Spirit-Unifying Vision For All Nations

Life is filled with Separation

God overcomes our broken separation by using His Church to unite the nations in His Son Jesus Christ.

God Overcomes Ethnic Separation

Cornelius: Right Heart Wrong Ethnicity (Acts 10:1-3)

We are introduced to a man named Cornelius in Acts 10:1. Luke tells us that he is a centurion in the Italian Cohort of the Roman Army. A centurion was an officer who was in charge of 100 Roman soldiers.

Luke is letting us know that Cornelius was not an ordinary citizen or soldier. First of all, his rank and cohort reveal that he was a full blooded Italian. Caesar adopted a military strategy that he borrowed from Alexander the Great.

It was typical for officers of conquered armies to be killed after a defeat. Common war thinking at the time said they posed a threat so they were executed. Alexander the Great realized he could grow his army with qualified and experienced officers by graphing them into his army. So, he would give those officers a choice. They could be killed on the spot or they could serve him as officers in his military. Caesar adopted the same policy which helped contribute to Rome’s dominance as a world power. The effect on the army, though, was that there were officers who were not indigenous to Rome. This created an unequal class system among officers.

Conquered peoples, even high ranking officers, were not allowed inside the inner circle of Roman military, culture and society. Given his name, Cornelius, which was a distinctly Roman name, and his rank in the cohort, Cornelius was part of the inner circle. He was a free Roman citizen who lived and breathed in the upper echelon of Roman culture and society.

Second, Luke tells us that Cornelius was a devout God-fearer (Acts 10:2). As one commentator put it, God-fearers were a specific class of persons who were not Jews nor had they fully embraced Judaism with all its rituals. They were Gentiles who were attached to the synagogues and were sympathetic to Jewish theology and ethics. This means he believed in and worshiped Yahweh, the one true God of the Jews. He led his family in Jewish customs of praying according to certain hours of the day. He did acts of mercy by giving alms to the poor and showing charity and goodwill to those in need. By all accounts he was a good Jew. He had the right heart for God. The problem is, he was not a Jew. Luke is making sure we understand, Cornelius was a Gentile who acted like a Jew, but could never be one of God’s chosen people according to the Jews.

There is irony and tension in the first two verses of Acts 10:1-2. Its ironic that Cornelius is a Roman citizen that has access to the inn circle of Roman life that excludes those who are not Roman. And yet, he is a Gentile who faithfully worships Yahweh like a Jew, but will never be able to worship in the temple or be accepted by the Jews as one of their own. There is no such ting as Gentile Jew. By man’s standards there will alway be a wall of separation between them.

Mankind’s fallen condition cannot help but segregate and separate each other in ways that robs people, God’s image Bearers, of dignity and respect and abundant life. The Jews do it to the Gentiles and the Gentiles do it to each other. Even to this day, we are living in the age of separation and polarization. We divide each other by race, and by politics, and by economic class, even by generation. The Gen X’ers don’t know what to do with the Millennials. The Millennials can’t be in the same room with the Baby Boomers, and everyone is looking at the Gen Zer’s like they are off the hook. Man left to himself will divide himself and die.

I’m reminded a quote by William Wilberforce,

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church Proof of Depravity Abounds

Wherever we direct our view, we discover the melancholy proofs of our depravity; whether we look to ancient or modern times, to barbarous or civilized nations, to the conduct of the world around us, or to the monitor within the breast; whether we read, or hear, or act, or think, or feel, the same humiliating lesson is forced upon us.

That is the world Cornelius lived in and that is the world we live in today. The way we separate ourselves is further proof our depravity abounds. Its a humiliating lesson that is forced upon us everyday, especially today.

It’s not an issue isolated to the culture. The church has its separation problems. We are striving to live out our redemption in Christ. Part of the strife we face is learning to embrace people who are not like us in our race or politics or social status or even theology, but are unified to us in Christ. And sometimes we allow our brokenness to keep us from building relationships with people who are not like us. It affects our worship, our fellowship, and our outreach. A church that stops reaching out to unite those whom God is drawing to himself with those whom he has already dawn to himself, will die. The church is not meant to live in the depravity of separation from God and each other. It’s meant to live in the unifying redemption of Jesus Christ.

