Acts 10 - Part B

Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're glad you joined us for today's program. You'll also receive Skip's weekly devotional email to instruct and inspire you in God's Word each week. So sign up today at connectwithskip.com.

That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. First of all, a word about Caesarea. And I give a word for it because whenever I take a tour to Israel, we start in the city of Caesarea. But then a few days later, we take them way up north to a city called Caesarea.

And they go, wait a minute. I thought we were in Caesarea. You were. This is another one. So the one here is the one on the Mediterranean known as Caesarea Maritima. And the one up north is Caesarea Philippi. You have two places named after Caesar Augustus by a couple of different builders, a couple of different people.

That's all. So they named them like that after in honor of Caesar Augustus. Caesarea is one of my favorite places. When I lived in Israel in the old days, out even by the ruins, there were guys who would rent surfboards right there on the beach. And, you know, I was young and single and living on a kibbutz.

And I just thought, you know, I died and gone to heaven. I can surf at Caesarea. You know, where Paul the Apostle spent two years of his life, where Pontius Pilate had his headquarters, and Herod Agrippa was, and Felix Infestus in the Book of Acts.

So it was a cool couple of days. Anyway, it was one of the rulers, the emperors of Judea, one of the Herod's, decided that he wanted to build a port, a harbor at Caesarea. So if you go there today, you can see this outlying of a rock outcropping underneath the ocean on two different sides where they built this break wall, this breakwater. One of them goes in a semi-circle about 2,000 feet out into the ocean. And the tour guide will tell you that underneath there are massive stones held together by mortar. And everyone always asks, well, how do you hold something together under saltwater with waves pounding with mortar?

And then they give you the explanation, which I found amazing. Over 2,000 years ago, the Romans discovered a way to pour cement that would harden under saltwater. And so the harbor was built with these massive ashlirs, these massive stones, held together by concrete, and some of that concrete is still in place today, and they did it 2,000 years ago.

So it was a massive endeavor to build this harbor and to attach this incredible city that is still being excavated to this day. So at Caesarea, it had quite a population. That's where Pontius Pilate, as I mentioned, the governor and all the governors after him, would have their headquarters. Then they would go to Jerusalem for the festivals just to make sure that order was kept in the city.

So this centurion was stationed at one of the coolest places with some good waves, and that is at Caesarea. It says he is devout, and he feared God with all of his household. He gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always.

Here's what's amazing about the centurion. He was a man of influence, a man of authority. And at the same time, he hungered for God.

His position, his status, his wealth, his power wasn't enough to satisfy his soul. So interestingly, it says he feared God. Now, it could mean he was just religious in general, but it probably means he was a God-fearer. That's a technical term. A God-fearer was called in Judaism a proselyte of the gate, and a proselyte of the gate was somebody who believes in the God of Israel and aligns himself with that covenant, but not completely.

Let me explain. He would pray to the God of Israel. That is, he's now monotheistic, does not believe in all the pagan deities and entities of the Roman pantheon and belief system. He believes in the monotheistic God of the Jews, number one. He's allowed to not only pray, but attend the synagogue. He cannot attend temple sacrifices. And that is because, though he can pray and he's generally accepted as one of them, he hasn't gone through the ritual of circumcision. You can imagine that many Gentiles who were adults said, no, I'll pray to God, but I'm not going through that ritual because I'm not eight days old.

You know, I'm now 30-some years of age, and that's going to hurt, so no thanks. So they were called proselytes of the gate as opposed to proselytes of righteousness. They went through the entire ritual. So he is drawing near to God, and he's a regular prayer warrior, and he gave his alms, he gave substance, he gave generously to support the poor in the area.

Now watch this. About the ninth hour of the day, that's three in the afternoon. In Judaism, that was one of the hours of prayer, so no doubt that was his typical time, like Jews would do to pray, so it was the hour of prayer. Ninth hour in the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, Cornelius, what would that make you feel like? Make you scared. That's why angels always, their first words out of their mouth, fear not. Because duh, you see an angel, you get pretty scared. And when he observed him, he was afraid.

So here you have a seasoned soldier trained not to be afraid, but hey, when you see an angel, all bets are off. And he said, what is it, Lord? And so he said to him, your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon a tanner. We left off with Simon the tanner in Joppa in our last study.

Whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do. And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa. The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour.

So if the ninth hour is three, the sixth hour is noon, lunchtime. Then he became very hungry, and he wanted to eat. But while he made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a gray cheat bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth.

In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, rise, Peter, kill, and eat. Now back to Cornelius for a moment. What you are seeing is God unfolding a very elaborate plan to get somebody who has an interest in spiritual things. He has a deep interest in the things of God.

He's a prayer warrior and alms giver. He's seeking God only to discover that God has been seeking him all along. And the plan is to get Peter in front of him to share the gospel with him. That's what you're going to see. All of this elaborate orchestration is to get Peter, who is 35 miles away, up to Caesarea to have an audience with him to share the gospel.

