Sunday Morning Service

Acts 10:17-Acts 11:18 (Click title for audio access)

"Peter and The Christian Dream"  •  8.21.11  •  Sunday Morning Service, Calvary Christian Fellowship

Intro.

- Last week, we began a journey tracing the providence of God in Peter's life. God is about to have Peter endorse the greatest paradigm shift in the history of man's relationship to God.

- Christianity is about to breach the walls of Jewish experience and become a global enterprise that will span beyond their time and space and right into ours!

- God in His providence has to get Peter from Jerusalem and the mindset that salvation is only for the Jews. That's going from zero to sixty, something that God never does with His people.

- God has led Peter through various circumstances which have softened his perspective. In Joppa, Peter is given a repeated vision of ceremonially unclean animals that he is commanded to eat.

- What could it mean? That's what we'll get to here today.

Text

•  Acts 10:17,18-23  :  "Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate. And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there."  : Peter was completely at a loss for what this meant!  What was God trying to communicate? What did God intend for him to know? We have the benefit of the full story. Peter did not.

- Before he could figure it out, Cornelius' delegation arrived, conducting an interview around town which eventually led them to the Tanner's seaside house.

•  Acts 10:19-23  :  "While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, 'Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.' Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, 'Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?; And they said, 'Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you.' Then he invited them in and lodged them. On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him." : Peter kept bringing the vision back to the forefront of his mind. He did not want to shake it.

- I don't doubt that he kept asking God for His help, knowing that this vision came from Him. As Peter did this, God answered him regarding the men who had come.

- Please note again that God only gives Peter what he needs for that moment. You have to make the first step to get the next instructions! Go with these men without doubting.

- God had lead them and He is assuring Peter that it's right to drop his guard. What a trip that must have been for Peter! God told them to come get me!?

- "They are waiting to hear words from me!?" There will come a time when someone will need to hear something from you, given to you by the Lord for them!

- Peter did not just come to this day. All of his experience led him to this moment. God is doing the same thing in your life. There is no wasted moment, no wasted experience, no wasted study!

- God is using it all, storing it inside your heart, for moments like these!

- The delegation stayed for the evening and got going the next day.

•  Acts 10:24-27  :  "And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, 'Stand up; I myself am also a man.' And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together."  : Joppa to Caesarea was a 30 mile trip. They walked to the door and Cornelius had been waiting!

- Cornelius had followed closely to everything that God had commanded him. He even brought in his family and friends. Speaking to one man about Jesus is speaking to one large group of people!

- When Peter came in, Cornelius fell down and worshipped him. Peter rebuked him. Get up! I'm just a vessel!

- Peter was eager not to take any of the credit for what God was doing through Him. That is a very wise decision that each of us need to make daily!

•  Acts 10:28-33  :  "Then he said to them, 'You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?' So Cornelius said, 'Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God."  : Peter has decoded the message. It was Gentiles who now had been cleansed by the work of Christ! It wasn't about foods, it was about men!

- Jesus had told Peter that he was going to make him a fisher of men, not foods!

- Cornelius knew what had been the dividing line. He knew Jewish customs and that this was a stretch for Peter, but Peter had other knowledge that was given to Him by God!

- Both men understand that God has orchestrated this event. He has brought them together.

- God literally put up an exhibit for Peter to look at! God revealed truth to Peter which gave him the freedom to go without objection. From here Cornelius tells what God has told Him!

- Cornelius recounts his story and tells Peter to have at it! They were eager to hear what God's message was. They were hungry for what God had for them.

•  Acts 10:34,35  :  "Then Peter opened his mouth and said: 'In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him."  : God does not show partiality! This is the truth that Peter had come to know, to come into the possession of.

- God was not partial to the Jews over the Gentiles. God is not responsive merely to urban professionals or people without tattoos or people who we deem presentable to God.

- For Peter and the Jews listening to this, this was an amazing revelation! The Jews hated the Gentiles and vice versa. Nothing in their experience would have pointed to this.

- This was not something that could have come from his own thinking. It was something that God took great care in communicating to Him. God is not one to show partiality.

- Literally, the Lord is not one who shows respect for persons. Whoever fears Him. Those who reverance Him and do works of righteousness. These are accepted by Him.

- I like the way that the NASB translates this verse:

•  Acts 10:35 (NASB)  :  "but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him."

