The Gentile Revival

Intro

Hatfields and McCoys

For many years in American history, two families living on the Kentucky–West Virginia border—the Hatfields and the McCoys—were locked in one of the most famous feuds of all time. No one even agrees on what exactly started it.

Some say it began after the Civil War. Some say it started with a stolen hog. Some say it was a fight that turned into a grudge that lasted generations. Here’s what everyone agrees on: A small offense turned into deep resentment. Deep resentment turned into mistrust. Mistrust grew into hatred. That hatred lasted nearly 30 years. Children inherited the grudge even though they weren’t alive when it began.

Hatfields didn’t eat with McCoys. McCoys didn’t do business with Hatfields. They wouldn’t cross each other’s side of the river.

They avoided each other’s territory, blamed each other for everything, and assumed the worst—every time. It didn’t matter if someone was kind, innocent, or trying to help. If you wore the other family name, you were automatically the enemy.

The feud became less about the original fight and more about identity, culture, pride, and history. Eventually, violence broke out.

Every generation added fuel to the fire.

Lesson

The Gentile Vision

Acts 10 begins in a very strange place for a Jewish narrative: the home of a Gentile named Cornelius in the city of Caesarea.

The fact that the gospel was first spread to the Gentiles there is truly remarkable. What is a “Gentile?” (simply: anyone who is not Jewish)

Cornelius was an officer of the Roman army, in charge of at least one hundred lethally-trained Roman soldiers. His hometown of Caesarea was the seat of the Roman government. Jews hated Rome, their government, and their armies.

Being of the Italian regiment, Cornelius was Roman to the core, and his soldiers would have been much like him. They would have been raised and schooled in the Roman way of life.

It was normal for them to feel superior to the Jewish people, and they would have treated the Jews as such. Meanwhile, throughout Israel were calls to overthrow Roman rule, even through a violent revolt.

Yet none of those factors intimidated God. In fact, they may have played a role in why He reached for Cornelius.

Jesus preached this during the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:6 NKJV

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

That promise did not come with an asterisk that only the Jewish could be filled, and it is obvious that Cornelius was hungry for God.

Cornelius feared God, prayed always, and gave generously to bless others. But he still needed to be born again.

One afternoon, Cornelius had a most unexpected visitor.

He had been in prayer, hungering and thirsting for something more, when the angel appeared to him. This otherwise unknown centurion got God’s attention because his hunger for God was so strong.

The messenger from God had a specific message that he delivered to Cornelius.

Acts 10:4–6 NKJV

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. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.”

Many would think seeing an angel would be the ultimate spiritual experience, but not so.

Godly men and women of all generations have dedicated their lives to the kingdom of God, yet have never been privileged to receive such a visit.

Cornelius was not told this angelic visit had made him holy. He was not told he had spiritually arrived. The angel did not even share the gospel.

The message for Cornelius was this: You have obtained favor with God for being faithful in what you know, but a man named Peter will tell you what else is necessary for you to be saved.

The same God who knew exactly where Cornelius was also had GPS coordinates for the man who would soon preach the gospel to him.

Cornelius was told to send for Peter, but that was only half of what was necessary.

Next, the Lord needed to send a vision to Peter to convince him that Gentiles were invited to be part of God’s covenant family as well.

Breaking Barriers

So… there are things that can be barriers to us sharing the gospel.

“People don’t want to hear it.”

“I am afraid of rejection.”

These things create a barrier wall. But God has given us all we need to overcome walls like that. This is exactly what happened in the story of Peter and Cornelius.

Peter had to have God’s help tearing down internal and external barriers.

Peter’s internal barrier was his mindset—he had grown up believing God’s covenant blessings were only for the Jews. But through a vision, God showed him that His plan was bigger than Peter had ever imagined.

The external barrier was cultural and social division. Jews and Gentiles didn’t associate with one another. Yet God was breaking down that wall to bring people from every nation into His family.

When Peter obeyed and went to Cornelius’s house, he saw that God’s Spirit was not limited by background, culture, or our past. The Holy Ghost fell on everyone who believed.

Just like Peter, we must allow God to change our thinking and give us courage to reach beyond our comfort zones.

God desires everyone to be part of His new covenant.

The Jewish Vision

Cornelius obeyed the instructions from his angelic visitor and sent two trusted servants and a loyal Roman soldier to the city of Joppa in search of the apostle Peter.

As they journeyed to the house of Simon the tanner according to the angels’ specific directions, Peter went to the rooftop to pray.

According to the Jewish custom of marking time beginning at 9:00 am, it was the sixth hour of the day (or 3:00 pm). Interestingly, that was the exact time when Cornelius had talked with an angel the previous day; this time it was Peter who spoke directly with God.

Inside, Simon’s host, another man named Simon, was preparing lunch for his guest and possibly family. On the rooftop, God was about to speak to Peter about a spiritually hungry Roman centurion named Cornelius.

