A Gospel Available to All - Acts 9:32-10:48

Copyright 2003 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche, July 6, 2003

At one time the Duke of Cambridge is reported to have said, “Any change at any time for any reason is to be deplored.” There is an old saying, “Come weal, come woe, my status is quo.”

Change is difficult for most people. Change is resisted most everywhere, including the church. We resist changes in music, changes in approach, changes in the “feel” of the congregation. Some churches cannot grow because the church is unwilling to make the necessary changes for growth. This resistance to change is not new. It has been going on since the very beginning of the church.

In the last verses of Acts 9 and in chapter 10 and some of the chapters that follow we are going to see God beginning to bring about a change in the church that ultimately made it possible for you and me to be here today. Let’s look at this lengthy account and ask some simple questions.

WHY DO WE HAVE THESE STORIES ABOUT PETER?

Beginning in Acts 9:32 we have a couple of seemingly out of place accounts about Peter. These accounts designed to show us the walls coming down between the Jews and Gentiles. The first account is the story of Aeneas who was lived in Lydda. Lydda was a town west of Jerusalem. It was probably a Jewish community that had a new group of believers there.

While Peter was checking up on the new believers he encountered Aeneas. Aeneas had been paralyzed (maybe from a stroke) for the last eight years. Peter came upon Aeneas and said, “Jesus Christ heals you . . . take up your mat and go home.” Aeneas got up as commanded and went home.

I don’t know why Peter chose to heal Aeneas. There is no record that Aeneas requested healing or that others were healed at the same time. What we are told is everyone in town heard about the miracle and many came to faith as a result of what happened to Aeneas.

Meanwhile, in Joppa (further west on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea) a faithful disciple by the name of Tabitha (Aramaic) or Dorcas (in Greek), had gotten sick and died. The disciples had heard that Peter was nearby in Lydda and had performed a great miracle with Aeneas. They sent for Peter.

Notice several things here. First, it is apparent that miracles were not common place and not every believer was given miraculous powers. These disciples felt it necessary for Peter to come. Second, though Tabitha was a believer she apparently wasn’t a Jew (Jews would bury the body within one day of death). Third, notice that in healing these people Peter does what he saw Jesus do.

There is one more thing to notice. After this miracle Peter stays with Simon the tanner. Why is this fact significant? It’s because a tanner was a man who worked with leather. In order to work with leather you had to handle dead animals. Since dead bodies were considered unclean, a good Jew would have nothing to do with someone who is a tanner.

I believe these stories are given to us in order to set up the story that is to come. Peter’s world was expanding. This proud Jew was starting to see the world as God saw it. Up until this time Peter, like every good Jew, believed that Gentiles could be saved . . . but only if they first became Jews. Peter was being forced to change his theology.

WHAT DOES THE VISION WITH THE ANIMALS MEAN?

The story of Cornelius is a significant story in the Bible. We know this because it is another of the accounts that is repeated more than once in Acts.

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. [Acts 10:1,2)

Cornelius was a Roman soldier who had command over 100 men. He was a “god-fearer” which means he worshipped the God of the Jews (the true God) but he had not yet become a Jew (he had not been circumcised). He was a generous and devout man.

We are told Cornelius was probably praying and

at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. (Acts 10:3-8)

Joppa was apparently about a one day journey south from Caesarea. While the servants were going to seek out Peter, Peter had a vision of his own. Peter was on the roof of Simon the Tanner’s home praying and we are told he was hungry. He went into a trance and guess what he dreamt about? Food . . . the same thing you or I might dream about if we were hungry.

I’m sure you have had occasions when you have been thinking about something when you went to bed and ended up dreaming about that very thing throughout the night. Just this last week I had a couple of those occasions. Just before I went to bed I was reading a book about former President Reagan called “When Character was King”. All night long my dreams had me in the White House. Many times I find my dreams seem to make no sense at all.

Peter dreamed of a table cloth being lowered from the sky and on the table cloth were all kinds of four-footed creatures. Some of theses items were considered clean and other unclean by the Jews. Peter heard the voice of God say, “Rise up, kill and eat”. In other words, God said, “Here’s your dinner!” Peter, said, “No way, I will not eat what is unclean”. (Peter was not being obnoxious or rebellious in his refusal to eat. Peter saw this dream as a “test” of his faithfulness. Even in this time of hunger he was willing to be faithful to the dietary laws of his heritage.) God responded, “Do not consider anything impure that God has made clean.” The dream ended and began again. He saw the same dream three different times.

