“ALL ONE IN CHRIST” (PART 2)
ACTS 10:21-33

I. Introduction
It is no secret that racial, social, and ethnic prejudice and hatred are common in this world. If we’re willing to be honest with ourselves we have admit that we like to think we’re better, somehow more worthy, or at least “a cut above” certain other people or nations on the face of the earth. Most of us would probably deny it, but, in our heart of hearts, I think we all know it’s true. But why is it true? I think it is part of our fallen condition.

This prejudice and hatred works in two directions. Consider the Nazis. They hated the Jews so they used the power of the state to try to eliminate them. Consider the French Revolution. The general population hated the royalty so they rose up to eliminate it. In Germany the Nazis “looked down” on those they hated. In France the rebels “looked up” to those they hated. But does it matter? In each case, some combination of racial, social, and ethnic pre-judice and hatred were at the heart of both, were they not?

In the first century racial, social, and ethnic prejudice and hatred ran rampant throughout the Roman Empire. At the center of this conflict was the insurmountable problem of the gulf that existed between the Jews and the Gentiles.

Could anything ever bring them together? The Book of Acts tells us the story – rather the actual history – of how God began to accomplish His eternal purpose of doing so. We’re seeing Him build the bridge across the gulf that separates Jew and Gentile. That bridge is the Gospel of Jesus Christ – Christianity!

There is no other way. Men have tried to bring other men together in peace for thousands of years. They’re still trying. (Just look at the Middle East.) But men fail because they refuse to look to the Prince of Peace. As long as they reject Him, there will be no peace among men.
But once men receive Him, all the barriers come down and the peace that passes all human understanding begins to take hold.

Here is just one small example… A missionary was presiding over a communion service in Africa. Among those in attendance was an elderly chief of the Ngoni tribe whose name was “Manly Heart.” Before he became a Christian he was a warrior who routinely slaughtered the men of neighboring tribes and dragged away their women and children as spoils of war. Two of the tribes that had been devastated by the Ngoni were the Sanga and Tambuku. But here in this communion service members of all three of those tribes were gathered together not to shed each other’s blood, but to remember the blood of their Lord and Savior.

That is a peace that the world cannot give. How could people who once hated each other and wanted to kill each be so dramatically changed? Where did such peace begin?
We know that it began at the cross. But practically speaking, it really began when the gospel went out from the Jews, who had it, to the Gentiles, who needed it. But how could this hap-pen? The prejudice and hatred ran deep and it ran in both directions. Most Gentiles saw the Jews as nothing more than slaves and the enemies of the human race. Some Jews actually believed that God had only created the Gentiles to provide the fuel for the fires of hell.
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II. Review and Scripture Reading
In Acts 8 we saw God begin to bridge the gap between Jew and Gentile when Philip took the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza. In Acts 9:1-31 we saw Saul of Tarsus converted on the road to Damascus and watched as God began to prepare him to become the apostle to the Gentiles. In the last portion of Acts 9 we saw God prepare Peter to take the gospel to Caesarea and into the home of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion.

Last time, in Acts 10:1-19, God spoke to Peter and Cornelius in visions. It would be a while before Peter would grasp the full meaning of his vision. But Cornelius understood what he was to do, and immediately set about to obey God. He sent three men to find Peter and bring him to Caesarea. Finally, in v. 20, just as the men found Peter, God assured him that he could safely go with them. And with that assurance, Peter would also obey God, even though he was not clear just what it was the Lord wanted him to do.

Peter the Jew, would preach the gospel to a Gentile, and Cornelius the Gentile, would receive it. And that brings us to this morning’s text.
*Acts 10:21-33 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
21 And Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”
22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well-spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.”
23 And so he invited them in and gave them lodging. And on the next day he arose and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accom-panied him.
24 And on the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends.
25 And when it came about that Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshipped him.
26 But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.”
27 And as he talked with him, he entered, and found many people assembled.
28 And he (Peter) said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.
29 “That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. And so I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”
30 And Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments,
31 and he said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.
32 ‘Send therefore to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’
33 “And so I sent to you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”
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III. Text
In vv. 21-22 the men sent to bring Peter to the centurion’s home in Caesarea reassured Peter by telling him of Cornelius’ vision. In order to fully understand the magnitude of what is starting to take place, we need to remember that Jews did not go into the homes of Gentiles, and Gentiles had no use for Jews. But God is orchestrating something here, isn’t He? Just as Cornelius’ prejudices are being worn away, so too are Peter’s.
*Acts 10:23a
23a And so he invited them in and gave them lodging.