God Overcomes Cornelius’s Ethnic Separation with a Spirit-Unifying Grace Given Vision (Acts 10:4-8)

Cornelius my have had the wrong race according to the Jews, but he had the right heart for God. In verses 4-8, Cornelius is praying to God and God hears his prayers and answers them by coming closer to Cornelius. God sends his messenger from heaven:

Acts 10:3–4 HCSB

About three in the afternoon he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius!” Looking intently at him, he became afraid and said, “What is it, lord?” The angel told him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have come up as a memorial offering before God.

God heard his prayers and accepted them as a memorial offering. The language indicates that God was aware of Cornelius’s piety. And just as the smoke from an a sacrificial offering was pleasant to God, so was Cornelius’s prayers and works of charity. God responds by accepting his prayers. It is not surprising God accepts the prayers of this Gentile who is seeking Him.

God reveals to us that it was always his plan to bring the Gentiles into the kingdom of God. He told Abraham

Genesis 12:1–3 HCSB

The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

God’s people, Abraham's descendants, Israel, God fearing Jews, were supposed to be a light to the nations. They were supposed to show the world who God was and how he was to be worshiped. Israel was supposed to be the new Adam so to speak, a son to God, who would invite the nations into God’s kingdom. But they failed. They became prideful and arrogant, despising the Gentiles instead of evangelizing the gentiles. Judaism is not a missions oriented religion. Orthodox Jews wanted nothing to do with Gentiles. They considered them lower than dogs and would never allow them in their homes, let alone the temple.

But God overcomes His people’s prideful arrogance. He overcomes the sin of racism and ethnic bias. He overcomes their failure to be a light to the nations by being faithful in keeping his promises. He promised to send His messiah to atone for our sins. He kept his promsie by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross we deserve. He promised that his newly redeemed people would testify to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). He’s keeping that promise in our text. He sends an angel to reveal the way of salvation to Cornelius; but notice the angel does not directly come out with the gospel. Instead, God unites his people by using their faith and obedience.

Faith & Obedience are the right response to God

The commands Cornelius to send men to Joppa to fetch Peter. God is going to use Peter to tell Cornelius the way of salvation. Cornelius must act in faith and obedience. He must believe the angel and then send his men to fetch Peter. If Cornelius truly fears God and believes God, he will send his men to get Peter, which he does in verses (7-8). The big question is, “Will Peter come to Cornelius?”

God Overcomes Heart Separation (Acts 10:9-16)

Peter: A Clean Man for an Unclean People (Acts 10:9-14)

What do I mean by a “clean man”? I’, being a tad facetious. I mean two things. First, Peter was of course washed by the word and remains in the vine (John 15:3). Peter was a true and devout Christian, and apostle of Jesus Christ. Peter also thought he was clean because of his Jewish orthodox beliefs. We know that Peter was still attached to his orthodox Jewish belief, especially pertaining to Gentiles. Later in Peter’s walk with the Lord, Paul had to confront Peter’s hypocrisy of withdrawing from the fellowship of Gentiles when other Jewish Christians were in the room (Galatians 2).

Knowing Peter’s struggle with the Gentile’s brings me to an odd place in verse 9.

What in the world is Peter doing at Simon the tanners house?

That is where the angel told Cornelius he could find Peter. That is where Peter went after he raised Tabitha from the dead in Acts 9:43.

A tanner made leather by tanning animal skins. A leather maker was considered ‘unclean’ by the Jews and was despised because he touched the skins of dead animals (Leviticus 11:39–40). Peter, who grew up and orthodox Jew and still clung to orthodox beliefs, was apparently not troubled by Simon or his dead animal skins.

Jesus overcomes Peter’s initial separation from the gentiles by changing (Unifying) his heart.