I just want that to fall on you with impact. He already fears God, he believes in God, he prays to God, and yet he's not saved. And because he shows an interest in the Lord, the Lord is going to make sure that he hears the whole truth.

Why is this important? Because the common modern philosophy, you hear it probably daily in some form or fashion, is it really doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe sincerely. And if you're sincere in your heart and you seek whatever form of God you call God, that's enough with God. So don't go and try to change somebody's belief system if they're sincere. Don't go into another culture as a missionary and try to change their culture and custom and religious upbringing.

That's the apex of pride. Let them believe what they want. Really? So how would you feel if a cannibal moved next door to you and had deep religious convictions that you should be killed and eaten as part of his worship system to his deity? Do you have a problem with that? He's sincere. What if one of the members of ISIS moved into your neighborhood? The Islamic State. You have no problem with what they believe?

Because I do. And here is a guy believing in God, sincere. God's going to make sure he takes it to the next level, the next step, and hears the whole truth, and he's going to do it through Peter.

So now back down to Joppa. It's noon. Peter goes on the roof, he sees this vision, and he sees a vision of food.

Now, I like this. He falls into a trance and he sees food, but it's not food that he as a Jew would be accustomed to having prepared. And the Lord or a voice says, Rise, Peter, kill and eat.

And this is a shock to his system. Why a vision about food? Well, number one, he's hungry. And it corresponds to his experience. So it gets his attention because it's an immediate need. It's been said, I remember my mom used to say this kind of common wisdom that a man's heart is through his stomach. And so Peter's hungry and he sees all these things, but it's not, again, what he as a Jewish person would be accustomed to eating.

Also, not only because he's hungry, but because he is hesitant. He knows he's Jewish, he knows he's part of the chosen people, but the idea of being chosen 2,000 years ago to Jews in Israel meant I am favored to the exclusion of somebody who is not Jewish. So it took a while in the early church. This is what I really want you to see, and you really see it come alive in Acts 15. In the early church, they had a difficult time believing that anybody except Jewish people could ever be saved.

In fact, in Acts 15, they're going to explicitly say, unless you keep the laws of Moses and get circumcised, you can't be saved. And Peter's going to go, uh, that's not true. I learned a lesson.

Here's the lesson we learned. Paul the Apostle would be there and go, that's not true. Let me tell you where I've been and what I've seen. But there's this period of adjustment, and they're going through this, and Peter is going through this now with Cornelius. So he sees this incredible vision of these things that could be eaten, but not by Jewish people. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, we want to help you learn more about God's radical love for all people by sending you four booklets by Skip Heitzig that will encourage you in God's abounding love and challenge you to love even the unlovable, just like Jesus did. This resource is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share solid biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Now, let's get back to today's message from Pastor Skip. What God is getting at is not to change Peter's diet, it's to change Peter's heart. And the truth that underlies this is found in Galatians 3 where Paul says, For there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ. So the gospel removes the barriers, removes the boundaries. This is a brand new covenant. It's the covenant of the torn veil. Remember when Jesus died, the veil of the temple was torn in two. Access was now permitted to God. We are in the covenant of the torn veil, the new covenant. And the new covenant requires a new means to reach people.

It's a new wineskin with new wine. And so Peter's learning these lessons. So the voice comes to him back in verse 13 and says, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. Now, before we get into his not so friendly response to this heavenly voice, I have a question for you.

Just think about this. Cornelius is praying. An angel speaks directly to him. So he's got his attention.

He's afraid. It's a heavenly being. Why not have the angel just now that he's speaking to him having a conversation, Cornelius recognizing, Man, this happened before in a prayer meeting. That's an angel talking to me. Now that the angel has his attention, why not just share the gospel with him? Why go through this elaborate, you got to send for this guy. He's 35 miles away, which means it's a two-day journey to walk down there, and then you got to fetch him, bring him back.

So it's about a week away. You got to make sure that you get Peter. Why? Why not just preach the gospel to him? Have you ever thought of that? I remember reading this going, Boy, that's going around the block to get next door. What's the purpose for that?

Here's the purpose for it. First of all, angels are amazing creations of God, but they haven't been given the privilege of proclaiming the gospel. We have. Human beings have. God chose that men and women would be the receptacles and the transmitters of the gospel, not angels.

Except for one exemption. In the end times, in the tribulation period, just to cover all of the bases to make sure everybody on the earth during that time of judgment hears the gospel. In Revelation 14, it says that an angel was dispatched to fly through the heavens and proclaim the everlasting gospel to all who dwell on the earth. That's one final act of mercy where an angel does preach the gospel, but up until that end time event, that eschatological scenario, angels have not been given the privilege. We have been. That's why Peter said angels look at us and they desire to look into these things.

Probably scratching their heads and their wings going, well, why did you give these humans this privilege because a lot of them don't really exercise that privilege. So that's number one. Number two, because Peter needed this. Peter needed a conversion from this strict ideology of the gospel going to just the Jews going to now all of the world and getting out to the Gentiles beginning with Cornelius. So 35 miles away, this little group goes to get a hold of Peter.

