Who May Be Saved?
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Ministry of One
A. The Rapport of the Time
B. The Review of the Text
Having made it to the 10th chapter of Acts we have come a long way in the life of the early church. The Lord ascended into heaven and told the apostles to wait for the coming of the Spirit of God that would empower them to do HIS work. We saw this Spirit come in:
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
These are the Jewish people who have heard Peter speak and believed and upon believing the Spirit of God comes to indwell HIS people.
Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Peter and John in the days of the Early church end up in Samaria a place no self respecting Jew would dare go. Philip has preached the good news of Christ and the Spirit of God descends upon the Samaritans who are seen as less than by the Jews.
As we approach the text in Chapter 10 the door to the Gospel is swinging wide open to ALL who will believe not just a few “lucky ones.”
C. The Reading of the Text
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
D. The Relevance of the Text
T.S.
I. Background
I. Background
And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.
vs. 43 is important to set up all that happens in Chapter 10. Peter stays with a tanner by the name of Simon. The reason this means anything at all is because of how tanners are viewed by other people and by Jewish people specifically.
Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, Vols. 1 & 2: Introduction and 1:1–14:28 (j. Staying with a Tanner in Joppa (9:43))
Tanning was a complicated and smelly business. The hides of animals were tanned using tannic acid, which was extracted from lime, from the juice of certain plants, or from the bark of trees. Tanners often worked by the seashore to facilitate the disposal of chemicals and because they used salt water in the tanning process. Because of the very unpleasant odors the work generated, its practice was not allowed in cities.
Peter would have been seen staying with someone unclean and would have been shunned by the Jewish people. When you take this information with you to chapter 10 we can better understand what God is doing in the life of Peter as he uses him to spread the Gospel to Gentiles making the Gospel available for all.
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.
Caesarea is a city dominated by gentiles and the Jewish people are definitely seen as outsiders under Roman rule. History tells us that many Jews had been killed by the people of Caesarea. The Early church history recorded in Wars of the Jews that many had been killed in the year 66.
The Works of Josephus: New Updated Edition Chapter 18: The Calamities and Slaughters that Came upon the Jews
(457) Now the people of Cesarea had slain the Jews that were among them on the very same day and hour [when the soldiers were slain], which one would think must have come to pass by the direction of Providence; insomuch that in one hour’s time above twenty thousand Jews were killed, and all Cesarea was emptied of its Jewish inhabitants; for Florus caught such as ran away, and sent them in bonds to the galleys.
Cornelius—a centurion—This would be a military man with 100 soldiers under his command. He would have been well known in the city and obviously from the scripture was well respected.
—He is described as a devout —Devout—having or showing deep religious feeling or commitment. Earnest, sincere.
Not only is he mentioned as devout but also a man who feared God with all his household. MacArthur--A technical term used by Jews to refer to Gentiles who had abandoned their pagan religion in favor of worshiping Jehovah God. Such a person, while following the ethics of the OT, had not become a full proselyte to Judaism through circumcision.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ac 10:2). Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Cornelius feared God as a Gentile but had not come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. vs. 2 tells us that he gave generously and sought God in prayer continuously as a Gentile. By the end of Chapter 10 the life of Cornelius will be completely changed as he will come to know Christ as savior and Lord of his life. Showing that the Gospel is open to everyone who would desire to believe.
Beloved this is one who in scripture seeks the Lord and finds the Lord.
English Standard Version Chapter 29
10 “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
This verse in Jeremiah is talking to the nation of Israel but the same holds true for Cornelius the centurion and for any who truly want to not just know God but look to Him as Lord.
T.S.
II. Vision
II. Vision
About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
Cornelius is in prayer at 3 o clock in the afternoon and is visited by an angel.
Prayers and alms a memorial before God
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 29.12 μνημόσυνον, ου
In translating Ac 10:4 it is important to avoid implying that God had forgotten; the implication is simply that prayers and acts of charity are means by which God becomes aware and thus responds to such events. It is also possible to restructure the meaningful components of this statement as in the case of TEV, “God is pleased with your prayers and works of charity.”
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
God is responding to the prayer of one that seeks after him. The prayers of Cornelius, a lost person, are being heard by the God of heaven because he is seeking out God. Does he know Christ as his savior yet? No. Is he seeking God trying to arrange a deal and God is now responding? No. Cornelius is visited by an angel of the Lord because of seeking after God.
T.S.
III. Obedience
III. Obedience
When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
The angel departs from the presence of Cornelius and he waits three weeks to be obedient to the Lord for he had other affairs to attend to that were more important. No WAY!! Cornelius immediately sends two of his servants and a devout soldier to go bring Peter back to him in Caesarea. Later in chapter 11 we are given more information by Luke on exactly what the angel said to Cornelius.
And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. And 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; he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’
How you will be saved!! What precious words from the angel to a devout man who feared God with all his household. One that was desperate to know more!
Application:
Application: