Overcoming Our Prejudices

Acts 10:1-23

CIT – God’s desire to redeem lost sinners transcends any prejudices we harbor, therefore we must pray for the salvation of all.

1. God’s desire is to redeem those who seek Him. Vs 1-8

- Right away we are introduced to a man named Cornelius. Who is Cornelius? He is a Gentile who is a Centurion in the Roman military. Centurions were in charge of companies of soldiers of at least 100 men.

- Cornelius is part of the Italian Regiment, likely that is where his regiment is from, but they are now stationed in Caesarea. Where is Caesarea? “Caesarea was from a.d. 6 the provincial capital and place of residence of the Roman governor. Unlike Lydda and Joppa, which were mainly inhabited by Jews, Caesarea was a Hellenistic-style city with a dominant population of Gentiles. Originally a small town named Strato’s Tower, it was rebuilt on a grand style by Herod the Great, complete with a man-made harbor, a theater, an amphitheater, a hippodrome, and a temple dedicated to Caesar. There was a substantial Jewish minority there and considerable friction between the Jews and the larger Gentile community.[1]”

- I also believe it is best for us to understand that Cornelius already has faith in God. He is more like a believer we would find in the OT. He is seeking God, seeking to know Him, seeking to follow God, but doing so with a limited knowledge. The Jews have pointed him to their God, but he doesn’t know that all of the promises have been fulfilled and the Messiah has come.

- One author put it this way, “Luke records ‘the transition of a godly believer (dependent upon OT revelation) into the new age of the Spirit, rather than the conversion of an unbeliever’[2]”

- Seems like a fitting city for a Jewish man to take the Gospel to a Gentile family and overcome his prejudice.

- So other than being a Gentile, what do we know about Cornelius? Well we know several telling things about his character and his desire to know God.

- 1. Cornelius is a devout, God-fearing man.

- “ . The term ‘God-fearers’ appears to have been frequently used for a class of people who believed, and to some extent followed, the Jewish religion without being full converts to Judaism…In short, this man and his family were not Jews nor Jewish converts, but were also no longer pagans worshipping other gods[3]”

- Cornelius would have never been allowed to be a full blown Jew and worship in the temple but he has apparently seen enough while serving around the Jewish community and may have heard both Philip and Paul as they traveled through, preachding the Gospel.

- He realizes the God the Jews claim to worship is the one true living God, and everything that his countryman has served are false gods.

- God has begun a work in his heart and opened his eyes to lie of his pagan upbrinign, and has given him this desire to seek Him. That is where Cornelius is, he is searching. Searching and seeking to know God. Seeking to have that void in his life filled.

- Illustration – There is a God sized hole left in the heart of man from the fall. We seek to fill it in many ways with many things that only temporarily satisfy. Drugs, alcohol, sex, power, money, and even just other people like our spouses. The problem with this is it never rbigns the joy, forgiveness, satisfaction, and hope that we so desperately want.

- Cornelius knows it lies with the God he has heard about and he is seeking to know him and learn more about him.

- Cornelius desires to be fully accepted into the people of God. Under the Levitical law he could not do that, but Christ has come and risen, through the power of the Gospel, Cornelius can be grafted into the true Israel of God, those who have placed their faith and trust in Christ.

- This desire paves the way for Cornelius to hear and respond to the Gospel.

- 2. Cornelius led his household to turn from false gods.

- As his desire to know God continues to grow, he begins to teach his family that what we have been taught is wrong. We can’t continue to worship these false gods and in fact in our house, we won’t.

- Illustration – Men are we leading our homes? Or are we allowoing our wives to do it because we won’t step up and be a man, be the spiritual authority in our families lives?

- Men, if you want your children to grow up and serve and love God, they have you to see you seek the Lord. They have to see you lead the family to seek the Lrod, honor the Lord, love the Lord, prioritize the Lord. You set the tone for your family spiritually. If you are apathetic or simply put if you don’t care about God and live a life like that, don’t be surprised when your children grow up and don’t care.

- 3. Cornelius did man charitable deeds for the Jewish people.

- This is very out of character and out of the norm for a Gentile. Especially one in the Roman military that had the Jews under relatively harsh control.

