Transcript

A man dialed a wrong number and got the following recording: “I am not available right now, but I thank you for caring enough to call.

“I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.”

The next portrait of grace we’ll be taking a look at is Cornelius. Cornelius’s life and eternity was changed by Peter coming and sharing the gospel of the kingdom with him and his family, and he was saved from his sins.

And through Cornelius, we further learn about the change that was taking place in God’s dealings with mankind through his conversion.

“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

“He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.

“And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:

“He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

“And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.”

The city of “Caesarea” was situated on the Mediterranean coast, about 30 miles north of Joppa. A large Roman garrison was stationed there.

At that time, it was the major Roman seaport for Palestine and its most important center of Roman government and military activity.

Cornelius was a Roman military officer who was stationed in Caesarea. He was attached to a cohort called the Italian Regiment, which consisted of 600 soldiers.

As a centurion he commanded a subdivision of this cohort of 100 men. It’s said that a centurion had about the same level of authority as a captain in the United States army.

Luke records that Cornelius was a devout, God-fearing man, who gave alms generously to impoverished Jewish people, and who prayed always. And as Cornelius feared God, “all his house” feared God with him. And as he was devout, we find in verse 7 that a soldier that served him was likewise “devout.” Cornelius influenced those around him.

According to verse 3, he observed the Jewish hour of prayer, praying at the ninth hour in his home. Acts 3:1 reads, “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.”

In verse 22, he is described as a “just” or upright man, who lived a moral life. He had “a good report” or a good reputation, “among all the nation of the Jews.” Further, in verse 30 we learn how he “fasted” out of his desire to know the truth.

But Cornelius was not saved. By all outward appearances one might’ve thought he was. But the fear of God he possessed, his consistent prayers, fasting, good life, and kindness to the Jewish people did not mean he merited or had eternal life. He was still unsaved.

Peter was sent to him by the Lord that he might receive “remission of sins” as verse 43 shows. In Peter’s retelling of this account in the next chapter, we find that he was sent to Cornelius to tell him the words whereby Cornelius and all his house would “be saved.”

This is a reminder to us that being a good person who prays, fears the true God, goes to church, gives to those in need does not mean you have eternal life or are right with God.

Cornelius needed to hear the truth of Christ, the truth of the gospel of the kingdom at that time, and to accept that by faith in order to have the forgiveness of his sins and be saved. That’s what happened by Peter’s visit.

Today under grace, we’re surrounded by so-called “good,” devout people, who have not trusted the gospel of grace. They are not going to heaven if they have not.

Cornelius is a reminder for us the church to faithfully share Christ with everyone, including upright, moral, church-going people.

To be right with God and have eternal life, each person must make that individual and personal decision to trust that Christ died for their sins and rose again.

In verse 3, we see that as Cornelius was praying at the ninth hour, or 3:00 in the afternoon, an angel appeared to him. Often when angels appeared to people in Scripture, we find that they are terrified. And Cornelius was no different, as even he, a veteran, tough soldier was afraid at the sight of the angel.

The angel told him that God had noted Cornelius’s sincere prayers Godward, and his sincere alms manward. His many prayers indicated that he truly desired to know the true God. And the Lord was now going to give him more revelation.

Cornelius experienced what Hebrews 11:6 teaches, “…He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

The angel told Cornelius to dispatch some “men to Joppa” for “Simon (also called) Peter,” who was staying there in a home with another “Simon,” the “tanner.” And that Simon Peter would tell him what he ought to do.

As soon as the angel departed, Cornelius told two of his household servants and a devout Roman soldier what had happened with the angel and he then sent all three of them to Joppa to find Peter and to bring him to Caesarea.

I believe that we find here principle in this that is still true today that through God’s mercy and grace, in His sovereign ability, He can and will make the way of salvation known to any one, in any land, under any circumstances, if they are genuinely seeking the truth.

Modern missionaries have told stories of similar seekers after God as Cornelius. After the missionaries had penetrated some remote tribe and had preached the gospel, the natives explained how they had previously worshipped the same Creator God the missionary told them about, and had prayed for more light.

Acts 10:9-17: “On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:

“And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:

“Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

“And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

“This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate.”

As Cornelius’ messengers drew near to Joppa, God prepared Peter for their coming in a remarkable way. We are at Simon the Tanner’s house here. It’s noon. It’s lunchtime.

The flat roofs of homes at that time were used much like decks or porches are in our culture, to sit, relax, and as a place to eat.

