Introduction
Meeting Beata 1996
– life changing encounter.
Acts 10 is story about a life changing encounter
between two men Peter & Cornelius – which was to a turning point in
the history of the church & a pivotal moment in the history of the world.
If it weren't for Acts
chapter 10 Christianity might have remained simply a minority sect of the
Jewish religion. But because of Acts chapter 10 Christianity is now a worldwide
faith of people of every race under the sun, numbering billions of followers.
You see, right
from the beginning it was God's intention that the whole world should know
him. So in Genesis chapter 12, at the dawn of history, God says to
Abraham I will make you into a
great nation and I will bless you... and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
Again, at the
beginning of the book of Acts we see God's recommitment to this promise when
the last thing Jesus says to the disciples before he ascends to heaven is you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
However, up to
this point in the book of Acts Christianity was still a Jewish phenomenon, all
the apostles were Jewish, and all the converts so far in the story of the early
church have been Jewish by race or Jewish by conversion. Not a single
gentile—that is, a non-Jew—has been converted.
It seems that
the gospel has got stuck in the Jewish world. Jews did not mix with gentiles. Jewish
culture forbade the Jew even to enter the home of a gentile, and all their
traditions kept them apart.
It would therefore
take a miracle for God to achieve his promise to bless the whole world through
Abraham's descendant, Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 10 is the story of that
miracle. It recounts the story not only of the conversion of the first gentile,
but in some sense the conversion of Peter as well.
This morning I
want to look at three things in particular Acts 10, the importance of faith,
prayer & obedience.
Cornelius
Caesarea, was a
city located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, 32 miles north of Joppa. It
was the largest & most important port city on the Mediterranean, the
capital of the Roman province of Judea, rebuilt by Herod the Great & named
after Caesar Augustus. Dominating the city was the grand temple
dedicated to Caesar Augustus and the goddess Roma perched on a hill overlooking
the harbour. Caesarea represented all
that the Jews hated, it was a showpiece for Roman culture & economic &
military might.
And living in
this city was Cornelius an officer in the Italian Regiment of the Roman army,
which consisted of volunteers from Italy, and considered the most loyal of
Roman troops.
Cornelius’
Faith
As a
Roman soldier, the occupying oppressors, it would have been natural for the
Jews to hate someone like Cornelius – he represented all they were opposed to.
But we read in verse 22 that he
was someone who was “respected by all the Jewish people.”
The reason for this is
indicated in verse 2 which says that Cornelius & his family were ‘devout and God-fearing’ and
who ‘gave generously to those in need and prayed to God
regularly.’ God fearing is a term
used to describe someone who worshipped the God of Israel, prayed in the Synagogue, and followed
Jewish religious practices, but was not circumcised and therefore still considered
a gentile.
Cornelius’ faith should be a challenge to us all.
First of all we see that God was already at work in Cornelius’ life,
even before he came to know Jesus. A reminder that God can work in the lives of
other people, even before they know him.
Cornelius was a gentile, neither Jewish nor yet a Christian, and yet he clearly
loved God, and demonstrated this by the way he lived. As a Roman soldier he
should have been despised by the Jews, but he wasn’t, because of his faith
& the way he lived his life. There was an authenticity about him, which
people could see.
Can the same be said of us? Does the way we live, reflect what we say we
believe? Do our actions back up our words?
For example, if we say we love God, do we demonstrate that in the way we
treat others?
If we say that forgiveness is important, are we people who are willing
to forgive those who have wronged us, or do we hold onto grudges &
resentment?
If we say that the truth is important, are we people who are
trustworthy, and can be relied upon to do the right thing?
The Apostle John wrote Whoever
claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does
not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom
they have not seen. (1 John 4:20)
So if someone goes to church
faithfully on Sunday morning to worship God, but then on Monday morning goes
into work and shouts and bullies their staff, spread false rumours about their
competitors, and fiddles their expenses & tax return, then there is clearly
a lack of authenticity, a disconnect between what they claim to believe &
how they live.
There is a saying ‘Be careful how
you live. You may be the only Bible some
person ever reads.' Ultimately
our claim to know & love God will be judged by the way we live. Our
beliefs, need to connect with how we live.
Cornelius’
Prayer Life
The
other thing we see in this text, is the importance of prayer.
It is
clear that both Cornelius & Peter were people who prayed regularly. And it
was whilst they were both praying that they received their visions (Cornelius
v3 & Peter v9).
Regular pattern
of prayer vitally important in nurturing our relationship with God. Many of us feel
guilty that we don’t pray enough, but we need to find pattern & routine
that works for us
- Pray as you can, not as you can’t.
God can speak to
us in many different ways, but prayer is often one of the main ways God
communicates with us, and it is because Cornelius & Peter developed the
habit of prayer that they were able to hear from God.
