Acts 10 Devotional
By Pastor Lawrence

Unexpectedly, instead of an apostle being the first Christian to bring the gospel to a gentile, it was the deacon Phillip who led the Ethiopian eunuch unto the Lord, soon after leading Samaritans into the Church of God and later some descendants of the Philistines as well. Nevertheless, this account of Peter bringing the gospel to the Italian centurion Cornelius is the first official step of the Church of Christ bringing the gospel to the Gentiles that was orchestrated both by angels and the Spirit of God as they moved these individual actors to talk with each other.

When we last left Peter, he was staying at the house of a tanner on the coast of the Mediterranean in the town of Joppa. Having remained there for some time, the Lord began to move in the city of Caesarea just north of there. Herod the Great named the town of Caesarea back in 30 BC in honor of Caesar Augustus and in the span of twelve years the king had rebuilt the humble town into a magnificent city with a large theatre, amphitheater, race course, modern aqueducts and a beautiful harbor. Stationed there were over three thousand Roman troops, among them the Italian Regiment comprised entirely of Roman citizens. These were not auxiliaries but the real deal. Cornelius was a centurion responsible for a hundred men and he lived in a spacious house with numerous servants.

Predominantly a gentile city, there were some influential Jews living in the area as well. And somehow Cornelius became acquainted with them and learned to respect the Jewish faith. He did not become a Jew himself, thus he was not circumcised, but he did begin to follow many of their customs, including the giving of alms, the daily prayers, keeping the Sabbath and worshipping in the Jewish Synagogue; however, he did not offer any of the ritual sacrifices. Thus, he was allowed to worship with the Jews, but he was not in fellowship with them in any way. He was still on the outside looking in. Nevertheless, he was a very devout man fearing God and leading his family in worship and devotion as well. Luke tells us he gave generously to those in need and he prayed to God regularly. He may not have kept all the Jewish laws, but clearly the law of God was written on his heart.

Well, one day at about three in the afternoon, the hour of prayer, most likely Cornelius was praying, and in the midst of his prayers the Lord gave him a vision in which he saw an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius…your prayers and your gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before me.” Did you catch that? Cornelius was not allowed to lay his offerings on God’s altar because he was an alien and a stranger to the covenant, yet the Lord had received his tangible gifts and acts of love as an acceptable offering before him instead. So, although he was not in fellowship with the Jews, certainly he did enjoy fellowship with the Lord. And after the angel encouraged and comforted Cornelius, he gave him only one command: to send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon is called Peter who is staying with Simon the tanner by the sea.
Now we know in advance the purpose of bringing Peter to Cornelius’ house was that he might preach the gospel to him, but why doesn’t the angel just tell him the good news right then and there? He already had his full attention and what better way to hear the gospel than through one of God’s holy angels? Yet in God’s grace and wisdom, he chooses to use men as his instruments as his ambassadors and messengers of the gospel of Christ. Sure, the Lord could have spoken directly to him or allowed the angel to present the gospel, but the Lord chooses to use ordinary men to advance the kingdom of God on earth.

Also, notice that the angel doesn’t tell Cornelius to go to Peter in Joppa, but rather to wait for Simon the Jew to come to his Gentile home in the Greek city of Caesarea. Just as Peter and John needed to go to Samaria to witness to the Samaritans, so they would need to go to unclean Gentile regions as well to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.
So, Luke tells us in v.9 that it was about noon the following day when they were approaching the city of Joppa while Peter was in the midst of prayer up on the roof. It was lunch time and probably one of the servants in the house was preparing a meal for Peter while he was busy in prayer. And while he was praying, he fell into some sort of trance and saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being lowered down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds, including both clean as well as unclean animals. Then a voice told him to ‘get up; kill and eat.

Again, keep in mind that Peter was hungry and so the Lord was seeking to satisfy his needs. But Peter was not yet famished and had not lost his sensibilities. In all his days, he had never eaten anything impure or unclean, but he had kept the dietary laws completely just as they are prescribed in Leviticus chapter 11. He had not and would not defile himself by eating anything considered unclean. So, in v.14 he says something that no believer should ever say unto God: “surely not, or absolutely not, Lord.” Nevertheless, the Lord made it plain that this was in fact his will and that Peter would need to adjust his thinking.

Then if we fast-forward to the point in which Peter walks into the room and sees all the people gathered around him, he says something rather awkward in v.28. He said, “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or even to visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. So, when I was sent for, I came without raising an objection. Thus, apparently Peter had understood the Lord’s message after all. The four corners of the sheet represented the four point on a compass, north, south, east and west. And the clean and unclean animals on the sheet represented clean and unclean men according to Jewish customs. And the Lord was telling Peter not to consider any man impure or unclean based upon his nationality or his dietary habits alone. Consequently, Peter was not only able to allow Gentile men to stay at his house, but he was willing to go into a gentile home as well and to eat with them.

For God is not a respecter of persons; he shows no favoritism. Everyone who believes in Jesus, regardless of their particular sin, nationality or background, and who trusts in Christ alone for salvation is promised the same forgiveness of sins through his name. It’s as simple as that. Of course, there’s much more to the gospel that could be explained and it appears that Peter was going to do so, but God had already given his seal of approval in causing these men to suddenly speak in tongues as the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them. Notice here that no invitation was given; there was no altar call and the apostle did not have time to lay his hands upon them. Already they had been regenerated and filled with the spirit. Truly, this was a work of God for the Lord had given them the divine mark of his power and pleasure, the very seal of the Spirit to a bunch of non-kosher gentiles. Of course, this was only the beginning of Christ’s ministry unto the Gentiles. You and I are part of the ongoing ministry of Christ to all the nations of the world.