If Peter had only had the dream once he probably would have easily dismissed it. However, since he had the dream three times in succession he wondered about the meaning of the dream. Peter believed God was speaking to him. He asked God what he was trying to tell him.

While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the servants of Cornelius arrived at the house. In some way God clearly told Peter to go with these servants. Peter invited the servants into the home where he was staying (which was a big deal in itself. . . Jews did not invite Gentiles into their homes) and the next day he went to the home of Cornelius as God instructed. Peter didn’t go alone, he also took some of the men from Joppa with him. Perhaps Peter anticipated what was going to happen and brought along some witnesses.

Cornelius, who had been anticipating when Peter would arrive, had assembled a group of people eager to hear the Word of the Lord taught by Peter. When Peter arrived he shared the gospel with his listeners. He talked to them about the life of Jesus, his sacrificial death and his wonderful resurrection from the dead. Peter testified that he was an eyewitness to all of these things. Peter then declared the wonderful truth that anyone who would believe in this Christ, and the work He did on our behalf, would receive forgiveness from sin and eternal life.

What happened next was a tremendous work of God. I believe Peter was talking about new life in Jesus Christ and told the believers that when they are made new the Holy Spirit would dwell in them and bring transformation into our everyday lives. Before Peter could even finish the sermon; before the choir could sing “Just as I am”; before Peter could suggest that “every head be bowed and every eye closed”; before he had extended any kind of invitation, the Holy Spirit filled these open and willing hearts and they began to speak in tongues. It was a powerful testimony (like the Jews on Pentecost and then Samaritans) that God welcomed these people as children of the living God.

Since Peter witnessed the work of God’s Spirit, he declared that the people should be baptized and welcomed into the church as full and equal members.

WHAT SHOULD WE BE LEARNING FROM THESE ACCOUNTS?

These are interesting stories, but, what do they have to do with us? The key verses of this whole passage are verses 34-35: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” This is what you and I are supposed to learn as well. But what does it mean that God does not show favoritism?

First, we learn that God shows no prejudice toward people. The message of salvation is not just for church people, good people, white people, or American people. The message of salvation is for anyone who will trust Christ for salvation and follow Him as Lord in their life.

Rebecca Pippert in her great book, “Out of the Salt Shaker” writes,

When I first came to Portland, Oregon, I met a student on one of the campuses where I worked. He was brilliant and looked like he was always pondering the esoteric. His hair was always mussy, and in the entire time I knew him, I never once saw him wear a pair of shoes. Rain, sleet or snow, Bill was always barefoot. While he was attending college, he had become a Christian. At this time, a well-dressed, middle-class church across the street from the campus wanted to develop more of a ministry to the students. They were not sure how to go about it, but they tried to make them feel welcome. One day, Bill decided to worship there. He walked into this church, wearing his blue jeans, tee shirt and, of course, no shoes. People looked a bit uncomfortable, but no one said anything. So, Bill began walking down the aisle looking for a seat. The church was quite crowded that Sunday, so as he got down to the front pew and realized there were no seats, he just squatted on the carpet -- perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, but perhaps unnerving for a church congregation. The tension in the air became so thick one could slice it.

Suddenly, an elderly man began walking down the aisle toward the boy. Was he going to scold Bill? My friends who saw him approaching said they thought, "You can't blame him. He'd never guess Bill is a Christian. And his world is too distant from Bill's to understand. You can't blame him for what he's going to do." As the man kept walking slowly down the aisle, the church became utterly silent, all eyes were focused on him, you could not hear anyone breathe. When the man reached Bill, with some difficulty he lowered himself and sat down next to him on the carpet. He and Bill worshipped together on the floor that Sunday. I was told there was not a dry eye in the congregation.

This man understood the heart of God. He understood that God’s arms are open to anyone who will receive Him. For Peter this was a radical change in his thinking. And quite frankly, for many in the church today this idea requires a change in thought. We know prejudice is wrong, but we do tend to look at some people and conclude they are outside the limits of God’s grace.

