I love large bodies of water. Nothing beats the sun coming up over a large lake with the haze of the morning fog in the air, the sounds of the water gently hitting the sides of the boat, and the ripples of water that seem to go on and on as far as the eye can see.
Sometimes that ripple of water can merely dissipate once it reaches the outer banks of the shoreline. Other times, that ripple of water, with the right circumstances, can become a tsunami- like tidal wave that consumes anything in its path and can affect an entire population for centuries. With that image of a massive tidal wave in your mind, I want you to think about where we are at in our study of God’s Word today.
Last week we jumped back into our series in the book of Acts, and we observed how the Lord began to advance the message of the gospel beyond the borders, beyond the shorelines, of the comfort zone in Jerusalem. Think of Jerusalem like a tiny harbor in the ocean of the entire world. God is advancing the gospel beyond that tiny harbor into the danger zone of the Gentile nations, out into the choppy waters of the neighboring enemy harbors. The ripples of the gospel are becoming a tidal wave that will eventually crash into the ends of the earth.
In God’s providence, he chose to begin this movement, this gospel tidal wave, by orchestrating a miraculous meetup between the apostle Peter, the main leader of the Jewish Christians in his day, and a man named Cornelius, a Gentile Roman Centurion. These two men could not be further apart from a cultural, relational, ethnic, vocational, political, standpoint. But while they were miles apart in terms of the world’s standards, there is one thing that united them: Their love for the Lord.
The gospel knows no boundaries and it cannot be contained to the cultural, relational, vocational, ethnic, or political constructs that we often place upon it. The reality, biblically speaking, is that the gospel has always been available to every tribe, every tongue, and every nation (Rev. 7:9).
When Jesus told the original disciples in Acts 1:8 that he would send his Spirit to them so that they would be empowered to be his witnesses throughout Jerusalem (the comfort of the home team), throughout Judea and Samaria (the discomfort of the enemy team), and to the ends of the earth (the great unknown), when Jesus promised that this would be the pattern of how he would plant his church through the advancement of the tidal wave of the gospel, he definitely followed through.
And this portion of Scripture that we have been studying last week and now this week, is the precise moment in church history where God began advancing his kingdom tidal wave beyond the known borders of Jerusalem into the dangerous borders of Judea and Samaria. And this precise movement at this precise moment in time with Peter and Cornelius was like a lightning bolt that shocked the entire nation of Israel.
This precise moment was about so much more than connecting two very different men to one another. The ripple effects of what we are studying here, literally impacts centuries of the gospel being advanced to every tribe, tongue, and nation. You and I are literally recipients of those ripple effects because we are Cornelius’ household. Check out the flow of the text with me.
10:24And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and he had called together his relatives and close friends. 25When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29So when I was sent for, I cam without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.” 30And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 31and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ 33So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”
34So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
11:1Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3“You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5”I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
#1: PETER WITNESSES TO CORNELIUS’ HOUSEHOLD (10:24 – 48)
In verses 24 – 26, Peter gets to Cornelius’ house and both men relate to one another in humility. The differences that separated these two men previously, are clearly laid aside as they both take up the humble posture that is an evidence of a heart that longs to please God. Cornelius does not try to posture his worldly power over Peter and Peter does not relish in Cornelius’ worship; they are merely two very different men who are meeting together in a home to discover what God is about to do in their midst.2
We could learn and apply a lot of things from this moment in biblical history by simply evaluating how often we find ourselves in the homes of people who are very different from us. You might begin by looking around this room and evaluating how often you spend time in the home of someone who is very different from you that you call brother or sister in Christ on Sunday mornings. If we do not practice this as a church family, how will we ever practice it among the lost?
Moving forward in the story, in verses 27 – 29, Peter enters Cornelius’ home and he explains just how dangerous or uncomfortable it was for him to make this visit and he also explains that God has been doing a major work of transformation in his heart to lead him to this point. Oftentimes we get so enamored with the process of belonging to a church family that we pay little attention to becoming an actual reciprocal family member.
For all the beef that surrounds the physical process of church membership, one thing is for certain, being a member who belongs to God’s family, must include being a member who is becoming a new creation day by day. In this specific part of the story, God is changing Peter’s heart so that he will become not just a member who belongs but also a member who becomes friends with someone who is radically different from him.
