NO WALLS IN THE KINGDOM

Acts 10:1–8 NKJV

1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” 4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. 6 He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.” 7 And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. 8 So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.

There’s a lot of talk these days about walls.

Nations debate them.

Communities argue over them.

People see them as

protection,

security,

boundaries,

and order.

And truthfully, walls do have their place in society.

A wall around a home can provide safety.

A fence can protect children.

Borders can help establish responsibility and structure.

Not every wall is evil, and not every boundary is wrong.

But while walls may exist between nations, cultures, languages, and backgrounds,

there is one place where walls were never meant to remain —

Between people and the grace of God.

When we come to Acts chapters 10 and 11,

we find a moment where God Himself tears down a wall that humanity had spent generations building.

A wall of prejudice. —A wall of assumption. —

A wall of “us” versus “them.”

The Apostle Peter had grown up believing certain people were outside the reach of God’s covenant promises.

Yet God was about to show him that the Gospel was never meant to be confined by ethnicity, nationality, tradition, or social background.

The cross of Christ is not surrounded by border and check points.

The Holy Spirit does not require a pedigree.

Grace does not ask for a last name before it changes a heart.

God created us all, and through Jesus Christ,

He calls people from every tribe, tongue, and nation unto Himself.

The world may continue building walls, but the Kingdom of God keeps opening doors.

There are some walls mankind keeps trying to rebuild that God already tore down.

—Walls of race. —Walls of nationality. —Walls of culture. —Walls of social class. —Walls of language. —Walls of reputation. —Walls of the past.

Human beings have always struggled with the temptation to decide who is “worthy” of grace and who isn’t.

But Acts chapters 10 and 11 explode that mindset completely.

Until this point in the Book of Acts,

The Gospel had primarily spread among Jewish believers and those closely connected to Judaism.

The disciples knew Jesus came for the world, but they still struggled to fully grasp what that meant in practice.

And then God does something radical.

He sends Peter to the house of a Gentile Roman centurion named Cornelius.

—Not a Jew.

—Not part of the covenant people by birth.

—Not from the “right” background.

—Not from the “right” ethnicity.

And God pours out the Holy Spirit anyway.

Why?

Because the cross of Jesus Christ is bigger than every line humanity has ever drawn.

Cornelius was a Roman centurion.

To many Jews of that day, Rome represented oppression, occupation, and paganism.

In short, Rome was the enemy.

A Roman soldier was not someone you embraced socially.

Yet Acts chapter 10 opens

By showing us that God was already moving in Cornelius’ life before Peter even arrived.

The Bible says Cornelius feared God, —prayed continually, —and gave generously.

God saw a man searching for truth.

Humanity often sees labels first.

But, God sees souls first.

We see accents.— God sees hunger.

We see skin color.—God sees brokenness.

We see nationalities.—God sees eternal value.

We see a past.—God sees possibility.

Acts chapter 10 is a reminder that nobody is outside the reach of God’s grace.

The church must never become a place where people feel they have to look a certain way,

talk a certain way, —dress a certain way,

—or come from a certain culture before they can approach Jesus.

The Gospel was never intended for one tribe alone.

Jesus did not die for one ethnicity—He died for the world.

John saw heaven in Revelation and described people from every tribe,

tongue, and nation worshiping together around the throne of Christ.

That means heaven is going to look far more diverse than many people are comfortable with.

And if we cannot worship beside people here on earth because of prejudice, pride, or cultural arrogance,

Then we are fighting against the very heart of God.

One of the most fascinating parts of this story is that Cornelius was not the only one God was preparing.

Peter needed preparation too.

The Bible tells us, Peter fell into a trance and sees the great sheet descending from heaven

filled with animals considered unclean under Jewish law.

Acts 10:9–15 NKJV

9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”

At first glance, this appears only to concern food.

But God was speaking about people.

Peter had unknowingly carried cultural barriers in his heart.

And before God could use Peter to reach Gentiles, He first had to confront Peter’s assumptions.

Sometimes the greatest obstacle to revival is not the sinner outside the church.

Sometimes it is the prejudice inside the believer.

Sometimes we do not hate people openly.

We simply assume they would never fit in.

We assume:

“Those people wouldn’t understand us.”

“They probably wouldn’t want church.”

“People from that background never change.”

“Those kinds of people don’t belong here.”

But the Holy Spirit specializes in crossing boundaries people said could never be crossed.

The Gospel crossed from

Jew to Gentile.

From rich to poor.

From religious to pagan.

From Jerusalem to Rome.

From the Middle East to Europe.

From Europe to the Americas.

And one day, it crossed into your life and mine.