Okay, I have another question before we jump into that text. Why get Peter? I mean, there are closer people in the city of Caesarea.

Peter's 35 miles away in Joppa. Why not get Philip? At the end of chapter 8, it says that Peter, or Philip, after he led the Ethiopian eunuch to faith in Christ, he made his way to Caesarea. And then when we get to Acts chapter 21, when Paul the apostle is going back to Jerusalem, he stops through Caesarea and he lodges, listen to this, at the house of Philip the evangelist. So he has a home there. He's now called Philip, not just Philip, but Philip the evangelist. So why not get an evangelist to go into Cornelius' home?

He probably lives a couple blocks away. Again, because Peter needs this. Philip doesn't need this. Philip needs, Peter needs this lesson. And so the voice says to him, Peter, rise, kill and eat. Now back to our story, verse 14. Peter said, not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.

Ah, there he is. There's the Peter we all know and love. The Peter who doesn't say, yes, Lord, whatever you want, but goes, no way, Lord, which, by the way, is a perfect contradiction in terms. You can't say not so, Lord. You can say not so, dude, not so, whoever you are, not so, friend, not so, mom, dad, brother, sister, but you can never say the words not so and Lord because if he's Lord, then you say whatever you want because if you say not so, he ain't your Lord. If you're saying not so, then he's not your Lord. Well, that's Peter. His immediate response is not so, Lord. Now compare.

You just got to do this. You just got to understand how entrenched Peter is. Compare the centurion's response to the angel to Peter's response just for fun. Verse 4, and when he observed him, that is, the centurion saw the angel, he was afraid and said, what is it, Lord? Like, whatever you say, I'm ready to do, and he did what the angel told him to do. We get over to Peter, voice from heaven, not so, Lord, and it's capital L, so it's like he's saying to God, no. So who is more compliant in the story, the Roman centurion or the Jewish I follow Jesus three and a half years apostle?

The centurion is. His excuse is I have never eaten anything common or unclean. Okay, I get it, I get it, but Jesus asked a question once. He said, why do you call me Lord? Lord, but you don't do the things that I say.

How many people do you know that say, oh, yes, I love the Lord, or I love the big guy in the sky, or the good Lord, but they're not compliant, they're not obedient, they're not bendable to his commands. And I said, there he is, this is Peter, this is the Peter we know and love because this is what Peter is known for. You remember when Jesus went to the Sea of Galilee and said, Peter, let's go fishing, launch out into the deep for a catch of fish, and Peter said, look, Lord, you're a great preacher, but you're talking to a fisherman. I fished all night, caught nothing. That's the best time to fish on the Sea of Galilee.

Been there, done that, caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I'll humor the preacher. We'll go fishing, that's what you want. Then, remember in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus said, who do men say that I am, who do you say that I am? And then Jesus began to announce to them that he was gonna go to Jerusalem, be betrayed by someone, be delivered to the chief priests, get killed, and then rise the third day. And Peter spoke up and said, no way, we're not gonna let that happen to you. To which Jesus replied, get behind me, Satan.

Ouch. Or what about the time when Jesus announced to his disciples, hey, all of you, all of you are gonna run away tonight, you're gonna flee from me. And Peter said, you know, Lord, even if all are made to stumble, not me. So he's telling Jesus, who's telling him what's going down, you're not really accurate about that, Lord. I know you're like God and stuff and you predict the future, but you're wrong when it comes to me being the guy who's gonna run away, because they might, because they're flaky. But I'm Peter the rock, I'm rocky.

Not gonna happen. So Peter always was the guy who was resistant. He has a mind of his own. On one hand, I admire it.

On the other hand, I relate to it, unfortunately. And on the other hand, there's only two hands, so I ran out of hands. Oh, here's another one. Remember when Jesus is washing their feet and he comes to Peter and Peter goes, you're not gonna wash my feet. So, you know, this is just his history, his character. Verse 15, and a voice spoke to him again the second time.

What God has cleansed, you must not call common. Now, this was done three times, and the object was taken up into heaven. Now, while Peter wondered within himself, and I love that about Peter. He's thinking, man, this is weird. What could that mean?

He's processing it. Well, he wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant. Behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate. And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there. It happened three times for Peter.

Why? I don't know, but it is interesting to me. And these are things I look at and I ask, why three times? I know that Jesus was, he restored Peter three times. He said, do you love me, Peter? Yeah, Lord, I love you. Do you love me, Peter? Yeah, Lord, I love you. Peter, do you love me? Okay, I love you.

And that's because Peter denied Jesus three times. We're glad you listened today and hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resource, the Jesus Loves Them Bundle, which comes as thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your bundle when you call and give, 800-922-1888.

That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Have a great day. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast your burdens on His Word. Make a connection. Connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.