Good morning. We are going to look at one of the most significant chapters in the book of Acts - Acts 10 the account of the conversion of the Gentiles in response to the Gospel.
• This account was mentioned 3 times in this book. Luke gave it much space in Acts 10 and then again in Acts 11 when Peter recounted it, and finally in Acts 15 when Peter explained it to the Council.
• It’s the conversion of the Roman centurion Cornelius, a non-Jew and his family and friends. We see the breaking down of barriers.
• It marks the crossing of the psychological barrier for apostle Peter and the crossing of the Gospel from one race to another, from the Jews to the Gentiles.
• No matter how different or how unfit the Jews think the Gentiles are, the Lord wants to reach out to them and save them. Everyone matters to God.
Let’s pray and ask God to bless our time of learning today.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us our daily bread today. May our soul be nourished and our spirit strengthened again by your living Word. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. To you alone, Lord belongs all the glory and praise.
Help us see you through your Word today. This we pray in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
Let’s read Acts 10:1-8.
1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!"
4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea." 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
We see God breaking down the barriers in this chapter.
• Cornelius faced the barrier of faith in Christ, not being able to fully know God, being a Roman soldier and from a different race and culture from the apostles.
• Even though he has been pious and God-fearing, being religious and doing good works cannot save him.
• All men have sinned and stand guilty before God, Cornelius included. No amount of piety and good works can change that.
Cornelius needs to know Jesus - the only Mediator between God and man. The problem of sin that separated him from God has to be resolved.
• The only way for him to truly know God and be reconciled to Him is through faith in Jesus. He needs to hear the Gospel. The Lord steps in to make that possible.
Over the last few chapters, we have been seeing God at work, through the church at large as well as individuals, like Stephen, Philip, Paul and Peter.
• The message of the good news of Jesus was preached beyond Jerusalem to Samaria and Damascus. God initiated those events.
• And now in Acts 10, we see God orchestrating a meetup between Cornelius (the one who needs to know) and Peter (the one with the Gospel) and bringing them together.
• Even though they did not know each other and were 50km apart (Cornelius in Caesarea and Peter in Joppa), God would make that happen.
• How? By preparing both of them, separately with different visions, for a divine appointment.
None of these encounters was humanly possible; they were divinely arranged.
• God has not been passive; He has been actively involved in the lives of His people, both in the carriers of the Gospel (Jewish believers), as well as those whose hearts were opened to Him.
• If there is no coincidence with God, then we can find ourselves speaking to people who are in need and struggling to find the hope we have in Jesus Christ.
Cornelius was such a man, in search of this living hope. He might be a Roman centurion commanding a unit of 100 soldiers, but he needed to be saved.
• God would provide that answer. An angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” (10:4b-6)
This sounded so similar to the instruction given to Ananias in 9:11 “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul…”
• Both times the instructions were clear, who to look for and where to find him, right down to the name of the owner of the house, were given.
• Peter was not even in Jerusalem. He has travelled to Lydda [lee da] and then Joppa, and staying in someone’s house - a tanner named Simon.
• God knows. He knows our names, our whereabouts, our addresses, our thoughts and deeds, and our needs and struggles.
God provides what Cornelius truly needs – someone to tell him about Christ.
• Cornelius believed and obeyed the Lord’s word. He called for two of his servants and a devout soldier and sent them off to Joppa to look for Peter.
Meantime Peter was having a disturbing vision on a rooftop. He was being prepared by the Lord to share the Gospel to the Gentiles.
Let’s read Acts 10:9-16.
9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13 Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."
14 "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
Peter too faces a barrier but of a different kind. He has a problem meeting Cornelius, a Gentile, himself being an orthodox Jew.
• Jews do not associate themselves with Gentiles. Interactions with them are not forbidden but it will make them “unclean”.
• Hence, they would not step into the homes of Gentiles or eat their “unclean” food, usually offered to pagan deities.
Peter saw a vision of a great sheet being let down from the sky on which were animals, reptiles and birds considered ceremonially unclean by the Jews.
• Peter was hungry, waiting for his lunch, and the voice said, “Arise, Peter, kill and eat.”
