9.00 am and 10.30 am Sunday 18th June 2006
ACTS 10:1-20, 23B-24, 34-48
At times God wants to expand our horizons, enlarge our vision, to move us forward to grow, develop and mature so that we can encompass more of what he desires for us and for his church.
How does God do that?
In many respects it is like the birth process, it is not always easy as it requires us to leave our comfort zones where we feel secure and stable. But just like human birth, it is necessary, otherwise we gradually die.
What is your present situation? Are you in a place where you feel confined
and need to expand your horizons and enlarge your vision? God is a god of surprises and sometimes out
of the blue we can meet someone, receive a letter, telephone call, email that
can change the direction of your life.
As Christians we need to be like
This was true for the church in Acts. The time had come for the church to expand its horizons, enlarge its vision to encompass God's purpose for it. Peter's vision and his visit to the home of Cornelius was critical for the church's future. There are a number of things that we can learn from Acts 10 that can help us as we go about God's mission today.
1. God's concern for the LOST
The fact that God sent an angel to Cornelius instructing him to call for Peter showed God's concern that this devout Gentile man should know the truth. Although he was a good man he needed to know the truth so that he could experience God's peace and forgiveness. This is God's desire for everyone. "God... wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4 TNIV) Everyone must come to a knowledge of the truth if they are going to become all that God created them to be. Jesus himself said: "Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32-32 TNIV) Jesus sets people free from the penalty and power of sin and all the limitations sin places on people. Jesus sets people free to become all God created them to be, free to be restored in God's image, marred by humankind's fall, and free to release the unique SHAPE that God has given them - S Spiritual gifts, H Heart, A Abilities, P Personality, E Experiences - as we learned when we did 40 Days of Purpose last year. Jesus sets us free to live a life with purpose, to do God's will and thus find fulfilment and satisfaction.
We are not told
what Cornelius prayed, but God heard his prayer and through Peter made it
possible for him to enter into a personal relationship with God through Jesus
Christ. God is always concerned for the
lost. In my case he sent someone from
2. God's perfect timing
The second thing
we note in this passage is the way in which God brought Peter and Cornelius
together. Notice the Spirit's perfect
timing in this passage. Peter's vision
to occured just before Cornelius's messengers arrived at his door. God was preparing Peter for what was about to
happen. It shows us the trouble that God
will go to to answer our prayers and reminds us of what the Scriptures say in
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (TNIV): "He has made everything beautiful in its time." This incident was perfect timing for
Cornelius as Peter was nearby and it was important for him to know the truth
that would set him free. It was also
perfect timing for the church as the Spirit prepared it to embark on a new
phase of its mission. It was also
perfect timing in that Paul and Barnabas were about to begin their ministry to
Gentiles and so God was preparing his church for that through this experience
of Peter. God's timing is perfect. Grace and I saw this last year when we went
to
3. God's object lesson
For God to begin this new phase of the church's mission Peter needed a mind change in his attitude towards Gentiles. Peter would have been brought up from a very young age to know that no Jewish person would enter into a Gentile home or eat with a Gentile. We do not appreciate today how difficult it would have been for a Jew like Peter to change his attitude about Gentiles. But God did this through the thrice repeated vision he gave him of the sheet being lowered from the sky with all kinds of animals, both clean and unclean in it. A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." (Acts 10:13 TNIV). And Peter's response was what he had always been taught to say, "I have never eaten anything that is unclean." To which came the reply, "Don't call unclean what I have made clean." Peter was following what the Scriptures said in Leviticus 11:2-4 where God gave instructions concerning the animals that his people could eat and those that they could not eat. The point that God was wanting to make with Peter was that through the death of Jesus all had been made clean. Even during his earthly ministry, Jesus had taught that what his people had been instructed in their law was limited in the light of God's purpose. For example: In his teaching about what defiles people he said in Mark 7:18-19 that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile. Rather it is what comes from a person's heart that defiles them. And in Mark it says in brackets after that, "In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean." The lesson that God wanted Peter to learn was that through the death of Jesus God has made all people clean. Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (TNIV): "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." This verse says that Jesus has died for all and therefore all have been made clean through his death. John in his first letter says the same, "... the blood of Jesus his (God's) Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7 (NRSV)
It was while Peter was thinking about this vision and its application to his life that the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. Do not hesitate to go with them for I have sent them." (Acts 10:19-20 TNIV). Here we see the Spirit of God directing the mission of the church.
This has application for us today. God knows how to get our attention when he has work for us to do and when he wants us to change direction. The important thing for us is to be attentive and alert to what the Spirit is saying to his church and to be obedient. Maybe there are lessons that God is teaching you today. Are you listening and will you be obedient?
4. God shows no favouritism
"Now I am
certain that God treats all people alike.
God is pleased with (accepts) everyone who worships him and does right,
no matter what nation they come from. (Acts 10:34-35 TNIV) This verse shows us that God has no
favourites and does not show any partiality.
This was true in Jesus' life. He
treated all people alike. He mixed with
the teachers of
It is important for us as followers of Christ not to show any racial, social or intellectual prejudice towards other people. We also need to realize that the mission of God is a global mission and this is why we have incorporated that into our church's vision statement. "To be a spirit-filled community, winning followers for Christ locally and globally." To have a vision less than that is to be unfaithful to the Scriptures.
5. The Gospel blessings
This passage brings out a number of the blessings that we receive through Jesus Christ. Peter said in his sermon in the house of Cornelius, "God... sent Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, to offer peace... (Acts 10:34-36 CEV) This was the good news Cornelius needed to hear, that God had made peace for him and all those in his household. This is the good news everyone needs to hear. The Hebrew word "Shalom" captures what this peace is that Jesus came to bring. It's a peace that brings wholeness. It brings peace with God, peace with others, peace within ourselves and peace with creation. It is a peace that is experienced within the being of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit where there is perfect harmony and unity. God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is a circle of love in which we are invited to share.
The further blessing Peter refers to here is that of forgiveness as he said, "Everyone who believes in him (Jesus) receives forgiveness of sins through his name." (Acts 10:43 TNIV) This is what God promises to all who turn to him in repentance and trust in his saving work on the cross. Forgiveness is absolutely necessary because God is going to judge the world and unless we are forgiven we will be subject to that judgement. The Bible teaches us, "For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23 TNIV) This is why forgiveness is so necessary and why God went to such much trouble for Cornelius and his household to hear this message. And this is the message God entrusts to his church to share. "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19 TNIV)." This is the Gospel Blessing God would have us share with the world.