Can you and I say that we are friends with people who are radically different from us? Again, look around the room, who do you see that is radically different from you, whose home you have spent time in or whom you have invited to spend time in your home? Peter is, after all, in Cornelius’ home at Cornelius’ invitation.
Speaking of Cornelius’ invitation, Peter is interested in knowing why Cornelius invited him over. So, in verses 30 – 33, Cornelius explains why he sent for Peter, he recounts his miraculous encounter with the Lord a few days earlier and he expresses his desire to hear whatever the Lord has put into Peter’s heart to share. Cornelius’ attitude is not pompous, nor is it arrogant. Cornelius is eagerly ready to receive from the Lord through Peter.
Once again, we have much to learn and apply to our own lives. As you think about the challenge to spend time in the homes of people who are very different from you, it is important to think about the attitude with which you follow through on the challenge. Would you express your eager desire to hear from the Lord through a newfound friend who is vastly different from you, or would you only spend time with that newfound friend to merely check the box of so-called obedience, or even worst, would you only spend time with someone who is different than you just to sniff out some deficiency to criticize in them?
If you and I would be about the business of building relationships with those who are vastly different from us because we truly desire to hear from the Lord through one another, then I can assure you, we all would experience the beauty and the joy of gospel transformation that results from diversity in what I would call gospel centered relationships. Gospel centered relationships are not concerned with the mere cultural focus on finding your own group of friends that have the same interests and hobbies and love for food as you do. Gospel centered relationships are focused on hearing from the Lord through one another amidst diversity.
Speaking of the gospel being the center of diverse relationships, in verses 34 – 43, Peter preaches the gospel in its entirety with an emphasis that brings the tidal wave of the gospel to a bullseye in the word “everyone” in verse 43. God literally “shows now partiality” (vv. 34 – 35) – he is not prejudiced against those who are different from him – because the Son whom he sent to Israel “is the Lord of all” (v. 36), and what happened to Jesus did not happen merely within the confines of Israel (v. 37).
What happened with Jesus, all the way from his baptism (v. 37) to his perfect life and miraculous works (v. 38) to his brutal death upon the cross (v. 39) to his miraculous resurrection from the grave (v. 40) to his current seat next to God the Father as the righteous king and “judge of the living and the dead” (v. 42) just as the prophets throughout the centuries had borne witness to (v. 43), this Jesus is the center of the gospel that Peter has come to witness about to Cornelius’ household (vv. 41 – 43) and according to Peter, “everyone who believes in him [Christ Jesus] receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (v. 43).
Peter literally centers his newfound relationship with Cornelius around the bullseye of the diversity of the gospel. Jesus did not come just for people who look, and act, and behave, and have the same interests as him. Jesus came to ransom and redeem and unite people from every walk of life. Let that sink in as you think about reaching across the aisle to people who look, and act, and behave, and have different interests than you do.
What could possibly be the outcome of this message that was aimed like an arrow at the bullseye of salvation amidst the diversity of the nations? Glad you asked, because in verses 44 – 48, Cornelius and all his household receive salvation in such a miraculous way that it was confirmed by their “speaking in tongues and extolling God” (v. 46) just as the original apostles had done on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.
There was no doubt in Peter’s mind, or in the minds of his six-man crew, that these Gentiles were being saved and empowered for ministry in the same fashion as they had been. Therefore, these new believers would seal the deal of their salvation through their public baptism by submersion in water just as Jesus had commanded in Matt. 28:16 – 20 and in a further display of the Great Commission instruction to teach new believers to “observe all that [Jesus] had commanded” them, Peter and his crew remained in Cornelius’ home for a few more days, no doubt sharing God’s Word and commands with their newfound brothers and sisters in Christ (v. 48).
The overriding principle of this entire section of the text is that Peter went out of his way to spend time with Cornelius, to build a relationship around the message of the gospel, and to further proclaim the Word of God. And the result is that Peter not only witnessed the gospel to Cornelius’ household, but he also witnessed the tidal wave of the gospel advancing into a people group and a region of the world that he previously would have nothing to do with.
Can the same be said of you? Is God using you like a pebble in a pond to create waves of gospel transformation in the homes of people who are very different from you? Maybe the best concrete way to apply this to your life would be to look around this room and ask God to reveal just one person or family that is very different from you, whose home you have not spent time in, or who have never spent time in your home, and then begin making steps towards beginning that relationship today.