This is a fundamental shift in Peter’s value system. What in the world changed Peter’s heart to move him closer to a people he grew up avoiding at the very least and despising at the very worst? It was the gospel of Jesus Christ!. Our only hope for true reconciliation with God and each other. Jesus changed Peter’s heart and opened his eyes to draw nearer to a people that God was inviting into his kingdom. jesus told Peter

John 12:32 HCSB

As for Me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to Myself.”

All people means that Jesus wants both Jew and Gentile, both black and white, both abled and disable, both rich and poor in the kingdom of God. Jesus is moving Peter closer and closer to the Gentile people so that Peter can know and say with conviction:

Acts 10:34–35 HCSB

Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him.

The Gospel changes your heart to love what God loves. It gives you a new set of eyes to see people who are very different than you, as broken image bearers who are separated from God and his people, who need the good news of Jesus Christ. Peter was in Simon’s house because that is where Jesus wants to be, in every home, both Jew and Gentile, clean and unclean. What is also extraordinary is that God is using Cornelius’s faith and obedience and prayers to bring Peter to see God’s grand vision for His kingdom and be astonished by His glory. God is alway working ten million things outside of what we see to overcome our brokenness in order to joyfully advance His kingdom. Peter and Cornelius had no idea God had already connected them for his kingdom’s sake.

Peter is there, and that is a good start, but peter is not fully there. He needs to go further He is going to use Peter’s hunger for food to reveal God's hunger for worship from the nations of all peoples. Peter says in Acts 10:34-35, that now he finally understand that God loves Gentiles and wants them in His kingdom. Peter could not see this on his own. It took God giving him a Spirit-Empowered Great Commission vision.

Spirit-Unifying Great Commission Vision (Acts 10:9-14)

Looking at verse 9, its noon the day following Cornelius's vision. Cornelius’s men have reached the city of Joppa. As they were finding their way to Simon the Tanner’s home, Peter feels compelled to pray. Noon was not the normal time to pray in the afternoon for Jews. The normal time to pray was at 3 pm, just as Cornelius was doing the day before. Jews built flat roof houses where they would spend time eating and resting. It was also a place for privacy for a time of prayer.

Peter is hungry, so house begins to prepare lunch. as lunch is being made ready, God put’s Peter into a trance. Belinda Cheng notes, ‘He fell into a trance’ means that he was awake and semi-conscious, not asleep. The Greek term ἔκστασις ‘trance’ is another expression for ‘vision’. With this sense it refers to a trance where God communicates directly with someone. Peter’s hunger and his desire to pray put him in the right state of mind and heart to communicate with God.

Hunger in the bible, often reflects a state of physical or spiritual emptiness. Coupled with Peter’s desire to pray, Peter was in a sense fasting and praying. He expressed a spiritual hunger only God could satisfy. God uses Peter’s physical hunger to deal with his spiritual heart. Peter’s desire for food gives God the opportunity to move Peter closer to His vision of the Great Commission.

As an aside, Peter reminds me of how necessary it is in my life and the life of the church to pray and fast regularly. I have to assume my comfort and satisfaction in this world, especially in America is having an effect of my spiritual appetite. When you are satisfied in the American Dream the kingdom of God becomes icing on the cake. That is biblically asinine. Jesus is never he icing on the cake. He is the cake and the icing. He is the bread that satisfies those who hunger and the living water for those who thirst for righteousness. Fasting empties our stomachs and our souls to ready our hearts to be filled with him. Praying surrenders our wills to fully depend on Him. I want to be like Peter in this text; ready to receive a vision from the Lord that grows my understanding of His kingdom.

God lowers a sheet with all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air (10). Some of these animals are not kosher. We the voice tells Peter to rise up and eat,

Acts 10:14 HCSB

“No, Lord!” Peter said. “For I have never eaten anything common and ritually unclean!”

