Prayer for our Unity

Ben Miller

The Way of Prayer • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Acts 10:1–33

Prayer

Church Unity

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Big Idea: Devote yourself to prayer for the sake of unity in the church.

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We are continuing in our series called “The Way of Prayer,” and we are focusing on the times in the book of Acts when the early church is found PRAYING.

And the reason we are doing that is because we want to learn about the role that PRAYER plays in the life of a church… not just in our personal walk with Christ… but specifically as we walk WITH OTHERS in the way of a disciple...

We want to learn how to support one another by praying TOGETHER on the path of discipleship.

So this past Thursday I needed to do some study for this sermon, and I decided to go a local eating establishment to do so.

Sometimes I just need to get out of my office and be around people because being a pastor is about caring for REAL PEOPLE… not just doing word studies and looking up cross references (though that’s important too).

But when you are around real people you hear and see things that are… well… real.

I generally try to mind my own business when I’m studying out in public… but sometimes there are people talking so loudly and so carelessly that you can’t help but overhear…

And there happened to be one of these groups at the next table over...

And they were talking about everything under the sun… politics… their jobs… their grocery shopping...

And they were pretty strong in their opinions about just about everything… and they weren’t afraid to share what they thought about others...

Now that’s not all that surprising… but my heart just broken when they got on the topic of church... because nothing changed.

The way they complained about their pastor… how his sermons are too long and not uplifting enough… and how he only cares about his salary getting paid and having things his way… they assumed ALL KINDS of things on his motives.

They talked about their Sunday school teacher and how he wasn’t doing a good job either...

They talked about how nobody would start the programs that they wanted to see.... and how they used to like their church so much better...

Now I don’t know anything about their church or their pastor or the programs that are there…

And I’m sure there are things that need work… as there are things in our church that need work…

And I’m sure this group of people is just struggling to process this season just like most people… so I don’t want to be harsh in my judgment.

But as I overheard their conversation... at the same time as I was studying to preach a sermon called “Prayer for our Unity”… I found myself ready to weep.

I sat there thinking, “I wonder how much the Holy Spirit is grieved by hearing this conversation right now?”

I sat there thinking, “What if an unbeliever was there instead of another pastor… what would be the testimony of these people regarding Christ’s church?”

And as the day went on I found myself continually grieved and heavy over this. And I prayed for that church and what they are going through.

And I found myself thanking God for the many people who encourage rather than tear down OUR church… because I know we aren’t perfect.

But I don’t think this is uncommon in our day… for people to give full vent to their disgust with anyone who disagrees with them or doesn’t do things their way.

I don’t want us thinking about that group of people at the restaurant anymore… or wondering what church they went to… I want us to examine our OWN hearts.

Our culture is increasingly polarized…And the amount of things to disagree over just keeps growing… and we swim in that pool everyday.

Politics, race, the response to COVID, vaccines, how you parent, what news stations you watch, how much money you make… the list of things that COULD divide us is endless.

But the church is called to be a distinctly different place than the rest of the world.

The church is to be marked by unity because we are all reconciled together to God through one Lord and Savior: Jesus Christ.

And yet, too often, we let other priorities and opinions crowd out his voice… we focus on earthly things rather than lifting our eyes above.

And so HOW do we get to that place of unity? When the rest of the world is so divided… when we are so tempted to cling to our viewpoints and opinions, how do we experience this unity?

Today we are going to see the critical role that PRAYER plays in the unity of the early church.

Now I’m not just talking about those times when we pray FOR unity… like, “God give us unity.” (though that is very appropriate sometimes and the Bible contains some of that).

But today we are going to see how the activity of prayer itself UNIFIES the church...

We will see that when we are devoted to prayer, our hearts are ready and eager for unity.

Big Idea: Devote yourself to prayer for the sake of unity in the church.

All in favor of having a united church??? Then let’s get after prayer!

Your Bibles are open to Acts 10…

This is one of the most important passages in the book of Acts… Luke recounts this story THREE times over the course of the book...

The event that is recorded here sets the stage for an issue that is addressed in almost every letter of the New Testament.

You see, in Acts 10 God brings together some of the most hostile groups in the world at that time: Jews and Gentiles… specifically Jews and Romans.

This hostility was one of the greatest threats to the early church… and the unity that comes from this event becomes one of the hallmarks of God’s glorious work in the church.

You see, in Acts 1, Jesus told his disciples that they would receive power from on high to be his witnesses in Jerusalem… and in Judea and Samaria… and even to the ends of the earth.

The Great Commission he gave them in Galilee was to “make disciples of ALL NATIONS.”

But in order for them to do that, some boundaries had to be broken down.

Up until Acts 10, the gospel has only gone to Jews.

We left off last week in chapter 4 where the disciples are praying for boldness to continue to speak the word of God...

And God gives them that boldness… but they don’t leave Jerusalem. They just stay where they are at.