Peter went up on the roof of the house and used it to pray. At the end of chapter 9, we learn of Peter raising Dorcas from the dead and how as a result “many believed in the Lord.” Peter was likely praying in light of these things: thanking the Lord for using him, for those who believed in Him and praying for opportunity to reach more in Joppa.

Peter was hungry at the time when he was praying and would like to have eaten, but the meal was still being prepared in the house below. But his hunger provided a fitting preparation for what was to follow.

As Peter prayed, he saw a vision of a great white four cornered sheet descending from heaven to the earth. The sheet-like container, similar perhaps to an awning or a ship’s sail, was full of all kinds of animals.

It was like a microcosm of the animal world, containing many species and “all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.”

Some were clean, but many, perhaps most, were unclean and forbidden to be eaten by Jews under the Mosaic Law.

Peter saw this sheet and then he heard “a voice” speak to him. The Lord’s instruction to Peter was, “Rise, kill and eat.” The invitation was something repulsive to a devout Jew.

Under the law, God had made a difference between clean animals that could be eaten and unclean animals that they were forbidden from eating. For 1500 years, this dietary restriction was upon the Jews under the law.

Levititus 20:25 says of this, “Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.”

Peter was understandably reluctant and resistant. Eating an unclean animal was a clear violation of God’s Law. Peter protested the Lord’s command, saying, “Not so Lord!”

Some people don’t want to accept their need for change. The story is told about a doctor who told a man to give up red meat, so he stopped putting ketchup on his hamburgers. Peter wasn’t ready for this change to his diet either.

Interestingly, Peter next says, “I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.” From this statement we learn that Peter had kept the law concerning clean and unclean foods all his life. When Peter was with the Lord and the other apostles for those three years of His earthly ministry, they never ate anything that wasn’t clean.

Being under the law during His earthly ministry, the Lord as well as His apostles kept the dietary restrictions of the law. The Lord obeyed the law perfectly and He taught His disciples to obey it.

Here in Acts 10 more than a year after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, Peter still was keeping the Law. He had never eaten anything unclean.

Three times this dialogue took place, of the Lord telling him to “rise, kill, and eat,” Peter resisting, and then the Lord telling him, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” Then the sheet returned to heaven.

Peter was being told that he was now allowed to eat any kind of meat, or fowl, or other living thing. God’s instructions had changed. But this vision had a further meaning too.

The “four corners” of the sheet speak to the four corners of the earth. It is a vision of the world and the nations within it, that is, the Gentiles from all over the world.

The Jews had long considered the Gentiles “common” and “unclean.” But now God was going to do a new thing. Gentiles, represented by the common, unclean beasts and birds, were going to receive the Holy Spirit the same as the Jews, the clean beasts and birds, who had already received the Holy Spirit.

Peter had thought of only the Jews as accepted and clean and of the Gentiles as unclean, but God was showing him that He was no respecter of persons.

The Lord wanted Peter to see that God had cleansed what was once unclean, and Gentiles should no longer be considered unclean or any more unworthy, than any Jewish sinner, of eternal life.

Peter learned the lesson of the vision. Later at Cornelius’s house he told those present, “And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (10:28).

The vision prepared Peter for the salvation of Cornelius and those Gentiles in his home. The repetition of the dialogue in the vision THREE times prepared him for the THREE Gentiles sent by Cornelius that were now knocking at the door.

Acts 10:34-42: “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

“That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.

“And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;

“Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.

“And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.”

God was directly taking charge in this account. He had prepared both Cornelius and Peter by giving them special visions. He instructed Cornelius to send the three messengers to Peter, and in verse 20 the Holy Spirit told Peter to go with them.

Arriving at Peter’s home, Cornelius fell down at his feet and worshipped him. Peter lifted him up, declining to accept his worship, protesting that “I myself also am a man.”

Cornelius invited his family and close friends to his home for Peter’s visit and thus many people were present when Peter went in.

It is a testimony to the depth of Cornelius’ sincerity, and to the respect and affection in which he was held by his loved ones, that “many” had gathered to meet and hear Peter.

When Peter asked why Cornelius had sent for him, the centurion recounted the details of the vision God gave him. Cornelius then told Peter, “Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God” (v. 33).

Peter states that through this circumstance he knew that God was no respecter of persons and shows no partiality.

Speaking of Cornelius he said, that “in every nation he that feareth [God], and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” Cornelius was accepted, not in the sense of being saved, but simply in the sense that he was no longer to be considered “unclean.”

The answer to a Gentile’s prayer at Israel’s hour of prayer, indicated that God now accepted him in the same sense that He did Israel.