Some of the animals that Peter saw were forbidden by God in His law to eat (Leviticus 11:1-8). God enacted dietary laws for Israel to separate them from the other nations. Their obedience to these laws expressed their commitment to God’s holy standard. Israel was to be set apart from all other nations in how they worshiped, lived life, and ate their food. There were foods that were clean and acceptable, and there were foods that were unclean and unacceptable. Peter grew up abiding by these dietary laws. Peter saw both clean and unclean animals together but could not fathom eating anything outside of God’s Levitical code.

Peter had forgotten something Jesus taught Him.

Mark 7:13–15 HCSB

You revoke God’s word by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.” Summoning the crowd again, He told them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.

Jesus goes on to say

Mark 7:18–19 HCSB

And He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a man from the outside can defile him? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated.” (As a result, He made all foods clean. )

Jesus taught Peter that food cannot defile anyone. It’s what inside the heart that defiles a man. he also taught Peter that the work he is doing, His cross and resurrection, were going to change things for God's people. No longer will God distinguish his people by Levitical dietary laws. Instead, Jesus will fulfill the entirety of God’s law with his life and death, and he will cleanse his people with his own righteous blood freeing them to rise up and eat whatever they want.

The application for Peter is going to come at Cornelius’s house. Jews were forbidden to enter Gentile homes. No orthodox Jew would ever sit down at a table and have a fellowship meal with a gentile. To solve this problem Jesus made all foods clean so that Jewish Christians can now sit down with Gentiles and eat a meal together.

God Overcomes Physical Separation (Act 10:15-16)

Spirit-Unifying Great Commission Command (Acts: 10:15-16)

So the voice says again, Peter, rise up and eat!” Peter is still hesitant. God says Peter, “What God has made clean, do not call uncommon.” That is what Peter must understand. It is God who determines what is clean and unclean. Jesus already made this food clean. Do not profane what he has made clean. And this is the precursor for the Gentiles. God has the right to make Gentiles clean through His Son. God has the right to adopt the “Cornelius’s” of the world into His family making them sons with an inheritance. No man has he right to separate what God brings together.

The Christian band, “Casting Crowns, got into a little trouble with the church with their song, “If we are the Body.” Churches didn’t like the band calling them out for not reaching everyone for Jesus. John Mark Hall wrote the song for hi youth group to help them not be so judgmental toward broken people. I’m particularly drawn to the second verse and chorus:

A traveler is far away from home He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row The weight of their judgmental glances Tells him that his chances are better out on the road

But if we are the body Why aren't His arms reaching? Why aren't His hands healing? Why aren't His words teaching? And if we are the body Why aren't His feet going? Why is His love not showing them there is a way?

Jesus paid much too high a price For us to pick and choose who should come

And we are the body of Christ But if we are the body

The church must hold this truth as one of its deepest convictions. No human being on this earth is ever to be denied the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone from any ethnicity, or culture, every reject of society, every thug and criminal, even the politicians and judges, are to have access to the gospel and be welcomed into God’s family as equal brothers and sisters when they embrace the gospel.

Don’t miss the fact that this happens three times for Peter. Peter is used to things happening to him three times. It was three times Peter denied the Lord. It was three times the Lord restored Peter to the ministry. It is is three times God makes it clear that what was unclean is now clean. Make no mistake about it, Peter, this is a done deal. Peter’s heart had to change toward Gentiles if God’s kingdom was going to be advanced to all nations. Kent Hughes is right to say, “Without a change in apostolic attitudes, none of us would have heard the gospel of the love of Jesus Christ.”

Peter had to understand both Jew and Gentile will be able to receive justification and forgiveness for their sins and sanctification for their life on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ. Gentiles don’t have to become Jews to be in the kingdom of God. They become Christians, just like Peter and the rest of the disciples. But they cannot come into the kingdom of God if Peter does not rise up and go at once.

The command is to rise up and Go! God overcomes the ethnic separation by tearing down the wall of our depravity and hostility toward each other. He overcomes our heat separation by changing our hearts to love what he loves and see what he seeks. God overcomes the physical separation of distance with Great Commission! Missions is what closes the gap in communities. Missions is what closes the gap among the nations.