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Winning the lost at any cost !
Paul and Silas in Thessalonica
1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, "Cornelius." 4 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. 5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter.
6 He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea." 7 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, 8 and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth.
12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.
13 And there came a voice to him: "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." 14 But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean."
15 And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common."16
This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate
4 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. 5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter.
6 He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea." 7 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, 8 and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”
And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
(ESV)
9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth.
12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.
13 And there came a voice to him: "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." 14 But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean."
15 And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common."
16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate
18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there.
19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are looking for you.
20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them."
21 And Peter went down to the men and said, "I am the one you are looking for.
What is the reason for your coming?" 22 And they said, "Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.
23So he invited them in to be his guests"
23So he invited them in to be his guests"
We now find ourselves in the Chapter 10 of the Book of Acts, which is by far the most pivotal chapter in this book.
Pivotal because in it is recorded the salvation of the Gentiles.
Pivotal, because shows Peter using the “keys of the kingdom” for the third and last time.
First, Peter opened the door of salvation for the Jews in , and then he also opened the door of salvation to the Samaritans in and now God would used him to open the door of salvation to bring the Gentiles into the church of Christ Jesus.
Paul speaks of such a move concerning the Gentiles in,
, Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated 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 who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.14
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.17
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.18
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.19
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,”
20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
Paul further states in , that God has now removed all other distinctions or distractions and now both Jew and Gentiles are in one body.
“ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
This event we are dealing with this morning in this passage took place about ten years after Pentecost.
Why did the apostles wait so long before going to the lost Gentiles?
After all , says, 18 “And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Jesus had told them all to go into the entire world; and it would seem logical for them to go to their Gentile neighbors as soon as possible.
But there is a difference in urgency and usefulness; God had His times as well as His plans.
God’s methodology and masterful transition from the Jews, to the Samaritans, to the Gentiles was a great yet gradual one.
The stoning of Stephen and the subsequent persecution of the church marked the climax of the apostles’ witness to the Jews.
Then the Gospel moved to the Samaritans.
When God saved Saul of Tarsus, God got ahold of His special envoy to the Gentiles and uses him to bring them into the family of God.
Now this story is being shown in , and we are going to break it down into four basic parts over the next four weeks.
Setting a foundation; giving the information; Teaching by proclamation and Receiving vindication.
This morning we will deal with Setting a foundation as we look at
.
Let us pray...
Cornelius was a man who was devout.
, “At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.”
2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.”
Before God could use Peter to bring salvation to the Gentiles, God had to prepare a foundation in which to build upon.
So God starts with preparing Peter to bring the message first to Cornelius a devout man.
Salvation is a divine work of God’s grace, but God works through human channels.
Now, angels can deliver God’s message to lost people, but they cannot preach the Gospel to them.
That is our privilege and responsibility.
So now is all starts in Caesarea, Caesarea is sixty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem and thirty miles north of Joppa.
At the time, Caesarea was the Roman capital of Judea and boasted of many beautiful public buildings.
In that city lived Cornelius, a Roman centurion.
Being a Roman centurion meant that he was in charge of 100 soldiers; he was a member of what was called the Italian cohort.
This was a Roman legion of about 6,000, men, divided into ten cohorts of 600 men each and in each cohort there were 60 centurions.
These soldiers were considered the very backbone of the Roman army.
Cornelius had reached the rank of centurion by proving to be a strong, responsible and reliable man.
More than a good soldier, however Cornelius was a devout man, and one who feared God with all his heart and taught the same to his entire household.
This God fearing was born and bred out of reverence and respect for God and the things of God.
No doubt Cornelius has tried the pagan gods and was tired of the myths and empty religious rituals and out of weariness had turned to Judaism in hopes he could find salvation.
In the hope he could find the One and True living God.
He had led his household to seek after these things as well and he gave generously to the poor through alms and prayed continually to God.
Cornelius was devout and faithful.
Cornelius understood, 10 "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.11
If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?
12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money."
12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money."
().
Cornelius was a devout man, who was as close as one could get to become a Jew without becoming a proselyte; which would have required circumcision.
God instead of circumcising Cornelius’s flesh had circumcised his heart instead.
God had given him a seeking heart; he had shown him how to lived up to the light of His Word; God had opened up a path for him to find righteousness and to come to know God.
God was about to give him even more access because of his faithfulness and his election.
There is a necessary balance to divine election where God creates in us a seeking, willing hearts, which we would not have without His divine initiative.
, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteousness man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Divine election and human responsibility are both the clear teaching of Holy Scripture.
Salvation is both accomplished by God and God alone and through the humility of sinners.
Although our limited comprehension does not allow us to harmonize them, there is no conflict in the mind of God.
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