- Why would he do that? Why would he do charitable deeds to the Jews? As his desire to be part of the family of God grows, and as his desire to know God grows, he shows his heart toward God by giving to those in need.

- Not only does he simply give to them, it is not from the leftovers that he has at the end of the month, rather he gave generously to the needs of people.

- Illustration – How is our giving? Are we giving out of obligation? Are we giving God the leftovers and scraps of what we make? Are we being sacrificial in our giving?

- 4. Cornelius always prayed to God

- Could that be said about us? Cornelius continually sought the Lord in prayer.

- This does not mean you have to spend hours and hours in prayer. Frnakly, I struggle with that, I am not someone who can spend an hour in prayer. But, I do try my best to pray continually. When something comes to my mind, pray, when someonthing I do is sinful, pray.

- Illustration – If you never talk to your wife what kind of relationship will you have? Quiet one is not the answer. If you never talk to your children, what kind of relationship do you have?

- Friends, prayer is one of the most essential acts of worship we have. We ought to be praying regularly, not just on our own but with each other and when we come together as an assembly of believers. We franlkly should have more corporate times of prayer in our services where we are going to the throne of grace together.

- Prayer seems to be one of the most overlooked aspects of our Christian life.

- Illustration – I can’t tell you how many times I have sat down with someone as they tell me all of the struggles they are having in life or spiritually, my first question how often are you reading and praying? The answer is almost always, rarely.

- Our relationship with Christ begins with a turning in our heart and a prayer of confession of that repentance and asking of forgiveness. That can’t be the only time we pray.

- When we pray, we are standing in the presence of God, making requests directly to Him, asking for His wisdom, asking for His direction, being wrapped in His love and grace. We don’t have, frankly because we don’t ask. We don’t see people in our churches saved, frankly because we don’t pray for the lost in our church.

- Illustration – let me ask this, for those that come regularly on Wendesday night, when we transition to our time of prayer when is the last time we heard a request that wasn’t health related? When is the last time we heard a prayer request about the lost in our church and community? When is the last time we heard someone request that we pray for younger believers to be discipled and opportunityies to disciple others?

- Our prayer request time is not designed to be a hospital visitation list, yet many times the only needs we can think of are illness and physical problems. When is the last time we prayed for the spiritual health and wellbeing of our church?

- Prayer is the lifeblood of the beliver. It was for Cornelius as well, because as he goes to pray in afternoon, that is when God sends him a vision,

- Vs 3-6

- As Cornelius prays, an angel is sent to him and calls out to him. Cornelius doesn’t resond in fear, he responds in awe and wonder and essentially yes, I am here, what can I do?

- The angel then tells him that God has seen his desire to know Him. God has heard his prayers and has seen his acts of faith and is pleased to reveal Himself to Cornelius.

- “God has taken note of the genuineness of his faith, expressed in prayers and charitable gifts, and is about to lead him to enjoy the benefits of the messianic salvation promised in Scripture to believing Jews and Gentiles (e.g., Is. 49:5–6). God does not act in this way because Cornelius ‘deserves it’, but because he graciously blesses those who trust him and seek to do his will [4]”

- Now God is about to bring a messenger to explain to him how he can be adopted into the family of God. How he can be fully accepted, unlike how he would be limited in the synagogue. That Christ has come and salvation is available to all sinners because God desires all to be redeemed.

- The angel then leaves Cornelius and he is told to send for Peter so he can hear how Christ has fulfilled all of the promises he is looking to. So he can hear the Gospel and have salvation perfected, and receive the Holy Spirit.

- Cornelius does just as he is told to do and is obedient to the angelic messenger. There is just one problem with Peter, he is still a Jew who has a mistaken view of the Gentiles.

2. Peter’s Prejudice Exposed. Vs 9-16

- Vs 9-16

- As the messengers are traveling to get Peter, God begins to prepare Peter for their visit and his subsequent journey to tell Gentiles about Jesus.

- As he is on the roof praying, he becomes hungry. While food is being fixed, he falls into a trance, probably similar to what happens to people during the sermon right before a potluck

- Peter sees Heaven opened up, a sheet coming down being lowered by its 4 corners. It stretches across the earth and has all animals from the earet, both clean and unclean represented.

- A voice, which appears to be God’s comes to Peter and says, arise, kill and eat. God puts no stipulation or prohibition on what he can and can’t eat.