The word “lodging” is “xĕnizō.” It means more than just letting people sleep on your pro-perty. It’s about entertaining them as guests. It’s all about honoring them with sincere and cordial hospitality. This is something no self-respecting Jew would ever do with these Gen-tiles, especially since back in Acts 10:7 we were told that one of them was a despised Roman soldier. So it is obvious that the barriers of racial, social, and ethnic prejudice and hatred will be broken down for the sake of the gospel. A sovereign God will have His way and accomplish His purpose. His Word will go forth. It will be as the Prophet Isaiah said…
Isaiah 55:11
11 So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
• It is here in Acts 10 that the Great Commission to “…make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)” will begin.
• It is here in Acts 10 that Jesus’ command “…that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in (Christ’s) name to all the nations (Luke 24:47)” will begin.
• It is here in Acts 10 that the first steps on the road that will carry the gospel “…even to the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1:8)” will be taken.

The gospel will go to “…all the nations” and “the remotest part of the earth.”
It all begins with Peter and Cornelius. And it’s also here in Acts 10 that God’s Word will go forth and succeed in laying the foundation for spiritual unity among all the brethren, Jew and Gentile alike. Before Jesus went to the cross He prayed for the twelve apostles. He said…
John 17:20-21
20 “I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
21 that they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that
they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

This oneness, this spiritual unity among all true Christians – Jew or Gentile – is unique in this world. Such unity exists nowhere else. The Apostle Paul speaks of it in his letter to the church at Ephesus.
*Ephesians 2:11-22
11 Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands –
12 remember that you (Gentiles) were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you (Gentiles) who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups (Jew and Gentile) into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity (the hatred), which is the Law of com-mandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two (Jew and Gentile) into one new man, thus establishing peace,
16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity (the hatred).
17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; (quoted from Isaiah 57:19)
18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (Trinity)
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
20 (it) having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy tem-ple in the Lord;
22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

In this passage Paul explains both the content and the results of this divine unity. Only God can break down the walls and only God can unite the hearts.
The actual history of it begins with Peter and Cornelius. This is why what we see here in Acts 10 is so critical in our understanding of the foundation and early years of the church. Acts 10 gives us the pattern and sets the course for the Church of Jesus Christ from that day to this. And it makes clear what God expects of us, His children, and how we are to love each other, regardless of our nationality, ethnic origin, skin color, social standing, economic circumstances, or any other external measure. This is what Paul meant in Galatians 3:28 when he said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Now with all of that firmly in mind we can go with Peter and the men Cornelius has sent to bring him and the gospel to a Gentile audience in the Roman provincial capital of Caesarea.
*Acts 10:23b
23b And on the next day he arose and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

The first thing we see here is that Peter is obedient. He does not yet fully grasp the reason that God is leading him to Caesarea, but it doesn’t matter. God has told him to go and he’s going! But here in v. 23 is a second truth we should consider. God did not tell Peter to take six brethren (orthodox Jews) with him. (Acts 11:12 tells us there were six.) So why did he do it? He did it because he wanted to. This is an illustration of God using the legitimate desires of His children to accomplish His larger purposes. Acts 10:45 says, “And all the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.” The six orthodox Jews that Peter brought with him would become witness to the salvation of the Gentiles in Caesarea.

There is a practical application for all of us here. I know that you often wonder about God’s will in your life when you’re not clear about what you should or shouldn’t do in some partic-ular situation. You cannot find verse or passage in the Bible that specifically tells you to take this job or buy that house or follow this course of action or whatever. If you are obey-ing God and desire His will in your life, then pray mightily and do what you want. It is per-fectly legitimate to follow your heart. You can trust your sovereign Lord to guide you. Does He not see the end from the beginning? Is He not already there? You can trust that He will lead you through your desires. I can give you a passage for that!
*Psalm 37:3-5
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and he will do it.

Peter wants to take these six men with him. He has cultivated faithfulness. So God will give Peter the desire of his heart. Then God will use that desire to do His work and accom-plish His purpose. This is a concrete example of God’s sovereignty in the life of a faithful Christian. What is it that you want to do for God? Are you following after Him?
Are you obeying Him? Then He is already guiding you. If you are obeying Him, your desires are already becoming aligned with His plans for you. So, “Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (back to Acts 10)
*Acts 10:24-26
24 And on the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends.
25 And when it came about that Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshipped him.
26 But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.”

What a reminder! We are not to worship men or women; not even Jesus’ mother. We are not to worship saints, living or dead. We are not even to worship angels. This worship of the creature rather than the Creator is one of the most elementary sins. God’s people can readily fall into it. Even John, even John – the beloved Apostle John – after being shown the wonders of the Revelation, was prone to slip into such false worship.
*Revelation 22:8-9
8 And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
9 And he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God.”

