The Gospel to the Nations (Acts 10)

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Conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10:1–48): The Gospel to the Nations

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, September 15, 2024

Do you ever think about our search for God?

Tim Keller shares:

C.S. Lewis says in his spiritual autobiography. He puts it like this: “Amiable agnostics will talk cheerfully about ‘man’s search for God.’ To me … they might as well have talked about the mouse’s search for the cat.”

His implication is the mouse doesn’t search for the cat; the cat searches for the mouse. He looks back and says, “Was I on a search for God?” We don’t search for God unless God first comes and does something in our hearts and pulls us toward him. There’s a hymn from the Reformation era that says it perfectly. This is the language of the heart of anybody who has really been converted. One of the stanzas of the hymn goes like this:

‘Tis not that I did choose Thee

For Lord, that could not be

This heart would still refuse Thee

Hadst Thou not chosen me

My heart owns none before Thee

For Thy rich grace I thirst

This knowing, if I love Thee

Thou must have loved me first

Anyone who has ever experienced real conversion in one way or another knows that’s true. What does that mean? It’s good news. By the way, it’s very good news. Here’s what the good news is. It means if you’re really on a search, if you’re really trying to find God and trying to know God, if you really want him, don’t search with anxiety. Search with confidence. Why?

Because if somebody comes to me and says, “I’m afraid I’m not going to find him. I’m trying to find him. I’m not sure I’m going to find him.” The only reason you’re discouraged is because you’re giving yourself too much credit. You’re not capable of missing God. You’re not capable of aching for God. You’re not capable of longing for God unless he was already helping you.

Put it another way. A sense of his absence is the sign of his presence, because you’re not capable of feeling his absence. You’re not capable of missing him. A sense of his absence is a sign of his presence.[1]

That is for sure something to think about. God is seeking us!

Today, we come to Acts 10 and we see a case in which God is drawing a non-Jewish man. God is seeking this non-Jewish man.

This is the longest narrative in the book of Acts. This passage is pivotal in this book. Not just one but several Greeks receive Christ as their Savior. This passage now shows that you do not have to be Jewish to be a Christian. This passage now shows that the Gospel crosses cultural barriers. This is amazing.

I am going to summarize parts of this chapter and talk about them.

