Peter and Cornelius

Introduction

Good Morning Church...

As we continue in our series called Ekklesia: The unstoppable movement of God, one of the things that we will encounter today is one of the most prominent topics in our pubic discussions today. We are going to look at how Jesus continued to build His Church by instructing His followers to lay aside something that we would call, Prejudice.

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And of course anyone who has been paying attention to what is happening in our world today knows that this is a powerful word. Or it least it was a powerful word, it seems to have lost some of it’s significance because of how it is being used and how often it is being abused. People keep throwing it around any time someone says something that offends them then it must be their prejudice. The result is that many of us are less offended over the term because it seems that everyone is now somehow “prejudice”.

Our cultures poor usage of the word has stripped of it original meaning so it has been drained of it’s original strength. So if we are going to handle how this perspective was recognized and responded to in the early Christian Church we have to begin by making sure that we are all on the same page when it comes to what “prejudice” really is. We can’t risk beginning with different understandings of the word and then hope to come to the same conclusions on how God has called us to respond to it.

Maybe one of the best ways to get to the heart of the definition of prejudice is to share a story that is told of C.S. Lewis when he was a small boy around 6 or 7 years old. The story goes that Lewis Jr. went up to his father and said:

“Daddy I have a prejudice against the French”.

Understandably concerned, his father asked “Why?”

To which the young Lewis triumphantly replied “Well, If I knew that, it wouldn’t be a prejudice.”

Because to have a “prejudice against” someone is to have made up your mind about them before you know all the facts. It is “pre”- “judging” them. Now obviously we will never know all the facts about any person but to be prejudice is to have made up your mind about who someone is or how they will respond when you know very little about them.

As the story of the young Lewis points out, if we have an answer for “why” we dislike a person or their ideas then we are not really being prejudice. We still might be off track or maybe even morally wrong in our response - but it is not a prejudice and so we shouldn’t use that word. To be prejudice is not just about having an opinion about someone or something that is upsetting, it is about making that call based on very little information.

The Webster Dictionary defines the word as a...

(1): preconceived judgment or opinion

(2): an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge

Tension

So how does this all fit in with the early Church? Well chapter 10 of the book of Acts presents something of a milestone for the Christian Church. They have reached a point of no return here in their journey to be all that Jesus said that His Church will be. You are going to have this verse ingrained in your minds by the end of this series, where Jesus says in Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The reason we keep going back here is that this is a key verse for what is most essential to the Church that Jesus is building. We have already seen evidence of these things in the first 9 chapters as the Church gathered and grew together in Jerusalem from 120 to more that 3,000 strong and then through persecution and oppression they were scattered, but this too fulfilled Jesus’ instructions as they brought the “Life-Giving message of Jesus Christ” with them into the rest of Judea and Samaria. We even saw God work through Philip to meet a God-fearing court official all the way from Ethiopia which gave us a taste of how this would happen even to the “ends of the earth”.

Today’s text opens up a new aspect of that final leg of the Church’s journey. It is the part that reaches into our lives because from their perspective, we are one of the “ends of the earth!”. If it wasn’t for the door that God opens here in chapter 10, and specifically how the Lord taught His church to respond to their prejudices we would be living without hope.

So we return today to the story of the Apostle Peter and how the Lord worked to teach him about his prejudice, as we have defined it, and how essential it is that the Christian Church lay that aside in order to be successful in fulfilling the mission that God has given us.

So Open up your Bibles with me to the end of Acts chapter 9 where we will get a running start on all that is going on in Chapter 10. It is on page 918 in the Bibles in the chairs. I’ll pray and then we will learn from Peter’s example together.

Truth

So last week we ended with Saul’s conversion, but his acceptance in the Church was a long road. It took some time to convince the Church that this man who was just recently trying to uncover followers of Christ in order to imprison them had come to Christ himself. We read in chapter 9 verse 26...

Acts 9:26 “ And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.”

Was this prejudice? I don’t believe so. They were not basing their judgment on a small amount of information. They feared this man for many good reasons. Things that they had seen him do with their own eyes. Things like his approval of Stephen’s “execution”. Things like watching him announce and arrest their brothers and sisters in Christ for being followers of Jesus. Hearing of how he was going into houses and dragging out “followers of the way”. It wasn’t prejudice, they had many good reasons to doubt that this man had sincerely began to follow Jesus…but they were wrong.

And one of them, a disciple named Barnabus stood up for Saul and told of his extraordinary conversion story and then with this additional information the Apostles accepted him and he went about boldly preaching in the name of Jesus Christ. So boldly and so effectively that again his opponents wanted to kill him. When the rest of the disciples found out they sent him to Tarsus…where we will catch up with him later.

But Luke moves us from the Acts of Saul to the Acts of the Apostle Peter. Again, that is why the book is called “Acts”. And what we see in Luke’s description of Peter’s ministry is a direct reflection of what we saw in the ministry of Jesus.

In verse 32 Peter heals a paralyzed man, he wasn’t lowered through a ceiling but Peter did say to him

Acts 9:34-35 “And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.”