So Peter’s rebuke of Cornelius in Acts 10:26 is absolutely the right thing for him to do. The apostle knows full well that he is not worthy of worship. The reason is simple. Peter knows who is. In Isaiah 42:8 God says, “I am the LORD (Yahweh), that is My name; I will not give My glory to another.” We are to worship God and God alone! Worshipping anyone or any-thing other than God is precisely what the devil wants us to do. When Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted by Satan, the devil offered the Lord everything he had. All Jesus had to do was worship him.
Matthew 4:8-10
8 …the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the king-doms of the world, and their glory;
9 and he (Satan) said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and serve Him only.’” (Deuteronomy 6:13)

It’s worth asking ourselves how much of what is often called worship is misguided. Think about it. In much of the modern church the word “worship” has come to refer almost exclu-sively to the music. There are worship times, worship teams, and worship leaders.
But what about prayer? What about giving? What about fellowship? And what about the uncompromised preaching and teaching of God’s Word? Aren’t all of those things worship? They are when they’re focused on the Lord God and on Him alone. However, if and when they are not focused on Him and Him alone, then none of those things are worship as the Scriptures define it.

You and I need to ask ourselves who and what we are really worshipping. Losing our focus is easy. Listen, if the Apostle John, after writing Revelation, could lose his focus and fall at the feet of an angel to worship him, it could happen to us as well. So how is our worship here at LBC? Is the Word of God the focus and centerpiece of our worship? (back to Acts 10)
*Acts 10:27-29
27 And as he (Peter) talked with him (Cornelius), he entered, and found many peo-ple assembled.
28 And he (Peter) said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.
29 “That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. And so I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”

This is a bit of a preacher’s dream, if you will. Here Peter just shows up in town and he has a ready-made crowd of Gentiles lined up and eager to hear what he has to say. This crowd of Gentiles is crucial to what will soon take place. If Peter were to preach only to Cornelius, and only Cornelius were to receive Christ, it could all be written off by the skeptics as a bit of a fluke, an aberration that has no significance. But, of course, a sovereign God will not let that happen, will He? He is orchestrating every detail.

Let me paraphrase what Peter says in v. 28. “By all Jewish standards of law and tradition I should not be here. My religion tells me that you are unholy and unclean and I defile myself merely by being in your presence. Therefore, I am standing here breaking countless Jewish laws. But God has been teaching me something, and I am only now beginning to grasp the full weight of it. God has sent me. That’s why I am here.”

What has God been teaching Peter? You know what! Just look back to Peter’s vision two days earlier when he was up on the roof of Simon’s house in Joppa.
*Acts 10:11-15
11 and he beheld the sky opened up, and a certain object like a great sheet com-ing down, lowered by four corners to the ground,
12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.
13 And a voice came to him, “Arise, Peter, kill and eat!”
14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.”
15 And again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

There it is! God is breaking down the barrier of racial, social, and ethnic prejudice and hat-red that existed between Jew and Gentile. In v. 28 Peter gets it and says, “God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.” That’s why he’s standing in a Gentile home, and that’s why he asks Cornelius why he has called for him.
*Acts 10:30-33
30 And Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments,
31 and he said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.
32 ‘Send therefore to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’
33 “And so I sent to you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Cornelius confirms all that his messengers had conveyed to Peter in Joppa. Now with their prejudices and preconceived ideas about each other laid aside, these two men stand facing each other knowing that God has brought them together for something of great importance. And there will be all kinds of witnesses. Peter is accompanied by six of his Jewish brothers. And Cornelius is surrounded by a “houseful” of Gentiles. The stage is set. The players are ready. The audience is seated. And In vv. 34-35 Peter will say, “I most certainly under-stand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him.” But I get ahead of myself. That’s for next time.
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IV. Conclusion
God called both Cornelius and Peter to a task. What did they do? Did they question God or wait to see if God’s call fit in with their plans, or did they respond immediately in faith? Cornelius didn’t wait. Acts 10:33 says he obeyed immediately and sent three of his men to Joppa to find Peter. Peter didn’t wait. Acts 10:29 says he raised no question and came right to Caesarea. They heard God. They responded.

Psalm 119:60 says, “I hastened and did not delay to keep Your commandments.” These two men could hardly wait to obey God and see what He had for them. Here in Acts 10 we’re seeing a powerful example of what God can accomplish through obedience to His Word. May it be the desire of our hearts to obey the Lord in whatever he directs us to do. What does God want you to do? What is the desire of your heart?

In closing I want to go revisit one of the great truths we saw when Philip met the Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza because it applies to Peter and Cornelius as well. It is this:
God not only prepares the hearts of those who will tell others of the gospel of Christ, He also prepares the hearts of those who will hear it. He is present on both sides of the equation.

Is there someone out there you want to tell about Jesus? Have you prayed that God will give you the right words and the right circumstances? Yes? Then you, like Philip and Peter, are prepared to deliver the message. That isn’t in question. The question is, “Has God pre-pared the heart of the one who will hear it?” Despite what you might think neither the strength of your arguments nor the eloquence of your speech can break through a hard heart. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. Unless and until He does that your efforts will be in vain.

So let me encourage you – before you speak to someone – pray that God will soften their heart to hear the gospel. Then let the Holy Spirit lead you.

(read McGee, pp. 557-8)

Next time we will hear Peter preach to an audience whose collective hearts have been prepared to receive Christ. And as we will see, God will save every single one of them.

~ Pray ~