Peter arrives in Ceaserea

Acts 23B - 36

Intro

Pop quiz, you should ace this by now

Why did Luke write Acts?

Let’s see then what we will be assured of today

Last weekend we looked mainly at two men

The Apostle Peter and Cornelius the centurion

Peter has left Jerusalem and is in Joppa,

Bonus points, do you remember why he went to Joppa?

Cornelius is stationed in Ceaserea which is a hub for Roman rule and government

Peter is a disciple of Christ but of Jewish decent

Cornelius is a Roman Centurion who is a God fearer but not a disciple of Christ

Peter still follows his Jewish customs and traditions that are deeply rooted in his ethnicity and culture

Cornelius is breaking away from his roman traditions of worshipping many Gods by worshipping the one God of the Jews

Peter knows Christ as the messiah

Cornelius as of yet, does not

Two men 35 miles away from each other have had two visions

Seemingly unrelated

Cornelius’s vision was about sending for a man to receive a message

Very detailed and he acted immediately

Peter’s vision was about eating things that were ritually unclean. He refused the Lord

Cornelius has acted on his vision by sending men to retrieve Peter and bring him back to Caeserea

Peter was still in great confusion about his vision and the men showed up at the house where he was staying.

A second vision told him to go with them with confidence and he has just received these men and invited them to lodge with him for the night

Verse 23B A

I have given a question for small groups about time clues that we have been given in Acts 10. I won’t devote much time to it this morning but it interesting to look at.

I believe this lends credibility to Luke’s statement that he has written an orderly account so that we may be assured of the things we are taught

I encourage you to look through these time clues and distances etc to see if they line up

To see if this indeed is an orderly account

Verse 23B B

This is how we are told of Peter’s answer to the request to join them

Previously they just stated their request and Peter invited them in for the night

Now we see not only Peter joining them but he is being joined by some brothers from Joppa

We are not told why these men joined but I can imagine after seeing Tabitha raised from the dead, they may be eager to see what other mighty works God was prepared to do through Peter

I also imagine for Peter he might have welcomed the support on a trip where he was to totally sure what he was getting into

Verse 24A

Ah, another time clue, did you catch it?

Is this different than before? What a fun conversation to pick up in small group

I would tell you what the small group questions are now but I know you would immediately dive in to trying to solve them and I would lose you all completely from what we are talking about this morning

Verse 24B

How much faith did Cornelius show here?

This is the first point I would like to discuss today

He had done as the angel had instructed him

He was following God’s plan

Not only was he anticipating that Peter would return with these men, he had gathered up a bunch of close friends and family and they were all waiting

He had faith that Peter would come

He had faith that he would come soon

He also had love for these people that he had invited to wait with him

He knew that Peter was bringing a message that would save him and his whole house hold and he wanted that for all of these he had invited

Church, I would pray that we would show that same kind of faith and love as we follow God’s plan for us as individuals and as a church

That we would gather those to hear a message of salvation

Not to fill seats or feel good about ourselves but out of love knowing that the gospel message is one of salvation

And that we would do this with the expectation that God will provide that message through us so that many would come to know the love of Christ

Verse 25

First, we are given a couple of examples of reading in context today

If we don’t pay careful attention and slow down, this can get a bit confusing

Where did Cornelius meet Peter?

It says when he entered

When he entered where?

Just a verse above it says he has entered Caesarea.

He has not gotten to the house yet.

And this is the second thing to discuss today

I just built Cornelius up as such a great example of what it looks like to operate expectantly from a position of faith and then he completely blows it in the next verse

Boy, can I relate

How quickly I go sometimes from walking in the path God has for me to acting like I have never even read these examples

He falls at the feet of Peter as if it is Peter who has come to save him

He is obviously giving glory to the wrong place

But slow down

From what we know, why would Cornelius act in this way?

All his vision told him was to send for Peter, correct?

Let’s review Acts 10:3-6

Perhaps he did this just because he assumed that because an Angel told him to do it, Peter being there was a huge deal?

If there was only some place we could go for this answer . . .

I shared this verse last week

Acts 11:13-14

13 He reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. 14 He will speak a message to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’

Rabbit trail for a moment: Saved from what?

From God, by God, through God, for God, to the glory of God

Psalm 106:8

Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his power known.

ISAiah 43:25

I, Iam he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Cornelius was told that Peter was bringing a message of Salvation

Knowing this, we can better understand his misplaced worship

But knowing this we can also find our caution

Church I have said many times since I was blessed to be here with you on a regular basis

Put no man on a pedestal

Put your faith in Christ alone, not in any man who stands in this pulpit

All the men before me and all those after me are just that

Men, with faults and flaws. Just men

I trust they have been and will continue to be men who love the Lord and work faithfully to serve you and Him but they are still just men

Do not make the mistake of Cornelius in worshipping the messenger, worship only the master

Misplaced faith will do unbelievable damage

This is why Peter is so quick to respond

Verse 26

But Peter understands

He knows that he is just the deliverer of the message but the power of the message comes from somewhere else

He is a man not worthy of worship and yet he is the instrument by which God chooses to deliver His message

Have you thought about that?