- Peter of course refuses and says he won’t defile himself with unclean meat, because he never has. God then tells Peter, what He has created and deemed to be clean, who are you to say it is unclean.

- This happens three times apparently as Peter continually rejects what God is telling hIm.

- So what does this mean? What is this vision? This is the Great Commission as God had declared to them in Acts 1, Matthew 28

- Heaven being opened and a sheet being lowered represents the Gospel and the church of Christ, the bride of Christ being sent to Eatth to declare God’s glory and grace to the ends of the earth.

- This sheet, God’s church is supposed to reach to the 4 corners of the earth, N,S,E,W.

- The animals on the sheet or in the church, represent people from every tribe, tongue, language, and nationality. That there is no favoritsm shown to God based on natural descent, that He is no repsector of persons, that we all stand in need of the same Savior.

- Peter’s refusal exposes his prejudice against the Gentiles. He views them still as unclean and unworthy of hearing the GOspsel, unworthy of being redeemed and adopted into the family of God as God’s people and children.

- Yet, he forgets what Jesus Himself taught.

- Mark 7:18-23 “18 He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? 19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean,). 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

- Jesus teaches us that it isnt about the outward appearance or the outward actions that defile us, rather the heart is what defiles us. Our desires defile us. Our sinful nature is what defiles us. Our actions are just a result of the inner desire to sin that we all have.

- Peter is too focused on their outward appearance, their natural descent that would defile them simply because they weren’t born Jews. He is also forgetting that not all the Jews were God’s people

- Romans 9:6-8 “6 Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants., On the contrary, your offspring will be traced through Isaac., 8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring.”

- Peter still harbors a prejudice against the Gentiles, and is having a hard time realizing that God desires to redeem them as well.

- We must remember how the Jews viewed the Gentiles, they were unclean, unredeemable, a lesser species than the Jews who didn’t deserve the Messiah.

- What are our prejudices today? We often think they only show up in the form of racism and skin color, but there are many other ways in which we can be prejudice.

- Today we put labels on people like liberal, conservative, rich or poor, black or white, educated or uneducated. We allow all of those titles and labels to determine how we both treat and feel toward a person.

- Illustration – How many of us could honestly say we prayed for the salvation of Joe Biden or Kamala Harris as much as we prayed for them to be brought down? How many of us can say we honestly desire to see our church filled with recovering drug addicts and alcoholics opposed to the rich business owner or investor? How many of us can say we pray for the salvation of the terrorists in these muslim countries as much as we pray for the safety and salvaiotn of our servicemen and women?

- Let me ask you this moring, does God desire the democrats, the drug addicts, the poor, the Islamic terrorists to come salvation as much as He desires you and I to be redeemed? He absolutely does. He died for them and offers them the same grace and forgiveness He offers me and you.

- How often are we allowing our prejudices to stop us from sharing the Gospel? How many of us are like Peter here and have to be shown the same vision three times?

- Remember Peter refused to eat and rejected the Lord’s command three times here!

- What is God’s response to that? “What God has made clean, do not call impure.” Basically, who are you oh man, to question God? Who are you to say that part of His creation isn’t worthy to be redeemed by Him!

- Peter’s prejudice is exposed here because he is about to be sent to those he views unredeemable to preach the Gospel.

3. Peter is sent to those he views as unredeemable. Vs 17-23

- Vs 17-23

- As Peter is trying to figure out what in the world this crazy dream meant, the men Cornelius sent arrive at the house he is staying in.

- As they arrive, they ask for Peter and the Holy Spirit gets ahold of Peter. What does the Holy Spirit tell Peter?

- 1. Get up and go.

- Don’t delay, don’t try to hide as you have before. Get up and go downstairs. But not just that, go with them.

- Peter probably naturally wanted to know where and hwy and all the questions, but before he could ask anything God says just get up and go. Completely trust me and do as I tell you.

- Friends, we don’t have to have all the answers to be obedient to Christ. We don’t have to know how everything will work out. We don’t have to know where we are going, we don’t have to know anything. The only thing we have to do is say, Here I am, I will follow you. Go there, grfeat here I go. Talk to that person, great here I go. Take that job, great here I go

- Friends, get up and go

-2. Go without no doubts

- Now, this hard for many of us probably. How in the world do you go without doubts? Well, simply put you remember Romans 8:28-89

- Romans 8:28  “28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

- God is at work and is working everything together. God is sovereign and in control. I don’t need to doubt what will happen and I don’t need to doubt if God will provide for me, I know He will!

