Acts 10:17 - 11:18

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: Acts

Rusty's Notes

• Peter (in Joppa) had just come out of his trance where God told him 3 times about making all the animals clean enough to eat.
• Peter’s understanding changed from the Jews being clean and the Gentiles unclean to both the Jews and the Gentiles had been made clean by God.
• This meant the Gentiles didn’t have to become Jews before they became believers.

 
Acts 10
PETER VISITS CORNELIUS
17 While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, right away the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate.

• “Deeply perplexed” – processing in his mind… At this point Peter already had the mind of Christ.
• God’s timing… perfect… sovereignty.

18 They called out, asking if Simon, who was also named Peter, was lodging there.

• The other Simon… besides the tanner who owns this house.

19 While Peter was thinking about the vision (processing), the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you.

• An angel appeared to Cornelius.
• God clarified to Peter with a voice from heaven 3 times.
• Now the Spirit is speaking to Peter.
• God is making Himself known.

20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.”

• God has given Peter orders.
• He has to hear them first…
• Then he has to obey.
• Hearing is difficult but easier than obeying.
• Peter went in confidence… He trusted God.

21 Then Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here?”

• Did Peter really not know what his role in this situation was?
• Peter was always prepared to share the Good News.
• Maybe he was just trying to piece together what the Lord was doing with his vision and the appearance of these men at the right time.

22 They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.” 23 Peter then invited them in and gave them lodging.

• Did you say, “Good reputation with the Jewish nation? Come on in!”
• Peter invited Gentile men in to come stay with him.
• The division between Jews and Gentiles was beginning to end.
• Cornelius had told these men his story. Surely they told Peter the whole story.

The next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him. 24 The following day he entered Caesarea.

• Peter took 6 Jewish men with him. (Acts 11:12 - The Spirit told me to accompany them with no doubts at all. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we went into the man’s house.)
• It took them 2 days to travel 25-30 miles north to Caesarea.

Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

• Have you ever prepared your house for someone special to come stay there?
• It’s a big deal… You want your whole family there to share in the excitement.

25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him.

• This was out of respect… due to the nature of Peter’s reputation among the Jews as an apostle and also an angel setting the stage for this moment.

26 But Peter lifted him up and said, “Stand up. I myself am also a man.”

• Peter was humble in his response and would have nothing to do with making himself (a Jew) better than Cornelius (a Gentile).

27 While talking with him, he went in and found a large gathering of people.

• Strolling into the house together.

28 Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner, but God has shown me that I must not call any person impure or unclean. 29 That’s why I came without any objection when I was sent for.

• Peter briefly explains his vision about all animals were made clean and this was God telling him that the Gentiles were just as clean as the Jews.

So may I ask why you sent for me?”

• But Peter is still not sure what Cornelius’ purpose was in calling him to his house.
• I’m not even sure Cornelius had a clue why he was to invited Peter to his house other than an angel told him to.

30 Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, at three in the afternoon, I was praying in my house. Just then a man in dazzling clothing (an angel) stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God’s sight. 32 Therefore send someone to Joppa and invite Simon here, who is also named Peter. He is lodging in Simon the tanner’s house by the sea.’ 33 So I immediately sent for you, and it was good of you to come. So now we are all in the presence of God to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.”

• Cha-ching! Ah… Peter is just supposed to do what he has been called to do… Share the Good News… but now with the Gentiles.

 
GOOD NEWS FOR GENTILES
34 Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, 35 but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

• The past 48 hours is beginning to make sense to Peter.
• You can still be obedient to the Father without knowing the whole plan.
• Peter saw that God does not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnic background, looking up to some and down on others.
• But God does discriminate between those whose behavior is acceptable and those whose attitude is not acceptable.
• Those who reverence God and practice what is right are acceptable to him (v. 35; cf. Luke 8:21).[1]
• It is a judgment of one’s heart… not their production.
• Their production is typically a good indicator of their heart.

36 He sent the message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all.

• “Peace”… this isn’t about civil rest.
• There is a big difference between our human peace and the peace of Jesus.

37 You know the events that took place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil, because God was with him. 39 We ourselves are witnesses of everything he did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, and yet they killed him by hanging him on a tree.

• Deuteronomy 21:22-23 - “If anyone is found guilty of an offense deserving the death penalty and is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, 23 you are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.[2]

40 God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by us whom God appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

• A bodily resurrection would have been a new concept to the Gentiles.

42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”

• Jesus forgave all sin on the cross.
• It is not our sins that separated us from God… it was our sinful nature.
• Our sinful nature produced sin naturally.
• Our new nature (which replaced the old) produces works from a new heart.
• As believers today, we are learning to live out of our new heart.

 
GENTILE CONVERSION AND BAPTISM
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message.

• The miracle of repentance and forgiveness occurred before he could even extend the invitation, and the Spirit sealed the event.[3]
• Peter didn’t get to ask people to bow their heads, say a prayer and then raise their hands!

45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in other tongues and declaring the greatness of God.

• The expression here seems more likely related to worship, since there is no need for Cornelius and those with him to speak a human language that would have been otherwise unknown to them (see 1 Cor 14:1–25).[4]

Then Peter responded, 47 “Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

• Again, Peter is proclaiming no differentiation between what the Gentiles have just received and what the Jewish Christians already  have.

48 He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days. [5]

• These Gentiles were not saved by being baptized; they were baptized because they gave evidence of being saved. [6]

 
GENTILE SALVATION DEFENDED
Acts 11
1 The apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, 3 saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

• It was easy for Peter to accept the Gentiles as part of the faith because it came straight from God.
• Now Peter had to be the one to convince the Jewish Leadership.

4 Peter began to explain to them step by step: 5 “I was in the town of Joppa praying, and I saw, in a trance, an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it came to me. 6 When I looked closely and considered it, I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. 7 I also heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’
8 “‘No, Lord!’ I said. ‘For nothing impure or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call impure.’
10 “Now this happened three times, and everything was drawn up again into heaven. 11 At that very moment, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were. 12 The Spirit told me to accompany them with no doubts at all. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we went into the man’s house. 13 He reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. 14 He will speak a message to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’
15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning. 16 I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If, then, God gave them the same gift that he also gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?”

• Peter dropped the “But God…” phrase on them.

18 When they heard this they became silent. And they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has given repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles.”[7]

• Sure… it sounds like the Jews were accepting of the Gentiles coming to the same faith in Jesus, but…
• They still had the circumcision and food restrictions to negotiate.
• In later years, God would use the letters of Paul to explain the “one body,” how believing Jews and believing Gentiles are united in Christ (Eph. 2:11–3:12).
• But at that time, this “mystery” was still hidden; so we must not be too hard on those saints who were uneasy about the place of the Gentiles in the church.[8]

[1] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 260). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Dt 21:22–23). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 263). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[4] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ac 10:46). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 10:1–48). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 447). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 11:1–18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 448). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.