Did you know, somebody once, had to cross a boundary so that even you and I could know about Jesus?

And now we are called to do the same for others.

So we read in Acts, that Peter went down to Cornelius’ house and preached the Word of God to them.

But, while Peter is still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles.

Acts 10:44–46 NKJV

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Imagine the shock in that room.

Jewish believers standing there watching uncircumcised Romans and Gentiles receiving the same Spirit they had received.

—No second-class salvation.

—No second-tier grace.

—No partial Holy Spirit.

But the exact same Spirit.

Why?

Because God does not have different levels of redemption based upon ethnicity or background.

At the foot of the cross, all ground is level.

The blood of Jesus washes every race the same.

The Holy Spirit fills every believer the same.

Salvation comes through Christ alone.

Do you know what that means?

It means:

The addict can be saved.

The wealthy businessman can be saved.

The immigrant can be saved.

The prisoner can be saved.

The gang member can be saved.

The religious hypocrite can be saved.

The broken mother can be saved.

The angry father can be saved.

The person raised in church can be saved.

The person who has never stepped foot inside church can be saved.

Because — God’s grace knows no boundaries.

And thank God it doesn’t.

Because if grace had boundaries, many of us would never have made it in.

However, Acts chapter 11 begins with criticism.

Peter returns to Jerusalem, and believers immediately question him.

“You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”

Notice this carefully.

Instead of celebrating salvation, some indeed got caught up on the tradition.

Instead of rejoicing over changed lives, some focused on violated customs.

And sadly, our churches today still struggle with this.

Sometimes we become more disturbed by methods than moved by miracles.

We become more concerned about preserving the comfort of tradition,

Than by reaching people.

But Peter explains what happened:

Acts 11:15–17 NKJV

15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

In other words:

“How can I reject who God has accepted?”

That is a powerful question.

How dare we reject the people God is calling?

How dare we decide someone is

—too broken,

—too worldly,

—too different,

—too foreign,

—too rough around the edges for the Kingdom of God?

The church is not a museum for perfect people.

It is a rescue mission for sinners.

Jesus did not come to build an exclusive social club.

He came to seek and save the lost.

Acts chapter 11 shows the church finally beginning to understand

That the Kingdom of God is larger than Jerusalem.

Larger than Israel—Larger than culture—Larger than ethnicity—Larger than personal preference.

The Gospel creates a new family.

A family not built upon skin color.

Not built upon language.

Not built upon nationality.

But built upon Jesus Christ.

In Christ:

The Jew and Gentile became one.

The rich and poor became one.

Slave and free became one.

Male and female stood equal in salvation

The world divides.— Jesus unites.

The enemy loves racial hatred

Because it blinds people from the image of God in one another.

Every human being bears the fingerprints of the Creator.

Every person you lock eyes with is someone Christ died for.

That includes people who:

—speak differently than you,

—Watch this, even someone who—voted differently than you,

—Or comes from another country,

—Maybe they grew up differently than you,

—or carry scars and stories you do would never understand.

The Gospel tears down walls because the cross stretches wide enough for all humanity.

Acts chapters 10 and 11 are missionary chapters.

Because the Gospel finally bursts outward beyond familiar territory.

This is the heartbeat of missions.

The church cannot become inward-focused.

We cannot only love people who look like us, talk like us, or make us comfortable.

The Great Commission forces us beyond comfort.

It forces us beyond prejudice.

It forces us beyond cultural pride.

That is why missions matter.

That is why churches must go.

That is why we pray for nations.

That is why we are to support missionaries.

Because somewhere right now there is another Cornelius

Praying in darkness, waiting for someone to bring the message of Jesus Christ.

And God may be preparing a Peter to go reach them.

Conclusion

God’s grace knows no boundaries.

The Gospel is for all people.

Christ died for all nations.

And the same Holy Spirit still saves, fills, transforms,

And calls people from every background imaginable.

The cross destroys the walls humanity keeps rebuilding.

Heaven will one day be filled with people from

—every tribe, —tongue, —and nation worshiping King Jesus together.

And Don’t you think the church ought to start looking like heaven now.

Invitation

Maybe today:

you have felt unworthy of God’s grace,

maybe you feel too broken,

too sinful,

too different

too far gone

Hear this clearly:

God’s grace knows no boundaries.

Jesus Christ died for you too.

Or maybe God is dealing with your own heart about

—prejudice, —pride, —or comfort zones

That have kept you from loving people the way Christ does.

Ask God to give you His eyes for people.

Because when the church finally sees people the way Jesus sees people,

True revival begins to spread beyond every wall humanity ever built.

Beginning right here are home.