So God allows some persecution to come… a guy named Stephen became the first member of the Way to be martyred...

God USED THAT to drive believers out of Jerusalem… fleeing persecution… but even as they run, they don’t stop preaching Jesus.

They keep being his witnesses in Judea and Samaria.

The problem is, they are still only preaching the gospel to Jewish people.

Jesus was the Jewish Savior King… his message must ONLY be for the Jews, right? WRONG.

His message was to go to ALL nations… to the very ends of the earth.

Now that may seem obvious to us reading the scriptures today… but you have to understand… this was unthinkable for a Jew to share the good news of their Messiah with a Gentile.

God had told the Jews in the Old Testament to be separate from the rest of the nations.

He wanted them to be pure in their devotion and worship to the one true God.

And so this command to be separate was twisted in their sin-sick hearts into a prejudice of superiority.

Does that ever happen today?

And Acts 10 is where God first starts to deal with that in his church… starting with the heart of one of their key leaders, Peter.

And we are going to see the critical role PRAYER plays to pave the way for unity...

Not just in the Jewish guy who needs to accept others… but in the Gentiles who need to be accepted.

We start with God at work through prayer in the Gentiles first… Read Acts 10:1-8

It’s interesting… this is one of the few sections of the book of Acts where we see people praying ALONE… and yet the RESULT of their prayer is coming TOGETHER…

The trajectory of prayer is always moving toward one another… toward unity.

Today we are going to see three reasons why prayer produces unity.

Prayer is essential to unity because...

1) In prayer, our hearts are focused on God. (v. 1-8)

Explain: Luke has just been describing some of the ministry of Peter in areas further outside of Jerusalem (show map), and this current story is going to involve Peter, but Luke introduces us to another guy sort of out of the blue… he’s a Centurion named Cornelius who lives in Caesarea.

[SHOW MAP] Now you have to understand how loaded this introduction is…

First this guy is in Caesarea… a city named after… you guessed it… Caesar.

It’s a city heavily occupied by the Romans… and unlike most cities in Palestine, it’s primarily Gentile.

Not only is he in Caesarea… his name is Cornelius. Let’s just say that’s not a Jewish name.

That name is surprising at this point in the story.

And not only is his name Cornelius… he is a Centurion (the guy in charge) of a well-known occupation force called the Italian Cohort.

Now if you are a Jew reading this, your chest starts to tighten and your palms begin to sweat.

This is your natural-born enemy.3

This is the guy your culture raised you to hate.

If you are a Greek reading this, like Theophilus who Luke addressed the letter to, you identify with this guy.

He is an outsider. You are an outsider.

He did not belong with the Jews… neither do you.

Are you starting to feel it???

But then you read verse 2: he was a devout man who feared God with all his household.

This ain’t your average Centurion. He’s not worshipping the Pantheon of Roman gods.

He might live in Caesarea, but there are some serious questions about whether Caesar is the Sovereign Lord he claims to be.

In fact we find out later that he is WELL-SPOKEN of by the Jewish nation. THAT is unheard of.

This is someone who has been influenced by the Jews around him who were looking for their Messiah.

His hope is not in ROME… it’s in the God of the Jews… YAHWEH.

We know that his hope is in the God of the Jews because Luke describes him as DEVOUT... or Pious… and he shows some tell-tale signs of Jewish devotion...

He gave alms (or gifts to the poor) generously…

And he prayed continually to God.

Not only that, but he led his whole household to fear God.

Men… can I just say that our households need us to be men of prayer. Real men lead their homes to fear God.

As we walk through this series on prayer and go after these goals, it’s going to take YOU leading your families in these things.

Prayer is not some sissy thing to do… Cornelius is a Roman Centurion. He’s more dude than any of us will ever be. And he has been humbled before God to lead his family to pray.

The true man’s man leads his home toward dependence on and devotion to Jesus.

Our kids… our wives… our spheres of influence need to SEE us praying.

Not so that they think much of us, but so that they think much of GOD.

THAT’S Cornelius.

Now Luke mentions all these things in the setting of the story… and I think it can be so easy to run our eyes over these words and not think much about them…

But we believe that when it comes to reading the Bible, every word matters.

And so let these words sink in: He was Devout. He feared God. He was generous (he was seeking to honor God with his wealth position of power). And he prayed continually.

He prayed continually. Don’t miss that.

A person who fears God… whose heart is focused on God… is a person who prays continually.

So in verse 3, we find this big burly centurion knelt over in prayer at the ninth hour… that’s a traditionally JEWISH time of prayer… about 3pm.

This is just another ordinary hour of prayer… but what happens next is anything BUT ordinary.

He sees a vision of an angel.

Now when we are studying Acts, we need to understand that some things are DESCRIPTIVE… they DESCRIBE what happened...

And some things are PRESCRIPTIVE… they tell us what we should do.