· The person of a different ethnic background

· The person raised in a different religion

· The person who has a “reputation”

· The person who is too young to “understand”

· The person who is “too old” to change

· The person of a different political party

· The person who has had a different religious experience

· The person who has abused drugs, alcohol or other people

The message of Acts 10 is that God’s arms are open to anyone who will trust Him . . . anyone. I’m certainly not saying that everyone is going to Heaven, but anyone could go to Heaven if they would trust Christ. No matter what your background, God’s offer of forgiveness and new life extends to you. If you will trust Him, He will grant you eternal life and make you new.

Second, this pivotal passage of Scripture reminds us that we are saved by grace alone. Peter had grown up believing that a person could be made new by God, only if they became a Jew. They could be saved only if they adopted the Jewish way of doing things. They could be saved only if they were circumcised and followed all of the laws. This passage disputes that idea.

Cornelius and his family and friends were receptive to God’s message. There was no requirement placed on them other than that they receive by faith the gift of eternal life that is made possible through Christ.

We frequently add to the gospel of grace. We tell people they are saved by God’s grace AND . . .

· By dressing appropriately

· By worshipping in the correct manner

· By engaging in the proper rituals

· By holding to a certain theological position

· By doing certain good deeds

· By giving a certain amount of money

· By adopting a certain Christian “lingo”

· By living a “better than average” life

· By avoiding certain vices

· By conforming to some standard

The majority of people in the world today believe they can be saved only if they trust Jesus AND . . That is not the message of the gospel! The message of the New Testament is that you and I can have everlasting life if we will trust Christ . . . period! His work is sufficient in and of itself. To add to what Christ has done is to cheapen what Christ has done.

The Reformers used to say we are saved; sola gratia (by grace alone), sola fide (through faith alone), sola scriptura (on the authority of Scripture alone), and sola deo Gloria (to the glory of God alone). This, I believe, is the Biblical testimony. This was the revelation that Peter received. This is what Paul was thinking about when he said “For it by grace that we are saved through faith, and this not of ourselves, it is a gift of God, lest anyone should boast.” [Eph. 2:8,9] This is what Jesus meant when He said, “To as many as received Him (note, there are no other conditions) to these he gave the power to become the sons of God.” (John 1:12)

This is an essential Christian truth! It is possible that you are here today and you would like to receive eternal life but you don’t feel you are “good enough” yet. You may feel if you could be a better person, God would accept you into His Kingdom. Unless you are perfect (and in spite of what you think, you are not) you are not good enough. You cannot do anything to merit the gift of God. It is a gift. It is to be received with gratitude and with a readiness to allow God to work in your life.

Perhaps you are like Cornelius today, you want to know God but you don’t know where to look. Friend, God is not hiding. The message of salvation and eternal life is available to you. You can leave here this day CERTAIN that you will go to Heaven if you die. You can be certain not because of your goodness but because of God’s grace. If you will receive the gift of eternal life that God offers; if you will trust what Christ as done for you in His life, death, and resurrection; if you will put all your confidence and hope in Him; if you will believe His promise rather than your ability; you, like the household and friends of Cornelius, will be made new. You will be guaranteed eternal life. You may not speak in tongues, but your heart will be changed. You will be a new person on the inside and will begin the process of transformation in your life.

If you are willing to stop depending on your ability and start trusting in God’s promise of grace, then the way to do that is to confess your desire and your willingness to the Lord. It’s not about the words you say. The people in Cornelius’ house didn’t pray any special prayer. God saw their heart, and He will see yours. If you will but believe . . . if you will receive this gift of life, you too can become a child of God. You will have no reason to boast, but every reason to be grateful.

I know for some of you, this is a new way of thinking. It’s a change from the way you were raised. You’ve grown up believing you must try really really hard to be good enough to get the Heaven. You’ve spent your life hoping you would “pass” on the final day. The message of grace may sound like it is too easy. You may feel it cheapens the gospel. But it doesn’t, it highlights the gospel. This change in thinking, like most change, is never easy . . . but even if change isn’t easy, sometimes it is necessary.

ÓCopyright 2003 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche, July 6, 2003