As Simon Peter’s stomach growled, God showed him a vision of a gigantic sheet descending from heaven filled with all kinds of unclean animals. Suddenly he heard a clear voice declaring, “Rise, Peter; kill, and eat” (Acts 10:13).

Peter was stunned. He answered, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean” (Acts 10:14). But it is impossible to sincerely say, “No, Lord,” when God gives a commandment. If He is the Lord of our life, we will always say yes; the moment we say no, He is no longer our Lord.

The voice answered Peter’s objection:

Acts 10:15 NKJV

And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”

This same vision appeared three times, leaving Peter completely confused. What did this all mean? As he tried to make sense of it, he heard three men arrive and ask for him by name.

Think how Peter must have felt. If he looked down at the people asking for him, he would have seen a Roman soldier and two Roman servants.

God saw Peter’s fear, so He calmed his fears.

Acts 10:20 NKJV

Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”

We often invest a lot of time in prayer seeking the will of God for our lives.

We certainly need to pray, but once we have prayed and asked our pastor and student pastor for their counsel, it is time to obey.

Never forget one key step in the process: Go ahead and do what you know you are supposed to do right now.

No one needs to tell us to read the Bible, to have a daily time of prayer, and to faithfully attend church services. We might not know which ministry fits our gifting perfectly, but we know we should be involved in advancing the kingdom of God in our local church.

That process may begin just where we are needed before the door opens up for us to minister in areas where we are gifted.

Peter understood that concept.

He had not yet figured out the meaning of the vision, but he knew to follow the voice.

Immediately he walked downstairs and talked with the three Gentile men who came to ask for his help.

After a night’s rest in the home of Simon the tanner, all four (along with a group of curious Jews who tagged along) left to meet Cornelius for a home Bible study that would officially open wide the doors of covenant to Gentiles.

When Peter arrived in Caesarea, he discovered the home of Cornelius was filled with his family and close friends.

When Peter entered, Cornelius was overly excited to see him. Cornelius, the Roman centurion, fell at Peter’s feet and began worshiping him.

Thankfully, Peter refused to allow anyone to worship him, insisting:

Acts 10:26 NKJV

But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.”

In the brief conversation that followed, Peter explained his willingness to break with custom and enter into the home of a Gentile by telling Cornelius all about the vision he had in Joppa. Obviously, the day of travel had offered him additional time to think and pray.

When Cornelius told Peter about his own vision, Simon Peter smiled and answered a beautiful principle about God:

Acts 10:34–35 NKJV

Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

Peter then preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to Cornelius and his whole household.

While Peter was still mid-message, “the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word” (Acts 10:44). That breakthrough came as a complete surprise to the curious Jews who made the trip with Peter to Caesarea.

Acts 10:45–47 NKJV

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. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

This story scribed in Scripture should make us grateful God has invited us into this covenant relationship with Him.

Notice the Jews who came with Peter did not wonder if the Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost because the Bible tells us they “heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God” (Acts 10:46).

That is the supernatural sign someone has been filled with the Holy Ghost. Later Peter explained their experience by explaining, “God gave them the like gift as he did unto us” (Acts 11:17).

In other words, the Gentiles received the same experience with the exact same sign as the Jews: worshiping God in languages they had never learned.

Another biblical truth clearly revealed in this story is the necessity of baptism.

Although Simon Peter was pleasantly surprised that the Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost, he knew they also needed to be baptized in Jesus’ name.

The same man who explained salvation on the Day of Pentecost by instructing the crowd, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost,” preached the same message to his Gentile audience in Acts 10.

He did not suggest, imply, or invite—Peter “commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:48).

Acts 10:48 NKJV

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

Why? Because the plan of salvation is the same for Jews and Gentiles: repentance, baptism in Jesus’ name, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost.

Conclusion

If we were to contrast our culture in 2026 with the culture in the Bible, we would certainly see many differences.

Because of language, dress, or cultural traditions, most of us would feel lost in first- century Jerusalem.

One drastic difference we might not think about is the icy relationship between Jews and Gentiles.

We rarely hear the word Gentile unless we are discussing the Bible, but Jews and Gentiles rarely got along with each other.

We must be careful not to judge others. The Bible declares that to be sin.

Read and discuss James 2:1–9.

James 2:1–3 NKJV

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,”

James 2:4–6 NKJV

have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?

James 2:7–9 NKJV

Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

Read and discuss Galatians 3:26–28.

Galatians 3:26–28 NKJV

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

According to both testaments, the Jewish people still have a role to play in God’s plan.

When Jesus returns, His feet will not descend upon Mount Rushmore or Mount Everest; He will return to the land of Israel on the Mount of Olives. (See Zechariah 14:4.)

The apostle Paul specifically explained the role of God’s church in relation to Israel. We have not replaced Israel; we have been grafted into His plan. (See Romans 11:17–25.)

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