Then disciples from Joppa heard Peter was nearby in Lydda they asked him to come because a great woman of faith named Tabitha had passed away. Walking through the chorus of mourning widows...

Acts 9:40–43 (ESV) 40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.

This is where we find Peter in our text for today. He was ministering among the saints and widows of Jewish descent. People he could relate to. People who were much like him, or at least much like what he was like before he knew Jesus to be their Messiah.

But now here in Chapter 10, he will be wading out into uncharted waters…to people who were very much not like him. Ministering to people who are different from us presents new challenges, but God would prepare Peter for these challenges.

Our first theme for the week is

1. God sent His message to all people and to all nations (Acts 10:34–38).

Acts 10:1 “At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort,”

Now since you and I are not from this time and place we read that introduction with a sense of neutrality that would not have occured to any Jewish reader. Caesarea was a major port on the coast and a military stronghold so that only respected military minds would be stationed there. A centurion was a middle level commander who was in authority over at least 100 men, sometimes many more, depending on how far you were from Rome. And again, there were a lot of backwaters places in this part of the Empire to station a centurion in disgrace, but Caesarea wasn’t one of them. This man would have been a key player in the Roman agenda to occupy and dominate the region.

So a Jewish Reader would read this introduction expecting anything but the next words...

Acts 10:2 “a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.”

This man was an anomaly. He was paradox. An oxymoron. The idea of God-fearing centurion who maintained a high standing in Rome and with the Jewish people was unheard of. Still, here he is. And God honors his faithfulness by instructing Him to send messengers from Caesarea to Joppa to get Peter. So he sends two faithful servants and a loyal soldier on the 35 mile journey to get Peter.

But God has a message for Peter too, one that would prepare him to lay aside his prejudices in order to share The Life-giving message of Jesus with all people of any nation.

Acts 10:9–16 (ESV) 9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

This vision left Peter very confused. Jewish law prohibited them from eating a whole list of animals found in Leviticus 11. It seems clear that among the “all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds” were many kinds that Jewish law forbid them to eat…and yet the Lord said to go ahead and do so. In fact, three times he was instructed to do this and then he was left wondering what this could have meant, until the explaination showed up at the front door.

Acts 10:17–20 (ESV)

17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.”

Acts 10:34–38 (ESV)

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

God prepared Cornelius, a Roman centurion, by giving him a vision with instructions to send men to bring Peter to him (Acts 10:1–6).

Mat 8:5-7 “5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.””

• Peter told his Gentile audience that although God had first come to the nation of Israel, He shows no favoritism (vv. 34–36).

• God sent Jesus Christ as His messenger of love to all people (vv. 37–38).

Galatians 3:27–28 (ESV)

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:13 ESV

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Illustration: On page 105 of the Ekklesia journal, Gene Wilkes questions whether Christians really believe that God’s message is for all people. “I would say most Christians would agree [that God does not show favoritism and that the message of Jesus is for all people]. If that is so, why do many seem to keep the message for themselves? Why is it the people who say they are on mission with God seem to cluster in homogeneous groups and share their faith mostly with those who already believe like they do?” How would you answer Wilkes’ questions?

2. Believers have the responsibility of telling others what they have witnessed (Acts 10:36–43).

Acts 10:36–43 (ESV)

36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

They had heard the news, probably through so

39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Peter shared that the disciples had witnessed Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection firsthand (vv. 39–41).

• Jesus had personally commanded His disciples to share what they had seen (v. 42).

• Peter explained that even the prophets of Israel had pointed to the fact that Salvation is by Faith Alone in Christ Jesus (v. 43).

Illustration: The great preacher Charles Spurgeon stated simply the responsibility that believers have: “It is not ours to improve the gospel, but to repeat it when we preach, and obey it when we hear.” Is witnessing that easy? Why?

3. The Holy Spirit accomplishes the work of salvation (Acts 10:44–48).

Acts 10:44–48 (ESV)

44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Don’t we “hesitate” for prejudicial reasons? Maybe not racial, economic or gender but just because we don’t thing for some reason that they will respond - but it is the Holy Spirit that does the work.

As Peter spoke, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the listening Gentiles (vv. 44–46).

• Peter recognized that the work of salvation among the Gentiles had been accomplished by the Holy Spirit (vv. 47–48).

Interactive Questions: Without Peter assuming responsibility for sharing his witness, how would Cornelius have heard the gospel? Without the work of the Holy Spirit, would the outcome have been the same? What does this suggest about the partnership between the believer and the Spirit?

Gospel Application

Our Prejudice may be racial, economic or gender based but it may be something entirely different. What kind of “pre-judgements” have we made about who will respond to the message of the Gospel? Doesn’t that say that the Holy Spirit is not able to break through that?

Don’t forge how one planted one watered butGod gvies the growth...

incorporate witnessing into everyday activities as well as altering daily routines to witness in different places.

Peter later forgot this lesson - acting different around one group of people so that Pual confronts him to his face.

Landing