Tell Everyone Acts 10:1-33

The Good Lost Man

Cornelius was a roman centurion in Caesarea. This means that he worked for the army of Rome. In order to become a centurion you would have to be as one historian puts it “ Centurions are desired not to be overbold and reckless so much as good leaders, of steady and prudent mind, not prone to take the offensive to start fighting wantonly, but able when overwhelmed and hard-pressed to stand fast and die at their posts

William Barclay, The Acts of the Apostles, 3rd ed. fully rev. and updated., The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), 92.

Cornelius was a good man that was faithful to Rome yet faithful to Israel as well. He was a man that loved his country, but not the politics, immorality, or godlessness of Rome. He did however, devote himself to helping the Jews. Though he was not a full proselyte, he was a devout man that worshipped at the temple, God fearing, praying, and generous man that was well respected.

Cornelius is what we would call today a good man. Though he was a good man ion the eyes of many, he was a lost man in the eyes of God. One may say that he was doing all the right things, so why would you say he was not saved. Doing the right things does not save a person. Faith alone in Christ alone is what saves a person.

Cornelius demonstrated his desire to know God by his actions that we discussed a moment ago. God decided to afford him the opportunity to discover truth and be saved.

One day while Cornelius was prating the Lod sent an angel to him to retrieve Peter. Peter was going to be the one who shared the Gospel with Cornelius. Acts10:5-6

Acts 10:5–6 (NASB95)

“Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.”

Application

Though Cornelius was a good man doing all the right things. He was still lost. He did not have knowledge of the truth. He needed someone who would share the truth with him. Romans 10:14-15

Romans 10:14–15 (NASB95)

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

Cornelius needed to hear the gospel and put his faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. He knew Judaism but he did not know truth. He like the moral law, sacrificial system, temple worship, and the idea of a monotheistic God, but he did not know the Savior Jesus Christ.

There are many good people in our lives. Unfortunately, we presume because they are good that they are saved. This is not true. A person can be a good person and do right things, but that does not make them a christian.

Today’s culture equates goodness as Christianity. They believe that if a person is a moral person that goes to church, serves others, and never says bad things about anybody makes them a Christian. This is not true. Just because a person is a good person does not make them a christian.

We need to not presume people are Christians because of their behavior, we need to ask them if they are following Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Cornelius was a good man, but if he died before receiving the gospel, he would have been judged and sent to the lake of fire. Friends their are too many good people that are burning in hell right now because Christians presumed they were saved and did not share the gospel with them.

I have done more than my share of funerals where the family said that the deceased was a good person. They would give you the shirt off of their back. This does not make them a christian nor does it get them into heaven. One of the heaviest questions that I have to ask a family is to share with me how they came to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. A lot of time the family cannot share with me and just speak of their loved ones good deeds. This is tragic because they can point to no evidence that this person was saved other than their good deeds.

What about you this morning. When the minister is asking your family about your relationship with the Lord are they going to have any evidence other than your good works?

A Misguided Saved Man

Peter was a Jew of Jews. Though he knew Jesus and believed in the gospel, he still had his Judaic biases. Specifically, he hated Gentiles. The last thing he wanted to do was share the gospel with them. Acts 10:28

Acts 10:28 NASB95

And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.

Peter became hungry and went on top of the roof to pray and God showed him a sheet of unclean animals to eat. Acts 10:10-13

Acts 10:10–13 NASB95

But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”

Peter being a good Jew was not going to violate his dietary law. He had kept them since he was young and did not want to violate them even though the Lord instructed Him to. Acts 10:14-15

Acts 10:14–15 (NASB95)

But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

What God was teaching Peter was not about dietary laws as much as it was His plan to open the gospel up to the Gentiles. Peter saw Gentiles as unclean and God told him that he was no longer to consider Gentiles unclean but instead to share the gospel with them.

We see his obedience in his action. Acts 10:23

Acts 10:23 (NASB95)

So he invited them in and gave them lodging. And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

The last thing a good Jew would ever do is to lodge with a Gentile and would never travel with one.

Peter was a follower of Jesus Christ but he needed to be guided more accurately on the mission of Christ. This would involve breaking down barriers that he had developed as a Jew.

Application

Just as Peter had reluctancy in Sharing the gospel with Gentiles, we too have our own biases towards those we may be reluctant to share with. People that make us uncomfortable such as: People who swear a lot,? People who smoke, ? People who smell, ? People who complain, ? People who do weird things with their hair, ? People who place strange objects in their noses…ears…tongues…, ? Bikers, ? Authority figures, ? Poor people…or rich people,? Educated people, ? Computer geeks. People that we don’t fit in with are those that tend to make us uncomfortable.. We avoid people like this and do not share the gospel

Another group of people we tend to avoid are people that we have labled in some way: PRO-CHOICE LABEL, • PRO-GAY RIGHTS, • NEW AGE,• LIBERAL, • CALVINIST, • ADD-attention deficient disorder,• …autistic…,• schizophrenic …, democrat, Republican, Baptist, Methodist, Black, White, Hispanic.

Everyone needs to have a chance to hear the gospel. We have an obligations to share it with everyone because God has brought down the barrier for everyone.

Conclusion

Today we saw a good man that was lost and headed for hell. We also saw a saved man that was reluctant to share the gospel with the good lost man. God arranged a solution for both. He brought the saved man across the path of the good lost man. He changed the heart of the saved man to break down the barrier of sharing the gospel with the Gentiles. I want to ask you this morning if you are willing not to presume good people are saved and instead ask them if they are following the Lord? Are you willing to go to people that you don’t necessarily care for to share the gospel with them? Are you willing to do what God has called you to do?