Key Verse:
Acts 10:34-35 NKJV
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
Every nation, every creed, every color, every tongue. One God!
Amen...
Where to begin?
Acts 10:13-16 NKJV
13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has [f]cleansed you must not call common.” 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.
God had a plan. Peter has been preaching the gospel in an increasingly larger area. What began in Jerusalem carried him throughout Judea, then Samaria, then into Galilee. From there he preached to Jewish comunities in Lydda, where he prayed for and healed a paralytic named Aeneas, and then Joppa, where he raised Dorcas from the dead. Now it was time for God to broaden Peter’s vision. This gospel of the kingdom was not to be exclusive to the Jews as the law of Moses had been. God is love. He sent His Son to redeem all of mankind.
So God desired to send Peter to preach to Cornelius, a gentile, an Italian, an officer in the Roman army. But in order for Peter to be effective, he needed his brain washed. He needed a fresh perspective. The Holy Ghost enveloped Peter in a trance, where he was commanded to kill and eat from any number of unclean beasts revealed to him in the trance. When Peter refused, God rebuked him with the admonishment that, “What I (God) have called clean, you must not call common (or, unclean)” This happened three times, providing three witnesses to Peter from on high, thus confirming God’s desire for Peter to keep an open mind to the will of God.
The Lesson
Acts 10:34 NKJV
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality
So as the lesson opens, Peter has been invited to the home of Cornelius. He is greeted by an audience: Cornelius’ household and other guests Cornelius has invited to hear Peter’s message… from God. As Peter surveys the audience, he begins to understand. God really does want the message of Christ preached to the gentiles. Really.
Acts 10:35 NKJV
35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
I remember when Peter asked Christ, “so then Lord, shall I forgive seven times?” It turned out, that while he had correctly understood that Jesus intended forgiveness at a level that was more than twice that required by the Law of Moses (three times), Jesus’ response that seventy time seven (inferring infinity) quite exceeded Peter’s understanding.
Not so this time. Peter used the the word ‘every’ to communicate to his audience that God’s salvation was all-inclusive. Every nation would hear and have the opportunity to respond to God’s message of love.
Acts 10:36 NKJV
36 The word which God sent to the [l]children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—
And here is the message from Heaven to earth from the tongues of angels: “Peace on earth, good will towards men.” Peter brings clarity to the message by revealing the person, Jesus as the agent of God’s remdemption on earth.
Acts 10:37 NKJV
37 that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached:
Surely, some of those who were present in Cornelius’home that day had heard something of the happeniings that had occurred in Judea over the last few years, since the time that John the baptist had begun to preach in Judea, near the Jordan river. Surely they had heard something of the young miracle worker who had ministered there.
Acts 10:38 NKJV
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Yes, maybe they had heard of Jesus, the Nazerene, but being Romans, Greeks, Syrians and Phonecians, they failed to understand the significance of His appearing and ministry in Judea. Peter proclaimed His holiness by informing them that the God of all of creation had sent to earth to heal, to deliver, to set free all (All) who were oppressed by Satan. Peter further intimated that truly, God was with (in) Christ. In fact, the anointing and the indwelling identified Jesus as the Christ; God’s anonted.
Acts 10:39 NKJV
39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom [m]they killed by hanging on a tree.
Now, Peter personalizes the message. He identifies himself as a witness of Christ and of His mighty works, adding credence to the stories they’d heard, but could not make sense of. Peter was a witness of all that Christ did in Israel: His teaching, His preaching, His miracles; all of it. Peter was also a witness of the crucifixtion of Christ; the crucifixion that God allowed as a propitiation for the sins of many. Peter would one day recall that by way of the cross, Jesus had taken our sins so that we might recieve righteousness before God through Him.
Acts 10:40 NKJV
40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly,
Surely, God raised Jesus from the grave, thus validating His message to the world that He had emerged victorious in redeeming mankind from sin by the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. The grave had been God’s merciful punishment in seperating sinful man from eternity and eternal torment, trapped forever in sinful flesh. Jesus rose from the grave in and with power and everlasting glory. Death, Hell and the grave were eternally defeated.
Acts 10:41 NKJV
41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
God was selective concerning those to whom the ‘arm of the Lord’, Jesus was revealed. In order to preserve the integrity of the message, He only revealed the resurrected Christ to those who had been disciples of Christ. They had followed and been taught by Christ during His time on earth, and thus, were best prepared to discern His activity on earth via the unction of the Holy Spirit. This is the very reason God sent Peter to preach to Cornelius.
Acts 10:42-43 NKJV
42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission[n] of sins.”
It was the disciples that God ordained to preach the gospel to all peoples. They were to carry the message to the entire world. The disciples would make more disciple, who would then make more disciples. The bible tell us that all who believe would become witnesses, prophesying by the unction of the Holy Spirit that whoever would believe on Christ would receive Him… and be saved.
Acts 10:44-46a NKJV
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And [o]those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
And in just a few short sentences, God’s work is done. The evidence? The Holy Ghost falls on Cornelius guests. How do we know that? Because they all begin to speak in tongues, just as had happened in Jerusalem (Acts 2) and later in Samaria (Acts 8). So why did God deem it necessary to have these new believers speak in tongues? Was it necessary to confirm to the Jews that the gentiles had recieved salvation:
Stop! God empowered these good people; filled them with the Holy Ghost so that they would become effective witnesses to the majesty of God and the wonder of Christ. So says Acts 1 and Acts 2. They were empowered to preach the gospel. Why wouldn’t they be? And if God thought it necessary that these gentiles speak in tongues, as evidence of the infilling of the Holy Ghost, should not that same evidence be required today? Let me stop. I’m meddling (smile). No, seriously….? (Note to self: salvation and witnessing are two different things. (smile))
Acts 10:46b-47 NKJV
Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
Now Peter is speaking primarily to the Jews that accompanied him to Cornelius’ house. Being Jewish, they would have been naturally skeptical of the thought that salvation was for the gentiles. Peter had only come to that realization a few short days ago, and then, only by direct revelation from God. Peter rightly asks, “Why shouldn’t these people be baptized in water, seeing that the Holy Ghost has baptized them with His Spirit and with fore?” Gamaliel, the great Jewish pharisee might have said it like this, “who are we to fight against God?” Indeed.
Act’s 10:48 NKJV
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
The lesson ended at verse forty-seven, but would be incomplete without adding verse forty-eight. In obedience to the commandment of Jesus, Peter baptized these new believers in water. Baptism doesn’t save rather, it is an outward sign of an inward change. It is a witness to heaven and earth that you have chosen Christ, or rather, He has chosen you. That you have been buried with Him in death and raised, like Him into the newness of life.
Selah
wb
Mark 16:17-18 NKJV
17 And these signs will follow those who [d]believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[e] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