- Remember what Jesus said.

- Matthew 6:25-34 ““Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. “

- If God is leading you to do something or leading you somewhere, go without any doubts. Worry and doubt is sinful, it shows a lack of faith on our part. A lack of trust that God will provide or that God is unable to do whatever we are worried about.  

- 3. I have sent them

- If my instruction to you to go and do so with no doubts is not enough, that let me go ahead and tell you, I have sent them.

- He removes any doubt and question that Peter may have about their motive or why they are here or if he should go. Any doubts that he can have are removed by God in this one statement.

- These men have not sought you out of their own desire, I have sent them to you. I have been preparing them and you for this encounter, get up, go with no doubts, because I am at work.

- So Peter does get up and go downstairs and shows himself to them. He asks why they have come and in their response, I believe probably finds the answer to his vision.

- He has been pondering why he had that vision and I believe the answer is now clear to him why he’s had it. Cornelius, a Centurion so now Peter knows he is being told by God to go to a Gentile family, eagerly desires to host you and hear what you have to share about the Lord.

- Peter then shows them hospitality and goes with them the next day and begins his journey to Cornelius’. What Peter is about to learn is that everybody deserves to hear the Gospel.

Conclusion

- Friends, every body ought to be able to hear the Gospel. Everyobody ought to have the Gospel shared with them and be given an opportunity to respond.

- Friends, I don’t care if you have been in church all of your life or if this is your first time in church, if you want to know more about Jesus and His love for you, His desire to have a relationship with you, His desire to save you from destroying your life, come talk to us. We will not turn you away.

- There is no greater day to talk to someone about Jesus, then today.

- Whether we realize it or not, we all have some form of prejudice. The one thing that should push us past our prejudices is that all of us share a common fate if not for Christ. There is one event that unites all of us, death.

- Regardless of your status in life, you political leanings, your skin color, your economic status, your education level, death comes for all of us. When it does, and we inevitably die, what do you think happens? Do you think we just cease to exist? Do you think we all go to Heaven? Do you think nothing happens?

- If those are your beliefs I have a few things to share with you. 1. If you think that way, then none of our prejudices matter nor does anything we do here on Earth. This life is pointless. 2. Those are simply lies the world has come up with to explain what happens after death and to erase fear from people’s minds,

- The Bible tells us that after death, we will face judgement. Who will we be judged by? God, our creator, our judge, and our Savior. God created us, therefore God who is we are accountable to and who we are to be judged by.

- We are judged by His standard which is perfection and holiness. None of us can rightly claim to be perfect and without sin or mistakes in our lives. Since we aren’t perfect, and we have rebelled against God, we must face punishment or we must be forgiven. Thankfully God offers us not only forgiveness, but redemption. Redemption from death, redemption from destruction. God redeems us back to Himself through the debt that Christ paid on the cross and through His resurrection.

-  But for those who don’t accept Christ’s offer of forgiveness and redemption, they are punished rightfully for there sin and rebellion against God. They are eternally separated from Him and punished for their rejection of Christ.

- In either forgiveness or in judgement, there is no prejudice on God’s behalf. All of us stand before God equally guilty. The liberal is as guilty as the conservative. The black man as the white man, the rich man as the poor man, the doctor as well as the high school drop out. None of the accolades we achieve here on Earth will forgive our sin. Only the blood of Christ which is applied to ALL, regardless of what makes us different freely.

- As a follower of Christ, we ought to be the least prejudicial people in this world. We ought not see people as whatever label the world wants to give them, we ought to see them as a sinner who will stand before an almighty and righteous God.

- We ought to adopt the attitude of Charles Spurgeon, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

- May we adopt the same heart and attitude toward sinners. There are many in Burgaw that need to come to Christ and be saved from hell, there are some here in the auditorium this morning that need to repent and be saved from hell. “Let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

[1] John B. Polhill, Acts, vol. 26, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 251–252.

[2] David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 328.

[3] Conrad Gempf, “Acts,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1082.

[4] David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 328.