Peter at Caesarea
Notes
Transcript
This morning church we are back in Acts
Still lingering in our minds are the events of easter and even today we are often hurray and then we move on
However as we will see in Acts, what happened in Jerusalem so long ago after that First easter Morning still rings true for us today
Church the Gospel is for everyone
1 Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.
This begins in a place called Caesarea
Caesarea is a Roman Administrative city in Judea
It has a long Roman History
Cornelius is a Roman solider a gentile since according to a commentary says that since being in the military is not compatible with the observance of the jewish law
This man was not Jewish and this was not a jewish place
Cornelius was also a man who feared God
who continually prayed to God
Church we are about to see the fulfillment of
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
That the Gospel is for everyone
That salvation is for anyone an everyone
We know and see here that the it came first to the jew and that it is through the jew salvation has is now available for everyone
This is what Acts 10 is all about
This is the great joy of the empty tomb
This Cornelius is fearing GOd and desiring to know more about God
He is right now doing somethings he doesn’t quite understand
3 About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”
He has a vision
The angel of the Lord says to him that your prayers have ascended to God
He tells him to dispatch or send some people to Joppa
To a city about 30 to 40 miles away from where he was
He says send for a person named Simon who also goes by the name Peter
Go and find the guy named Peter
He is specifically staying with a man name Simon
So don’t get those two confused
That Peter is staying with a man named Simon who is a tanner
The angel even gives where the house is located near the Sea
The Angel says go and call for that man to come and visit
So Cornelius does just that
He sends out 2 people to find Peter
To bring Peter back
9 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; 11 and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. 13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”
Where Peter is staying
He becomes hungry as he goes to the roof top to spend sometime in prayer
He also sees a vision
In his vision He sees a great sheet coming down and in that are all sorts of animals with four feet, some crawling things, and birds
A voice tells peter to kill and eat
However this is a surprise for a Jew like Peter
4 “These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6 “Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. 7 “Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8 “The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses. 9 “These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. 11 “You may eat any clean bird. 12 “But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14 and every raven in its kind, 15 and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 “And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20 “You may eat any clean bird.
According to Jewish law they couldn’t eat this
All though Jesus had been crucified and had risen from the grave those who walked with him still followed some Jewish laws
Because it has been so ingrained in them as a tradition
Peter still followed the food laws and wouldn’t even dare eat anything they were allowed to eat
Later we know that the eating laws was still a sticking point for those who were Jewish and followed Jesus
And yet in the vision we see that Peter is called to go and kill and eat
What God has made is clean
We see that it is no longer about the letter of the law
Its not about following a list written rules but it is about following God and being obedient
14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky. 17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; 18 and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. 19 While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 “But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”
Peter being a good jew says of course God I have never and nor would I ever eat anything unholy or unclean
I mean those animals are unclean
And Peter being a good jew would not do that
The Angel of the Lord says What God has cleansed is no longer considered unholy
All the while the men sent from Cornilus are looking for Peter
The Angel tells Peter some men are looking for you
Go with them
Don’t give them a hard time but God with them
Because I have sent them myself
So they find Peter
And Peter goes with them
He doesn’t give them a hard time but is obedient to what God has told Him
So Peter goes with them
24 On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.” 27 As he talked with him, he entered and found many people assembled. 28 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 shows up and is greeted
They are so excited that they fall down and worship him like is a god of sorts
Peter corrects them and explains that he is just am man like them
He just had a vision about all sorts of animals and explains he wouldn’t associated with anything unclean or unholy
You could also make the jump to a jew being associated with anyone unclean
This is where the rubber mets the road church
Sometimes we are so wrapped up in the church life or our thing we can’t be associated with those who don’t look like us or act like us or have different thinkings
And yet we are called to take the truth to them
We are called to take the Gospel mesage to the world
All the easy fruit has been picked church
What is left is difficult and yet church Jesus didn’t shy away from reaching the lost and broken
Our world is full of lost and broken people
What you have through your personal relationship with Jesus is a light
You are to share the light with a lost and broken and dark world so people don’t continue to trip and fall so they can walk and avoid the pitfalls of life because of the light of the world
As we see the Gospel is for the jew first and then the gentile
We are seeing in Acts 10 the first gentile recieve the Good News and how it changes is His
We see Peter willing to and obedient to take the Gospel message to a lost and broken world
Church we are to do the same
This is what Peter shares with them
34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. 36 “The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)— 37 you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. 38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 “We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. 40 “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43 “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
Peter shares about Jesus
That Jesus was with God and God was with Jesus
That Peter witnessed and they heard about all the stuff Jesus did
How he ate with sinners
How he healed people physically, that the deaf can now hear, the mute can now speak
that those who were possessed are now healed
that those who were once dead are now alive
I think of Lazarus the friend of Jesus
To me can you imagine him walking around what a testimonty
And yet church we have that same testimony
Because of what Jesus did in my own life
I was once dead in my sin and Jesus saved me
I know most of you pretty good and you were once dead in your sin and Jesus saved you
Peter reminds them that Jesus died on the cross
That God raised Him from the grave
Jesus was with people
He ate and drank with them
Dead men and ghosts or spirits don’t do that
Jesus is alive
Peter explains because of that those who observed or expeirenced Jesus are not ordered to preach the Gospel message that those who believe in Him will recieved forgiveness of sin
Their debt of sin will be wiped out
Because of Jesus
And church they do that and the Holy Spirit starts to fall on them
We are seeing gentiles who are dead in their sin trust Jesus who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and died for their sin and was raised and is today this very day still alive having defeated death once an for all
We are seeing dead men and women who were dead in their sin and call on Jesus and are now alive in Christ
This is the Gospel message we are to share with a lost and broken and dark world
The Gospel is for everyone
In light of last week and the empty tomb we have a testimony of once being dead in our own sin and because of the cross and the empty tomb we are now alive
We are to take that and share with people we interact with people
Because church the Gospel is for everyone
We are to go out into a lost and broken and dark world with the Gospel message that as so effect our own personal lives
So church as we come to a time of invitation
We will call the band up
As they come up
Maybe you are here and do not know Jesus personally
I would invite you come to the front and speak with someone about how you can know Jesus personally this morning
Or maybe you already have a personal relationship with Jesus and need to spend sometime in prayer at the altar
Maybe this morning you are being called to take the Gospel to a lost a broken world and simply need to say yes Lord send me
The altar is open
How
First, that he is a gentile may be deduced from the fact that he is a Roman soldier, since being in the military was incompatible with the observance of Jewish law
Someone who
The Gospel is for everyone
Cornilas - history
God calls cornialis to ask for Peter
Peter hears from God what I have made clean you don’t get to call unclean
Peter was a good jew and would’nt defile himself
This shows us that the Gospel is for everyone
Church in light of Easter we are to take the Gospel to those who need it most
It is everyone
The Gospel is for everyone
Peter shows up showing the gospel is for everyone
Peter shares the gospel
they respond and are baptized
