Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Acts 10:1-3

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.

Caesarea was a military town along the coast of the Mediterranean and the capital of the Roman occupation in Israel

Jews hated Caesarea - called it the ‘daughter of Edom’ - symbolic name for Rome

Cornelius was a centurion - part of Italian cohort - cohort = 600 men - centurion oversaw 100 men and would have been paid as much as five times as much as an

ordinary soldier.

Cornelius was a ‘devout’ man - not a full convert, but a heart sensitive for God - since he gave alms generously and prayed to God (not gods)

3 About the ninth hour of the day (3pm) he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.”

10 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.

>> Angel tells Cornelius God recognizes and accepts his worship

>> tells him to send men to Joppa to bring Peter back Caesarea

>> sends two servants and a soldier who also worshipped God

Now the

Acts 10:9-16

9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour (noon) 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.”

Some of you - this describes your church experience on a Sunday morning as we get close to the end of the service.

Pray - hungry - fall into trance - have a vision of bacon

Just like with the story of Saul and Ananias, God uses a dual vision to bring together the two key players for the advancement of the gospel.

Peter’s praying — dreaming of food - one pastor calls this the first ‘pig in a blanket’

What Peter sees — sheet being lowered with animals, reptiles and birds

Voice says to eat the animals

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.

“What God has made clean, do not call common.”

What had been considered unclean, dirty, sinful for more than 1400 years was now, by an act of God, made clean.

(although some believe Jesus declared all foods clean in )

This section will shows us the first two lessons:

1) God, through Jesus, makes the unclean clean.

Notice two things: What happened and How it happened

What had been considered unclean, dirty, sinful for more than 1400 years was now, by an act of God, made clean.

What I mean: 1) rules were changed 2) there is a power that changed them.

(although some believe Jesus declared all foods clean in )

a. Rules were changed.

- Israelites were given a very specific list of animals they were allowed to eat and a list of those they were not.

The ‘unclean’ animals were labeled as ‘detestable.’

There is debate as to why God chose certain animals - some saying these animals were unhealthy given the lack of refrigeration or that God knew which animals were healthier to eat.

Main point of laws - to mark out God’s people through a physical difference in everyday life.

What had been considered unclean, dirty, sinful for more than 1400 years was now, by an act of God, made clean.

(although some believe Jesus declared all foods clean in )

This was a significant change!

One pastor likened this story to a Baptist receiving a vision with a pack of smokes and a bottle of Scotch being lowered from heaven.

b.

There is a power that changed the rules.

Peter lived his whole life in that 1400-year rule, and now one day, when he is hungry during a prayer, the rules completely change.

Surely before this he had been tempted by a BLT

Surely before this he had been made fun of by non-Jews regarding their dietary rules.

Had Peter eaten one of these foods then he would have been unclean, but now it was ok?

But the rules were not changed then though they are now.

Why? God made the rules so only God is the one who can change the rules.

This is the greatest miracle of the gospel.

Only God has the power to make the unclean clean.

This is the greatest miracle of the gospel.

ILLUST - have you ever worked with dirty hands?

In the garage I would get my hands very dirty and inevitably I would get my clothes dirty.

I would never meet my wife right after work for a nice dinner without changing my clothes first.

Sin is like that.

We get our hands dirty when we mess with sin. and it doesn’t matter how hard to try to avoid it, sin will stain you.

Just like I would never show up to a nice dinner in my oil-stained work clothes, you cannot stand before God with your sin-stained self.

Isaiah - Though your sins. . .

In what way was the common made clean?

It does NOT mean that God has made everyone righteous.

That cleansing only comes through faith in Jesus.

We see here that only God has the power to make the unclean clean - satisfy the rules through Jesus.

* Jesus has made you clean.

You are clean.

No matter what others say, no matter what your past shows, no matter what the Enemy says, Jesus makes you clean.

2) God’s Word is the final word on holiness.

“Holiness” = to be separate from the common

Throughout Scripture the word “holiness” is used in several different ways:

To describe God set apart in his being - God is separate from all the rest of creation in that there is no being like him.

To describe those set apart for relationship with God - only those who are holy - separate from sin common to all mankind can truly be in relationship with God

To describe things and people set apart for the purposes of God - God had chosen the nation of Israel by choosing Abraham that he might set Israel apart from the nations so that through Abraham (and the nation of Israel) all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

They were to be a ‘holy people’ to God

One way that Israel showed she was holy - set apart - was by living differently than the surrounding nations because of the Law.

God had spoken the Law to Moses, giving the boundaries which made Israel separate and holy.

Now God was speaking again, moving the boundaries.

— I wonder what Peter was thinking?

Was this a trick question?

Nice, try, God.

I may not have been the sharpest disciple, but I know the answer to this one!

God’s word comes to Peter and he says “By no means, for I have never. .

.”

Peter’s rationale was that his tradition dictated his actions.

It was not that God’s people were no longer called to be distinct and called to holiness.

That call has not changed.

When Peter writes his first letter to the New Testament church he will quote

 It is rather that the lines of holiness were being redrawn.

God’s Word was redefining Peter’s understanding of holy living.

— we cannot let the world or tradition or our own ideas define distinct and holy living.

Two very obvious implications flow from this truth:

God’s people must be distinct in how they live in comparison with the rest of the world.

That distinction, that holiness, is defined by God’s Word alone.

Phillips Message paraphrases it, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within ...”

- “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind [there’s that concept again!] that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Phillips paraphrases it, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within ...”