Peter then gave these Gentiles who gathered at Cornelius’s home an eyewitness account of the Person, ministry, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

With His Person, Peter, pointed out that Jesus Christ is “Lord of all.” Saying that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth,” speaks to Him as being the “Anointed One” or the Messiah of Israel. Peter tells this gathering that Christ was “ordained of God to be the Judge of the quick and dead.” He is Lord, Messiah, and Judge.

Peter told them of Christ’s ministry beginning with His baptism, His ministry of doing good, showing compassion, preaching peace (the peace of His kingdom), and casting out demons, and then how He hung on a tree, died, and that God raised Him from the dead.

Peter stated that he saw the Lord with his own eyes after He had risen, and even ate and drank with Him to further drive the truth of His resurrection home. Christ’s resurrection gives testimony to the fact that He is God and Israel’s Messiah.

All of this was consistent with prophecy and the terms of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Peter’s words form a striking contrast to Paul’s gospel of the grace of God. You find Peter here beginning with Christ’s earthly ministry and proceeding to His death, resurrection and appointment as Judge.

The Apostle Paul’s message began with the death and resurrection of Christ and proceeded to His glory at God’s right hand as the Dispenser of grace and Head of the Body.

Peter related the fact of our Lord’s death and resurrection, but did not offer it as the means of salvation. He used it to show He is the Messiah because salvation was thru faith in the person of Christ and His name, in who He is as God’s Son and Israel’s Messiah.

Whereas Paul’s gospel is all about “the preaching of the cross,” and faith alone in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

Acts 10:43-48: “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

“And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

“For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.”

Peter spoke of the public knowledge of many of the things he had said about Christ, saying “That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea…”

Cornelius knew a lot about God, had some knowledge about Christ and His earthly ministry, but there was one thing he did not yet know, and that is the next thing Peter says: “To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.”

The Word of God in prophecy pointed to Jesus Christ: He is the Messiah, He is the Promised One, He is the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Deliverer.

And when Peter said “through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins,” in response to that Cornelius and those with him, immediately believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and who He is.

And immediately upon believing this, “the gift of the Holy Ghost” was poured out on Cornelius and all these believing Gentiles in his home. And how we know and those present knew that the Spirit was poured out on them is because in accordance with the gospel of the kingdom, they all began speaking in tongues.

Peter, as well as the Jewish brethren who were there with him from Joppa, “were astonished by what they saw” (10:45). They were astonished for a couple reasons: that these Gentiles had received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that this had taken place without their first having been water baptized.

Acts 2:38 says that the order was to be: faith and repentance, water baptism, remission of sins, and then the gift of the Holy Spirit. These Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit before being water baptized caused Peter and those with him to be astonished.

After he got over his amazement, Peter shrugged and asked, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?”

What Peter was asking was, “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. But since it DID happen this way, can anyone think of a good reason not to baptize them?” No one could. And neither could Peter, so he baptized them. Throughout this chapter, things happened that amazed Peter and he didn’t fully understand.

Cornelius is a portrait of grace for a couple reasons. First, the salvation of any and every sinner is by the grace of God. His seeking God and then God sending him Peter to reveal how he could be saved was grace.

But it is also a portrait of grace because of God using this account to confirm His changing of His dealings with mankind.

Peter’s special commission was one of the first steps in the unfolding of God’s plan to bless the nations by grace in spite of Israel’s rejection of Christ. Cornelius’ was part of the connecting link between Peter’s ministry of prophecy and Paul’s ministry of grace.

Note how this incident took place after the conversion of Paul and that changes started taking place. In Peter’s vision, the dietary restrictions of the law are changed like they are under grace now.

When Cornelius and his household got saved, it took place apart from the former requirement of water baptism to be saved.

In the case of Cornelius, we read for the first time that God had put “no difference” between Jew and Gentile and that God had cleansed the Gentiles.

The Lord told Paul at his conversion that He would send him “far hence unto the Gentiles.” This is followed by this special commission to Peter to go to a Gentile.

And later, it was on the basis of this incident that the Church at Jerusalem officially recognized Paul’s ministry among the Gentiles.

Peter’s ministry to Cornelius and his household fits in naturally after Paul’s conversion and before his great ministry among the Gentiles was called in question.

In the wisdom of God, Peter was used by God to go to the Gentile Cornelius to lay the groundwork for the ministry of Paul to be accepted when he went out preaching his new Gospel of the Grace of God to the Gentiles.

Since Peter, the designated leader of the Jewish Kingdom church, had gone to minister to Gentiles under a special commission, and through specific miraculous instructions in a vision by God, it later helped others see that Paul’s ministry to Gentiles was legitimate.