Remember, obedience to God’s Word is not halfhearted nor is it halfway. Obedience is part of repentance. Most people think of repentance as mere confession of sin. Confession of sin is useless – outside of clearing the conscience for a short time – but when confession is paired with Spirit empowered obedience, then repentance has the effect of transforming and changing individual lives.
And this is not only about individual transformation because if you do this, if you hear and obey the clear call to begin reaching across the aisle to build real relationships with people who are much different than you, then the consequences, or the ripple effect of your faith-filled obedience, could become a tidal wave that transforms this entire church family for centuries to come. This is exactly what happens in the final verses of our text.
#2: PETER WITNESSES TO THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM (11:1 – 18)
I need to be very brief as we cover these final eighteen verses of our text. In summary, Peter gets called on the carpet by his brothers and sisters in the church because of his recent ministry. It seems like there are a number of people who are questioning the validity of his ministry because he was quote unquote hanging out with some supposedly unclean people in an unclean environment (vv. 1 – 3).
The church is literally up in arms over the fact that Peter has been yucking it up with those sinners over there in that filthy place we call… you fill in the blank with whoever’s house or whoever’s favorite place to party that you have deemed to be too filthy to be graced with your righteous presence. This is the attitude of the church in Jerusalem.
Peter’s witness to the church with the bad attitude about what it looks like to run a rescue shop within a few feet of hell, is an absolutely stellar study in the nuts and bolts of riding the tidal wave of gospel missions against the current of the modern church’s infatuation with comfortable, sleek, polished, timely, well organized, and might I say, consumer-based ministry models. Peter confronts and defeats all of this with his response.
In Peter’s response, he explains his heavenly vision (vv. 4 – 10), he explains his experience of witnessing God’s powerful salvation and subsequent Spirit empowerment for ministry in Cornelius’ household (vv. 11 – 15), and he lands the plane on the tidal wave by confirming the authenticity of his vision and experience upon the bedrock of the Word of God (vv. 16 – 17). Vision for ministry as well as the experiences of ministry must be substantiated by the Word of God otherwise the visions and the experiences will more than likely be nothing more than the pursuit of man-made religion.
But Peter’s ministry was not a man-made religion. It was a ministry that began like the ripples of water from a small pebble that was thrown into the ocean that became a tsunami like tidal wave that took the world – and is still taking the world – by storm. But do not miss the final verse of our text because whenever God decides to start a movement, he typically begins in the homes of his own people.
In this case, after Peter witnesses to the church in Jerusalem, the church has a massive change of heart – they no longer merely belong to the church of Jerusalem – they become part of the worldwide church that is being formed from all tribes, all tongues, and all nations; this church in Jerusalem, literally confesses their sin of being prejudiced against people across the aisle form them and they follow that confession with true obedience – and therefore walking in true repentance – they begin to welcome anyone from every walk of life to join them in glorifying God as the God who “grants repentance that leads to life” (v. 18) for everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus (Rom. 10:5 – 17).
CONCLUSION…
In conclusion, the thing that I think you and I need to remember as we close up this week’s study is this: God loves you and I enough to send his one and only Son to our home – regardless of our differences – so that he would eventually die in our place for our sin and leave the grave empty three days later and then ascend into Heaven with a promise of his return and the command to fulfil the Great Commission to make disciples of the nations.
When we think upon all that has taken place over the last two weeks of textual study, we have to be encouraged that Jesus is literally imaging himself and his ministry to the outsiders through his followers. If you are hearing this message, then you are in one of two camps: You already belong to the family of God by grace through faith in Christ Jesus or you want to belong to the family of God by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.
Either way, belonging is only half the journey and becoming is the other half. If you have not yet trusted in Jesus then I want to invite you to place your entire trust in him to forgive you and to set you free from the penalty, power, and presence of your sin.
If you are a believer today, then I want to challenge you to hear this message as a full-frontal challenge to repent and to believe Jesus once again and to walk in Spirit empowered obedience to him as you seek out one person or family who is very different from you in this room and begin today to make plans to get into their home and to get them into your home and begin a gospel centered relationship that begins as a tiny ripple in the pond that one day may become a massive gospel infused tidal wave of transformation that radically changes the world. – Amen!
1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).
2 Kent, Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 1996), 150 – 151.