Forming a good prayer habits is vitally important. In the
opening chapter of the book of Job, it describes Job as being blameless and upright; he feared God and
shunned evil… and whenever his sons held a feast, he would go & sacrifice a
burnt offering for them, and it says ‘This was
Job’s regular custom.’ (1:5) Because Job
developed this habit of prayer & worship when things were going well, it
enabled him to continue to pray & worship God, when everything was taken
from him, so that he was able to say “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Forming the habit of regular prayer is
important.
If we were as faithful as
Cornelius in our praying and our giving imagine what God could do with us!
Obedience
The other lesson
we learn from Cornelius & also Peter in Acts 10 is the importance of
obedience.
As soon as
Cornelius received the vision from the angel, telling him to send for Simon
Peter, he ‘called two of his
servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants… and sent them to
Joppa.’ V8 There was no delay, as a Roman
officer, he was used to giving and receiving commands.
Learning to be obedient to
God is at the heart of the Christian faith. Obedience is vitally important,
Jesus said “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 7:21)
Our obedience to God
should flow from our gratitude for what he has done for us & should be
rooted in trust. I can obey God because I know He is trustworthy.
But we shouldn’t be surprised
if we find obedience difficult. We follow the one who ‘become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil 2.8)
Calling to come to Carlisle –
challenging
We never know where obedience
to God can lead, but it is the pathway to blessings.
This was a lesson Peter
learn.
As a good Jew, all his life
Peter has maintained a strict division between clean and unclean foods. Even to
touch the carcasses of unclean animals was to become unclean oneself. This will
have been drummed into Peter every single day since childhood.
So Peter, with his years of
ingrained teaching, is appalled by the command in the vision. "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I
have never eaten anything impure or unclean" v14
Three times Peter had this
vision, and three times God says Do
not call anything impure that God has made clean v15 and as Peter was still
wrestling with the meaning of the vision the messengers from Cornelius arrive
and suddenly Peter understands what it was all about.
God is not so much concerned
that Peter considers no animals unclean as that he considers no people unclean. Peter comes to understand that he must overcome
his deeply, deeply rooted prejudices and no longer consider the gentiles to be
beyond the pale. And we see that he does this by inviting the men into his house to be
his guests. An act which would have been unthinkable for him just a few
hours before, and then the following day he journeyed with them to Caesarea.
Through obedience Peter experienced
blessings he could never have imagined possible, as God poured out his Holy
Spirit on Cornelius & his family, and as Peter came to realise the full
scope of God’s mission. The good news of
Jesus was not just for the Jews but for all people. V34-35 “I now realize how true it is that God does not
show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does
what is right.”
Through the obedience of
Cornelius & Peter, everything changed. With the apostles' prejudices broken
down they are now free to obey the call to take the gospel to the very ends of
the earth.
Who in the world would you
least like to have sitting next to you in church? Whose arrival at church would
make you get up and walk out, or at least cause you to get up and sit on the
other side?
Well, the message Peter came
to understand here, and the other apostles accepted later on, is that there is
not a single person in the world whom God would not welcome into his church if
he or she came in sincere faith and repentance. No one, absolutely no one, is
beyond God’s grace.
Peter could
never have imagined God calling him to witness to gentiles.
We are the fruits of the obedience of Cornelius &
Peter. We would not be here were it not for them hearing & responding to
God’s call.
A
question for us all to consider, is who are the people God is calling us to
witness to? Like Peter – we may be in for surprises!
When Peter went
with the three men to Caesarea, he had no idea what the impact of this visit
would be. And when we witness to others about Jesus, we have no idea what the
impact it can have.
Albert McMakin
Hands up who
knows who has heard of Albert McMakin?
Because of Albert
McMakin well over 2.2 billion people have heard the Gospel, and there are
Christians in church here today because of him, but chances are you’ve never
heard of him.
Albert
McMakin was a twenty-four-year-old farmer who had recently come to faith in
Christ. He was so full of enthusiasm that when he heard an evangelist was
coming to town, he filled a truck with people and took them to a meeting to
hear about Jesus. There was a good looking farmer’s son, whom he was especially
keen to get to a meeting, but he was hard to persuade – this young man was more
interested in chasing girls, than going to hear about Jesus, and he didn’t seen
at all interested in Christianity. But eventually, Albert McMakin managed to
persuade his friend to go by asking him to drive the truck. When they arrived,
Albert’s guest decided to go in and was ‘spellbound’ and he went back again and
again until one night he went forward and gave his life to Jesus Christ. That
man, the driver of the truck, was Billy Graham. The year was 1934.
Since then
it is estimated that over 2.2
billion people have heard Billy Graham preach, in stadiums, and via radio and
television broadcasts – and countless thousands of people have been brought to
faith in Christ.
We cannot all be like
Billy Graham, but we can all be like Albert McMakin – seeking to bring others
to Jesus. And when we do that, like Peter when he visited Cornelius, who knows
what the impact will be.
