Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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When I was a kid, my dad built me a wooden house on stilts.
Kind of like a treehouse but not in a tree; it was on stilts and had two entrances, one with a slide and the other a ladder, and two windows.
There was a sign over the entrance at the ladder that my mom made for me.
“Boys Club - Boys Allowed Only.”
But then in parenthesis at the bottom it said, “(Girls Welcome Too)”.
I was sometimes puzzled over the sign.
Is it a boys club or is it not?
As a ten year old, I wanted boundaries.
We couldn’t accept girls into a boys club.
Couldn’t she see that was a slippery slope?
Let girls in and then what’s next?”
We like to draw circles that exclude people who are different.
Our circles include those people we like, those people who are like us.
God draws a much bigger circle.
He does not show partiality.
Liberal Christians would say there is no circle with God; no boundaries at all.
God has no expectations, and everyone is saved and in right relationship with God already.
But we say there is a circle - a circle that is wide enough to contain everyone who will ever place faith in Jesus Christ.
There is a circle, but an infinitely large one.
God’s circle includes the people that we would like to exclude.
Anyone who is willing to humble themselves, turn from their sin, look to Jesus in faith — anyone who is willing to do this, God accepts.
And who God accepts, as His people, we must accept.
The sermon title is “Cornelius: ‘Conversion Of The Unworthy’”.
Cornelius — with His conversion, the door to relationship with God the Father swung open wide to the Gentiles.
No longer were non-Jews excluded from the people of God.
In fact, none of us would be Christians today or be in this building, had it not been for Cornelius’ conversion.
Nothing could be more monumental or impactful than salvation coming to Cornelius and then to the Gentiles.
And yet, it’s also true that nothing could have been more confusing and frustrating to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.
“God wants to be in relationship with the Gentiles?
The non-Jews?
Just as much as with the Jews?
This is about them, too?
Gentiles are unclean, unworthy of grace (see the contradiction?).
But now they’re being brought in?
We struggle with this too.
We don’t have any formal groups of people that we shun; it operates below the surface in our tones of voice; the words we use and don’t use; the looks we give.
We have our “unworthy” converts too.
May this passage open our hearts and expand our circles.
Cornelius, the “unworthy” Gentile.
How did God bring Cornelius to saving faith?
That’s what we’ll explore with this sermon.
Five steps in the on the road to the conversion of Cornelius, the unworthy Gentile.
TFive steps on the road to conversion:
Steps on the road to conversion:
God prepares messenger & hearer
God brings messenger & hearer together
God uses the preached gospel
God seals the believer by the Spirit
God certifies the believer through baptism
These five steps are the same steps God used to bring us to faith, and He will use them with all those who don’t yet believe.
Notice with me first, God prepares messenger and hearer.
Step 1: God prepares both messenger and hearer
God prepares both the messenger and the hearer.
[SLIDE: Roman cohort]
A Roman “cohort”:
A Roman military unit
Made up of 600 soldiers
600 soldiers divided into groups of 100
Cornelius was a centurion, over 100 soldiers
The first way we see that God prepares the hearer is found in verses 1-8.
Cornelius is a centurion.
That means he is not only a Roman citizen; he is also an officer in the Roman military.
Cornelius is not a Jew.
That’s significant.
Cornelius was not part of the people of God, of Israel, like Peter had been.
But Cornelius is seeking God.
Look with me at how he’s described in verse 2: “A devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.” Something about the God of Israel was appealing to Him.
He was drawn to the Israelite faith.
He was drawn to God.
More accurately, God was drawing Cornelius.
When we seek God, church, we are only seeking Him because He has first begun to draw us.
Cornelius is seeking God because God is drawing Cornelius.
That is to say, God is preparing Cornelius for what is about to happen.
An angel shows up and addresses him by name: “Cornelius!” the angel says.
Verses 4-6: “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter.
He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose household is by the sea.”
So Cornelius does what he was told.
He gets two of his servants — he’s a wealthy man in 1st century Rome, so he has slaves — and he sends these men to Joppa to get Peter.
Cornelius, the hearer, is prepared.
What about Peter, the hearer?
PETER’S VISION
Look at verse 9. We’ll see here that God also has a vision for Peter.
And notice the timing of this vision: “The next day, as they were on the journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray” (Acts 10:9 ESV).
God’s fingerprints are all over this.
God is orchestrating these events down to the minute details of time and location.
Right as they are about to enter the city to speak with Peter, Peter is given this vision.
And God gives him this vision of a sheet coming down from heaven, and on the sheet are all these animals.
And Peter sees the animals and he is confused because a voice from heaven says, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat” (Acts 10:13 ESV).
Peter’s initial response is: “By no means, Lord.”
The reason Peter is hesitant is that some of those animals are unclean.
Under the Jewish law, some animals were clean and some animals were unclean.
Peter is a Christian, yes, but Christianity up to this point has been very Jewish.
Peter is a Christian but good Jew.
The old covenant has passed away and all of those laws have been fulfilled in Christ.
But Peter doesn’t quite understand that at this point.
So he objects.
“Rise, Peter, kill and eat!” Peter replies in verse 14, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
Look at the response: “What God has made clean, do not call common” (Acts 10:15 ESV).
Three times Peter is told to do this.
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