
the identical or even a greater gift.

Gifts are entrustments; they are also guides to and gauges of men's
spirit(s), for by their use they greatly test and prove the quality of
the man who receives them. Of all the many things given by God to men,
none test and reveal him more than do the gifts of the Spirit. They are
given to a man together with the office he may hold in the Church, and
are his equipment and qualification for his calling. It must therefore
be solemnly acknowledged that the establishing and recognition of that
office, as well as his effectiveness among men, will depend largely upon
the spirit and authority he displays in the employment of the gift(s) he
possesses.

Towards the Ultimate Pattern

Whatever Philip's soliloquies or prayers may have been at that time (if
we may presume to think that he engaged in one or the other or both) it
is vital to a true understanding of his Lord's intentions for the entire
age that we recognise the significance of what He did at Caesarea. What
happened at Jerusalem and Samaria is not set forth in scripture as the
pattern to which we must adhere, or at which we must aim, for neither of
those events is to be regarded as the norm.

The most fundamental age-abiding elements of truth are to be found in
both, but because the setting of the first was purely Jewish and the
second Samaritan, neither constitutes the ideal God-given, age-lasting
order for the Baptism. They were partial, purposeful and limited. Quite
deliberately God moved in prescribed ways upon those occasions. They
only filled a little, even though it was a vital part, of God's
universal provisions for men, for Jews and Samaritans only represent a
tiny part of the human race. God dealt with them according to His
righteousness and wisdom and then moved on to the greater world of the
Gentiles. To observe His ways with these we must turn to chapter 10.
However, before we examine the Caesarean outpouring, we will pause
awhile in chapter 9 to see what happened to Saul of Tarsus when God
called and specially commissioned him to be the apostle to the Gentiles.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/gw-north/the-gentiles-also/
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