  1. We have the introduction to Cornelius in verses 1-8.
    1. He was a centurion.
    2. We find out in verse 1 that Cornelius was part of the Italian Cohort.
    3. Caesarea was the seat of the Roman government of Judea. Cornelius was a centurion, a commander of 100 men, and a member of the Italian Cohort. (A “cohort” consisted of 600 men under the command of six centurions, but with auxiliary forces in remote areas such as Judea a “cohort” might have as many as 1,000 men.) Ten cohorts formed a “legion.” Centurions were paid very well (as much as five times the pay of an ordinary soldier), so Cornelius would have been socially prominent and wealthy.
    4. Verse 2 tells us that he was devout:
    5. He prayed.
    6. He feared God.
    7. He gave.
    8. He was a God-fearer, which means that he was considering Judaism. He may have been a full Jewish convert, but maybe not. We are unsure of this. He was definitely a non-Jewish man and did not keep the dietary laws.
    9. In the following few verses, he sees a vision. The Bible says that this is clear. This is unmistakable. So, this is an angel, and the angel says that his prayers have been answered. He is to send servants to Joppa where Peter is.
    10. Now, that sends us to verse 9 and to Peter.
  2. In verses 9-23, we see Peter’s vision.
    1. Peter receives a vision that is repeated three times.
    2. In verses 9-12, He sees a great canvas sheet descending from heaven, filled with all kinds of unclean animals.
    3. In verses 13-16 we see the command:
    4. God’s order (10:13): “Kill and eat them.”
    5. Peter’s objection (10:14): “Never, Lord, I have never in all my life eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish laws.”
    6. We see God’s overrule (10:15–16): “If God says something is acceptable, don’t say it isn’t.”
    7. We see Peter’s confusion in verse 17. Peter wonders what all this means.
    8. Just then (verses 17-23) the men from Cornelius arrive and request that Peter accompany them to Caesarea.[2]
    9. So, two soldiers are on their way to Peter. Peter, being a devout Jew, is about to have his world rocked.
    10. Noon was the normal time to eat and it was normal to use the roof for rest as well as for drying vegetables and other things.
    11. Noon was not a regular hour of prayer (3:1), so Peter prays in addition to the traditional hours followed by many of his contemporaries.[3]
    12. I wonder, just a note of application, what is your prayer life? What is my prayer life?
    13. It is important, it is critical, it is imperative, that I am about prayer, that we are about prayer. We won’t do anything without God’s help. Wait, I feel like that was said and written wrong. We need God leading us. We need communion with God. We need prayer. We need dependence on God. Are you seeking Him? I must ask myself the same thing. Am I seeking Him?
    14. So, Mr. Peter is praying and God gives him this vision and we are not going to break down this vision. Peter sees unclean animals.
    15. By the way, the animals are given in a similar manner as they would be in the account of the flood narrative, which is interesting.
    16. Verse 13: take, kill and eat…
    17. God is for P.E.T.A. People Eating Tasty Animals.
    18. Verse 14 and following Peter says, no way, my translation, I have never eaten anything unclean.
    19. You must know that the Jews had dietary laws. They were not supposed to eat certain foods. In the Old Testament, God separated them from the other nations.
  3. Verses 24-48 are about Cornelius’s salvation.
    1. In Verses 24-33 Cornelius shares how this came to pass and invites Peter to preach.
    2. Cornelius saw an angel four days ago (verse 30).
    3. The angel was in shining armor, verse 30. His giving has been remembered, verse 31, which connects with verse 2. Verse 33, he did not want to hear just anything but what Peter has been commanded to share by the Lord.
    4. In verses 34-43, Peter preaches the Gospel.
    5. Peter preaches a Gospel version shorter than some of his other sermons.
    6. Yet, this sermon focuses more on the life and ministry of Jesus.
    7. This is similar to Mark’s Gospel, which makes sense as Mark’s Gospel is said to have been written based on Peter’s testimony.
    8. Peter knew when to stop.
    9. Verse 45: all the circumcised believers (all the Jews) were amazed. A testimony that God had opened the Gospel up (Gal. 3:28).
    10. The Spirit convicted them and they were baptized.

Applications

    1. I have summarized this passage.
    2. This is a long passage, and I usually prefer to preach verse-by-verse, but I summarized this passage differently.
    3. Now, I want to go into applications:
    4. God is going to great lengths to show that the gospel is for everyone. Do we see this?
    5. He challenges Peter in the dietary laws.
    6. He is prodding Peter.
    7. A few chapters before this, God sends Philip to the Ethiopian Eunich.
    8. God is showing that the Gospel is for everyone.
    9. Christianity transcends cultures.
    10. Acts 1:8 (ESV)
    11. 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.”
    12. Jerusalem
    13. Judea
    14. Samaria
    15. Ends of the earth…
    16. Galatians 3:28 (ESV) 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.
    17. Christianity transcends cultures.
    18. Revelation 7:9–10 (ESV)
    19. 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Timothy Keller shares:

Flannery O’Connor, the great Catholic Christian writer of fiction, in one of her letters said, “Christianity is worthless if it’s not true.”

I read in the New York Times Metro section yesterday [This is Keller sharing this] a very interesting article about why missionaries now take their children into dangerous places when so much of the world is so dangerous. The reporter said, “Why do they still go?” The reporter at one point said, “Maybe it’s because some families are just really looking for adventure.”

Here’s the question I have for the reporter, and maybe you’re here. It’s New York. Did Jesus rise from the dead? If Jesus rose from the dead, not only do you need to go, but it will be okay no matter what happens, but if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, it would be the stupidest thing in the world to put your family in harm’s way just to get adventure.

In other words, Christianity is worthless if it’s not true, but Peter says it is. He says, “We saw him. We ate and drank with him.” In other words, don’t ask whether Christianity is relevant, even though it is. Don’t ask whether Christianity is an adventure, even though it certainly is. Don’t ask if Christianity is exciting and life-changing, even though it certainly is. Ask if it’s true. If it’s true, it will convert you.[4]

If it is true, we are converted and we share this with all people.

Pray

[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[2] H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Ac 10:9–23.

[3] Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament (Ac 10:9). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[4] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

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