You are the instrument by which God chooses to deliver this good news?

Do you remember when Peter and John healed the blind man at the temple back in Acts 3?

Peter asked them why they were acting like it was he or John by whom the man was healed and he quickly used the opportunity to give honor an praise to God and his son whom he sent

Just like Peter, you are the conduit by which God has chosen to share his message. Do so with humility giving honor and glory to God as we see here

Verse 27

Here we find the second context clue that I spoke about earlier.

Slow down and don’t miss it

We see that Cornelius met him and now he is going in to find this crowd

Peter had no idea what was waiting for him

This will help with a confusing question coming up

If a true Jew would have entered this house, their embarrassment and shame magnified by the number of people

Verse 28

Peter is now addressing the crowd that he has walked into

SLIDE TEXT COMPARISON

How had God shown him this?

It was the vision

It wasn’t about eating unclean food at all

God had used Peter’s hunger, his distraction to his time in prayer, to show him that he was not the God of the Jews alone

He was the God of the gentiles as well

Peter was to no longer call them unclean simply because they were not Jews

Verse 29A

I love this text.

Peter is letting them know that he did not deny coming to them because Cornelius was a Roman soldier

He is explaining it to the crowd because they fit the same criteria as Cornelius.

Curious but not Jewish

He did not deny coming to them because they were not Jews

29B

But here is that confusing question

Didn’t the messengers tell him why he was summoned?

The told him all Cornelius had told them

Remember, context, he is addressing the crowd now

He knew why Cornelius had sent for him but why all of these people?

He was obedient because he had just had this vision and then there were men asking him to come

Remember the Holy Spirit told him to go with confidence.

Peter has connected all of those dots but look, he still was not expecting a house full

Verse 30

Time clue,

This is a recap of what we already know

Cornelius was praying at the time appointed for prayer

Her was being disciplined in his worship of God

Verse 30B

So, in all of your investigation of Angels, did you see this one?

Although he appeared a man, he was in dazzling white clothes

It was obvious that he was not ordinary man

Verse 31

A memorial offering. The acts were remembered

Verse 32

Just a recap of the specific instructions

Verse 33

Ah, another time clue we discussed this a bit last week

Does it check out?

Cornelius is now describing his urgency based on this vision and his hope of what was to come

Verse 33 B

It was good of you to come

I love how he says this

As if he wasn’t 100% expecting it by filling his house with people waiting for Peter’s arrival

This phrase clearly was not spoken as “it was good of you to drop by Peter”

It was spoken in anticipation, in faith

Verse 33C

Kind of like I start every Sunday, here is what has happened so here is where we are

They want to hear everything

Everything the Lord has commanded Peter to tell them

This is a message from God and they are anxious to hear it

Peter is the one chosen to deliver it and he is being faithful to do so

This is why Cornelius says It is good of you to come

Verse 34

Again I see the genuineness of Luke’s writing

Peter doesn’t just announce the message that he was sent to deliver

He reveals it as it was revealed to him

He teaches them from what he has been taught

He truly understands something that would have had to be revealed to him by God

Something that would be very contrary to all the years he has been brought up as a Jew

God does not favor the Jew over the Gentile

Possibly discuss justification of other religions

Out of context with this verse. Clearly addressing Jews and gentiles specifically

Verse 35

So if this is true, his next statement is the logical progression of thought

Not just the Jew but every nation who fears him and does what is right is acceptable

A few weeks ago we spent a lot of time on what it means to fear the Lord

Those who fear him and do what is right are acceptable to him

It is not a matter of ethnicity but a matter of heart

I am not sure that living today and knowing what we know that the power of this is fully felt

We are used to it being this way

Non jews knowing God and knowing Jesus but at this point in history . . .

This, changes, everything

Verse 36

The message he sent was that He is Lord of all

Amen and Hallelujah,

What an amazing place for God to have us as we take a pause from Acts to celebrate the resurrection together next weekend

We will gather knowing that the resurrected savior was not sent only for the Jew but for all who fear God

He was sent for you

If you do not know this savior sent for all, his name is Jesus

He was sent to fulfill prophesy

To die on a cross and be raised on the third day

To take the sins of the world and wash them clean

All those who repent and believe can call him savior and are given the righteousness rightly belonging to him

This is something that should be celebrated with every breath

I look forward to celebrating this with you all next weekend