- Anybody is welcomed to come and let Him make them whole! Now, what does this mean regarding good works and the righteousness of Christ.

- It cannot mean that God looks at a person who by their works, has earned a right to God. God must look my way because I reverance Him and do good works.

- Some look at Cornelius and wonder what his sin was. He was a good man, but he was not saved because of the sin that affects every religious person: Seeking to save oneself!

- That is the sin of Cornelius and religion: The pride that would seek a Savior other than Jesus!

- What is indicated here is simply this: God will not overlook such a man simply because he is not from the nation of Israel, a major blow to the prevailing theology of that day.

- This man had been given a certain amount of light. He had responded to it and now God was going to give Cornelius more specific revelation through Peter.

•  Acts 10:36-39  :  "The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."  :  The Lord began His work of salvation first among the children of Israel. Jesus was presented first to them.

- Paul will explain this in the Book of Romans with the statement that the gospel was for the Jew first. Jesus was their Messiah and God came to them, preaching peace through Him!

- God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself! Jesus is that message of peace, though He is not Israel's alone! Peter says it : "He is Lord of all!"

- I do not make Jesus Lord. You do not make Jesus Lord. He is Lord and we either acknowledge that or we do not! He is not the Jewish Lord only, but the Lord of the Gentiles as well!

- Peter goes on to summarized Christ's mission, from Judea, Galilee, from the message of John, to Christ's miracle working power.

•  Acts 10:40-43  :  "And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.'"  :  "We" being the Apostles, had been witnesses of Christ's life, ministry, death and resurrection. "They" are the Jewish Sanhedrin at that that time.

- They killed Him but God raised Him and showed Him. The disciples were to proclaim Him!

- Jesus commanded them to preach. That command has not been fulfilled. We are called to the same commission, though it's not a new truth. All of the prophets witness of Him!

- Through the name of Christ, whoever trusts in Him receives remission of sins.

- That is the gospel message that Peter the Apostle gave: Believe in Jesus, receive the remission of sins! The word "remission" essentially means to be released from sin.

- It means that a person is pardoned, freed, no longer bearing the guilt of sins commited. God desires greatly to forgive people from their sins. It is God's delight to forgive.

•  Acts 10:44-48  :  "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, 'Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?' And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days."  : Before Peter could even get to the glory moment of calling these people to believe, God's Spirit fell upon them.

- Right before Peter could give the invitation, God gave them the Holy Spirt. Peter looked around, as well as the fellow Jews that had come along from Joppa.

- The comment that is the poignant moment of the chapter: They received the Holy Spirit just as the Apostles had! This was Acts 2 all over again, except that it was the Gentile version!

- The logic was clear: These need to be baptized! In the Mediteranean sea no less! Imagine what those next few days would have been like! What an amazing retreat that would have been!

•  Acts 11:1-3  :  "Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, 'You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!'"  : The Apostles and brethren refers to the members of the scattered church. Judea was the region or county that surrounded Jerusalem.

- Gentiles had been receptive, hospitable to God's Word! The people from the nations had opened themselves to the Word of God.

- In Judea, there was little reaction, but in Jerusalem, there was a much more direct and negative response, especially among those of the circumcision, another name for the Jews!

- When these people heard the news, the contended with Peter about it. The best word to describe this is to criticize. And their criticism was hostile and constant.

- It expressed itself in this: You went in and ate with them! It seems minor to us, but this is what they had come to believe was a sacred command of separation.

•  Acts 11:4  :  "But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying:"  :  Peter rehearsed what had happened, setting forth the details from the beginning. 

- Verses 5 through 15 recounts the contents of chapter 10. Verse 16 lets us into Peter's mind.

•  Acts 11:16-18  :  "Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?' When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, 'Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.'"  :  Jesus had told Peter what was going to take place and now Peter was seeing that word come to pass.

- They had been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Now these gentiles had the same, literally the equal experience that they had! How could Peter stand against God? He gave the Spirit to them!

- Peter did not want to be guilty of standing or hindering God's way.

- Having listened to this account of the truth of what happened, the people were silenced, literally, they held their peace and gave honor to God.

- God has given repentance to life! He has given you and I that gift! We have been given repentance to life with God!

Conclusion

- God's providence is working in your life today, breaking down prejudice, setting you in motion or putting you in a position to see destiny's change.

- Maybe there are few Cornelius moments in life, but just one would be amazing! Let us be faithful with what we have been given.