• Peter was shocked, as seen by his reply. "Surely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure (common) or unclean." (10:14)
The voice said, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." (10:15)
• The Lord repeated the vision three times to impress the point.
With the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, such ceremonial laws no longer hold any significance. We don’t need rituals to make ourselves clean.
• God has removed the barrier to Himself through the cross, and that’s not just for the Jews but for all people. His death cleanses us from all impurities
• Paul writes in Romans, “22This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:22-24)
Peter would soon understand that God wasn’t talking about food but the Gentiles. He has to listen to God and overcome his prejudice.
• We are all prone to prejudice. We tend to group people by race, social status, occupation, nationality, and then pigeonhole them and label them.
• But the truth is, we are all the same - sinners in need of God’s grace.
• Paul says of himself, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. 16But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” (1 Tim 1:15-16)
Let’s read Acts 10:17-23.
17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." 21 Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?" 22 The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say." 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along.
As Peter was still pondering over the vision, the three visitors from Caesarea arrived.
• The Spirit of God assured him, "Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." (10:20)
• Peter would be confronted with a hard choice – to either hold on to his Jewish custom and prejudice or obey God’s Word and follow these Gentiles to Caesarea.
• God aided him in that very difficult decision and assured him!
We can see the change in Peter’s heart. He invited the Gentile guests into his house and stayed the night, against the common Jewish customs.
• The next day Peter set out with them to Cornelius’ house, together with a group of believers.
• It was wise to have more witnesses as he would be stepping into a Gentile’s house.
• When he arrived, Peter saw a large gathering waiting for him. We are going to see a great miracle next week in Cornelius house in the second part of Acts 10 next Sunday.
God prepares the way even before we know what He wants us to do.
• We see the willingness of two men - Cornelius and Peter – in believing what God said and obeying the visions that they received. And thus fulfilling the purposes of God.
• We see God breaking down the barriers for the Gospel. No one is beyond His reach, only those who refuse to receive Him.
• May we be faithful carriers of the Gospel, reaching out to the Cornelius among us.
In closing, I like to share with you this hymn:
The hymn: “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning”, both words and music were written by Philip Paul Bliss.
He wrote many well-known hymns, including "Hallelujah, What a Saviour!" (1875); "Let the Lower Lights Be Burning"; "Wonderful Words of Life" (1875); and the tune to "It Is Well with My Soul" (1876).
He wrote “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning” after hearing a sermon by D. L. Moody.
Moody related the story of a shipwreck on a dark and stormy night, when not even a star was visible, and the waves were high.
The ship was approaching the harbour of Cleveland, Ohio. The captain, noticing only one light as they drew near, that from the lighthouse, asked the pilot if he was quite sure that this was Cleveland harbour.
The pilot replied that he was quite sure.
The captain asked, “Where are the lower lights?” referring to the lights along the harbour.
“Gone out, sir,” the pilot replied.
“Can you make the harbour then?” asked the captain, to which the pilot answered: “We must, sir, or perish.”
Bravely the old man steered the ship towards the harbour, but in the darkness, they missed the channel and crashed upon the rocks. Many lives were lost.
Then Moody made his appeal to his audience: “Brothers and sisters, the Master will take care of the great lighthouse! Let us keep the lower lights burning!”
LET THE LOWER LIGHTS BE BURNING Philip Paul Bliss (1838-1876)
Brightly beams our Father’s mercy
From His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.
Dark the night of sin has settled,
Loud the angry billows roar;
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore. [Refrain]
Trim your feeble lamp, my brother!
Some poor sailor tempest tossed,
Trying now to make the harbour,
In the darkness may be lost. [Refrain]
PRAY:
We thank you, Lord, for our salvation in Christ. We know that it is not by chance or coincidence. You draw us to yourself in ways that we often do not know.
We thank you for this new life we have in Jesus. Help us treasure all that you have given us. May we be faithful carriers of the Gospel and witnesses of your love and grace, wherever we are. Dear Jesus, may we be the little lights that shine the path for someone in the dark, so that they too can come to know you and experience your saving grace.
May the abundance of your grace, and the love of God, and the fellowship and leading of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and forevermore, AMEN.
