A Divine Appointment pt. 1 Cornelius’ Vision Acts 10:1-8

Introduction

Acts 10 is an amazing chapter in the Bible, where we see God show Peter that the Gospel isn’t just for the Jew but also for the Gentile. I’m thankful that John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

In the first 8 verses of Acts 10 we are introduced to a man named ,Cornelius, who was a gentile, a man who was “good” on paper, but was also a man that was lost. But by God’s grace and sovereignty, the Lord would orchestrate an appointment for Cornelius and Peter to meet.

Can I remind you this morning you can mark all of the boxes of religion, but religion doesn’t save, only our belief in the Gospel can save us. It’s not about religion, its about a relationship with Jesus Christ.

This morning I want to look at Cornelius Character, His vision, and his obedience.

Cornelius Character vs.1-2

Here we are introduced to a man named Cornelius, and the Bible gives us some details about him.

The first thing we know about him is he is from Caesarea.

Caesarea was a major city on the Mediterranean Coast and was Acts 8 tells us is is home to Phillip the Evangelist.

He was the centurion of the band called the Italian Band

This means he was a leader of 100 men, who made up the “Italian band”

He was a devout man

Devout: Yielding a solemn and reverential attention to God in religious exercises, particularly in prayer.

He was a man who feared God with all his house.

He reverenced God, and those of his house reverenced God as well. He was not only leading his soldiers well, but he was also leading his house well.

He was a generous man

The Bible tells us he gave much alms to the people.

Alms; Any thing given gratuitously to relieve the poor, as money, food, or clothing, otherwise called charity

Cornelius was a man who gave and expected nothing in return.

He didn’t give the minimum the Bible tells us he gave much charity to the people, not just the poor.

He was a man of prayer

He prayed to God alway

Alway means all the time

He took 1 Thess 5:17 literally when it says pray without ceasing.

Notice in the first two verses we see Cornelius described both professionally and Religiously, and I think we can learn something from both sides.

Principle #1 The way he lived at work helped people see God. We ought to serve and worship God the same way Monday-Saturday as we do on Sunday. When people see us at work they ought to see Jesus in us.

Spurgeon said this “There are some people who need to wear a label round their necks to show that they are Christians at all, or else we might mistake them for sinners, their actions are so like those of the ungodly.”

We see that Cornelius was a great spiritual leader, but still without the Gospel he was lost.

Principle #2 Like Cornelius we should embody the Characteristics of the first century church. He was:

Committed to Christ - Devout man

Commitment seems to be almost a dirty word today, but we should be commited to Christ.

Romans 12:1–2“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Had a high view of God - He feared God

Lots of Christians have lost their high view of God

We should be like Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5 “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

The Bible also tells us in Proverbs that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

He was a generous man

He gave much alms to the people.

We read about how the early church gave so that no one was without.

He was a man of prayer

The early church was a praying church.

Again like Cornelius, we can check all the boxes for religion and be lost. The only way of Salvation is our belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Cornelius’ Vision vs. 3-6

We see in verse 3 that around 3 PM an angel of God came into him and called him by name.

The immediate reaction of Cornelius is fear.

This seems like a common theme, every time an angel of God shows up, they always have to tell the people to fear not.

Then he asks “what is it, Lord”

He knew who was calling him by name

In the second part of verse 4 the angel of the Lord tells him that his prayer and his alms are come up for a memorial before God

Most times when something comes up before God in the Bible it always seems to be sin.

Genesis 6:5 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Genesis 18:20–22 “And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.”

But here we see, Cornelius searching for God through prayer and giving came up before God and because of that He was going to arrange a divine appointment with Peter for Cornelius.

I think this proves that God truly isn’t willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

In verse 5 we see what the lord wants him to do

He wants him to send men to Joppa.

Joppa was about 32 miles south of Caesarea, both of which were seaports.

Once they got to Joppa, they needed to find a man named Simon, whose surname was Peter.

Verse 6 he was told exactly where to find Peter

Peter would be in Joppa at Simon the tanners house, which was by the sea side.

When they got there Peter would tell them what he needed to know.

One thing that really amazes me about this interaction is that the angel of God could’ve easily given Cornelius the Gospel right then, but instead he got him to get peter to give him the Gospel.

God could’ve used anything to spread the Gospel around the world, but he chose the foolishness of preaching. What a responsibility we have to spread the Gospel. We should never take it lightly!

Cornelius’ Obedience vs. 7-8

After the angel left he called two of his household servants and one of his devout soldiers to him.

Because of Cornelius’ leadership, his followers had a lot of the same characteristics as him ex. devout soldier.

Cornelius declared the vision that he had just had.

He told them about the angel of the Lord

he told them about the message he got

He needed to send some of his people to Joppa more specifically Simon the tanners house, to get Peter and bring him back so they can know what they need to do.

After he told them everything they needed to know he sent them to Joppa.

He could’ve easily ignored what the angel of the Lord had told him, because of the works that he had done, but he obeyed and sent his men to Joppa to get Peter.

If we want God to work in our life we must be obedient to his commands, to often we say we want to see God do something but we won’t even obey him.

Conclusion

It doesn’t matter how good you are, how great a leader you are, how devout you are to a religion, how much you reverence God, how much money you give to those in need or even how much you pray, if you haven’t believed the Gospel, you are lost. Works will never save you, salvation is by grace through faith!

If you are trusting your “works” for salvation you will come before God one day and he will say depart from me ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you. Come this morning and trust Jesus Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection. It is the only way to heaven.

If your’e saved this morning, are we yielded enough to God, to be ready for a divine appointment that he has set for us. Let us never waste a gospel opportunity.