Sermon Tone Analysis

Winning the lost at any cost pt. 2

Winning the lost at any cost: giving the information.

23 So he invited them in to be his guests.

The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea.

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

25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.26

But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I too am a man."

27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered.

28 And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection.

I ask then why you sent for me."30

And Cornelius said, "Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 31 and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.

32 Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter.

He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.'

33 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come.

Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord."

Let us pray...

God’s timing is always perfect, and the three men from Caesarea arrived at the door just as Peter was pondering the meaning of the vision.

I want you to notice something here the very Spirit of God is speaking to Peter’s heart and mind to erase all rebellion and reluctant toward what the vision requires of him.

Look at verses 20-22, “ Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.”

And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for.

What is the reason for your coming?”

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.”

The Spirit of God commanded Peter to go with these men without any hesitation.

This phrase ‘without hesitation’ means “ without making any distinctions” the Spirit is saying to trust them Peter, trust these men even though you have been taught not to trust the Gentiles.

Trust them Peter because you trust in me and I have sent them to you.

Don’t doubt but believe, believe, understand, and accept my conclusion concerning these Gentiles.

Understand that there is no longer any distinctions between Jews and the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, we are now one in Christ Jesus.

Accepting God’s conclusion.

A major step in accepting this new concept and accepting God’s conclusion is clearly seen in the fact that the Spirit of God tells Peter to go with them without hesitation, but beyond this we see a great movement in an act of Christian hospitality.

Look at verse 23, “So he invited them in to be his guests.

The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.”

You see the fact that Peter allowed the Gentiles to lodge with him is yet a clear indication that he was trusting the Spirit of God and that the walls of separation in his mind and in his heart were coming down.

The word Gentile is an English translation of the Hebrew word goyim (“people, nations”) and the Greek word ethne (“nations, people groups, people”).

And this word was then carried over into English as “Gentile.”

The term refers to a person who is not a Jew.

From the Jewish perspective, Gentiles were often seen as pagans who did not know the true God.

During Jesus’ time, many Jews took such pride in their cultural and religious heritage that they considered Gentiles “unclean,” calling them “dogs” and “the uncircumcision.”

Gentiles and the half-Gentile Samaritans were viewed as enemies to be shunned.

Jesus came to offer salvation to all people, Jew and Gentile.

The prophet Isaiah predicted the Messiah’s worldwide ministry, saying He “will bring forth justice to the Gentiles” and would be “a light to the Gentiles” (, , NKJV).

In the book of Mark, Jesus helps a Gentile woman who had asked for her daughter’s freedom from a demon.

Look at , “And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.

25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.

26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth.

And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

27 And he said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

28 But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

29 And he said to her, "For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter."

30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.”

The response of Jesus here seems is offsetting and offensive at first; he offers three comparisons or crucial symbols here.

Bread which represents His message of the Gospel, Children which represents the Jews which was came to reach out to first and accepted Him, and then dogs which represents those are unbelievers in this case and were is a state of rejection.

This colorful statement was meant to test the faith of this Gentile woman; this is seen clearly by the response it elicits from her which confirms her faith.

When that faith is confirmed we see Jesus heal her daughter.

The Gospel was always meant for Jew and Gentile, by was given first to the Jew, for Israel was God’s firstborn son.

When writing to the (mostly Gentile) church in Rome, Paul communicated his goal: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” ().

Paul realized that the coming of Jesus provided the opportunity for salvation to whoever would believe in Christ’s name.

Gentiles were long seen as enemies of the Jewish people, yet Christ provided good news for both Jews and non-Jews.

Peter understood the prohibition against Jews entertaining those in their homes or going into the homes of people of another nation.

But now he realized that these people were not longer strangers and aliens but fellow citizens in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Peter realized that the two had become one, Peter realized that Christ Jesus was their peace and had broken down the wall of hostility between them.

Peter realized that these men were fellow saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

In him we are also being built together into a dwelling place for God by His Spirit.

The text tells us that Peter on the next day asked some brothers from Joppa to go with him to the home of Cornelius.

Peter selected six Jewish believers to go along as witness, though the Spirit of God was the only witness Peter needed.

He knew that the Jewish council would required more; so he took three times the official number needed.

He only need two witnesses and Peter took six so that there would be no doubt.

So Peter assemblies his posse with a purpose and they are off the Caesarea.

It would take them two days to cover the distance of the thirty miles between Joppa and Caesarea; Peter was about to start giving the information to all those willing to hear, which is that God had accepted the Gentiles and it was God’s conclusion that the Gentiles were no longer common or unclean.”

This general conclusion led to a specific inclusion of the Gentiles into the body of Christ.

Peter now deals face to face with such an inclusion.

Inclusion of the Gentiles that God has accepted.

24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea.

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

25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.26

But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I too am a man."

27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered.

28 And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection.

I ask then why you sent for me."

When Peter arrived, he discovered that Cornelius had gathered relatives and friends to hear the message of life, the life that only can be found in Christ Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

What did it Jesus mean when He said, 'I am the way and the truth and the life' ()?"

Answer: “I am the way and the truth and the life” is one of the seven

“I Am” statements of Jesus.

On the last night before His betrayal and death, Jesus was preparing His disciples for the days ahead.

For over three years, these men had been following Jesus and learning from His teaching and example.

They had placed their hopes in Him as the Messiah, they had placed their hopes in Him as the promised deliverer, yet they still didn’t understand how They placed there hope in Him and they did not understand how He was going to accomplish their deliverance.

After the Last Supper, Jesus began speaking about His departure, which led to questions from His disciples.

In , Jesus said, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer.

You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.”

This prompted Peter to ask where He was going (verse 36).

Peter and the others did not understand that Jesus was speaking of His death and ascension to heaven.

Jesus’ response was, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

Peter was still misunderstanding and declared that he would follow Jesus anywhere and even lay down His life if necessary.

As Jesus patiently continued to teach His disciples, He began speaking more plainly about heaven, describing the place He was going to prepare for them,

, "Let not your hearts be troubled.

Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms.

If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?