We can tell when something is PRESCRIPTIVE when it shows up as a normal pattern in the book of Acts.

PRAYER is what is PRESCRIPTIVE here… the consistent theme in Acts is that God WORKS when people SEEK HIM IN PRAYER.

What is NOT consistent is the WAY God chooses to work.

Here he sends a vision with an angel… to Peter he sends a vision without an angel AND he also speaks directly through the Holy Spirit… in other places he just fills people with his Spirit to do his work.

God chooses the way he works… we just act out of faithfulness to him.

We don’t try to imitate the WAY God works in Acts… we imitate the prayer that leads to him working.

So Cornelius is expressing his devotion to God… his fear of God… by praying at the ninth hour… and he sees a CLEAR vision of an angel.

And the angel says, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.”

I love that word “ascended.” It has this vertical feel to it… this vertical focus.

It’s language from the Old Testament Sacrificial system… these prayers… these generous gifts… have risen to God as a pleasing aroma because they came from a heart that feared him.

Cornelius had his heart focused on God. His heart moved in God’s direction and God saw it.

He wasn’t focused on how much the Jews hated him.

He wasn’t focused on how much power he had to oppress others like most centurions would do…

He wasn’t focused on how he could use his money to serve himself.

He had his heart focused on God. Whatever God wanted, he was ready to do.

Remember… the point of this whole story is to show us how God first brought the gospel to the Gentiles through a Jewish Apostle...

How God tore down a MAJOR dividing wall of hostility and reconciled Jew and Gentile together...

And this is the preparation Cornelius needed for that to happen… he needed his heart focused on God in prayer.

Unity is produced by a common focus and pursuit.

If we try to find unity by focusing on each other, we will only notice what is different and what annoys us.

But if we focus ourselves on a common pursuit… then we will find unity.

And the only legitimate pursuit of the true church is the pursuit of relationship with our God through Jesus Christ.

We won’t be ready for unity if our hearts are focused on ourselves or each other or all the stuff going on in this world… our hearts need to be focused on God.

In order for our hearts to be focused on God, it requires CONTINUAL conversation with him. Cornelius prayed continually to God.

Paul instructed the church in Thessalonica, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (ESV1 Thessalonians 5:16–18

Now if you are anything like me, that sounds impossible. How do I pray without ceasing? I have other stuff to do! I am TERRIBLE at thinking about two things at once… ask Katy!

Prayer without ceasing means that everything that you encounter throughout the day is part of an ongoing conversation with God.

When we say “Amen,” it’s not like we are hanging up the phone and getting on with our day.

Instead, God is going with us.

And instead of filling all the silent moments of our day with the continual noise of the car radio or social media or music or whatever it is… we learn to fill it with communion with God.

We recall his word. We respond in prayer. We worship him. We enjoy him. We seek him. We rely on him.

Now… when I set out to do that, I’m often forgetful... what I’ve found is that in order to pray without ceasing… I need to have regular intervals throughout my day where I stop and pray.

And I do better at this some days than others… but there is wisdom to what Cornelius is doing here… he’s using a traditional Jewish time of prayer… a predetermined time… to express his devotion to God.

And so I have four intervals throughout my day… when I get up… at lunchtime… on my drive home… and before bed… and I have alarms in my phone that tell me to stop and pray.

And I’ll be honest… a lot of times… to my shame… I am too quick to dismiss that alarm and move on because I feel too busy to stop and pray.

But when I acknowledge the alarm and pray… even if for just a minute or two… it resets my mind to remember to pray.

And so I would encourage you… pray continually… pick some times throughout your day… set some alarms… and pray.

A heart that prays is a heart that is focused on God… and therefore ready for unity.

It’s not a heart that is eager to do things your own way...

It’s not a heart that is ready to complain first and think about God later...

It’s a heart that is focused on God and his purposes.

THAT is the heart of prayer.

This focus on God is essential to what God wants to do next...

God tells Cornelius to send for Simon Peter.

And without hesitation, Cornelius does it.

He sends two household servants… and one devout soldier… men whom he had influenced to focus THEIR hearts on God too… he sends them to Joppa to get Peter.

Meanwhile in Joppa, we find that PETER is ALSO someone who is devoted to God through continual prayer. (Read Acts 10:9-23a)

Prayer is essential to unity because in prayer, our hearts are focused on God… secondly...

2) In prayer, our hearts are convicted by God. (v. 9-23a)

Explain: Notice Peter is ALSO praying when God responds to him… this time it’s the SIXTH hour… around noon.

This was NOT a typical time for a Jew to pray… he’s just feeling the need to pray right now… and at the same time he feels the need to EAT.

Does that happen to anyone else? You FINALLY sit down to pray and you realize your stomach is grumbling?

Peter can relate.

And so while Peter is waiting for food and praying… he falls into a trance. He’s having some supernatural spiritual experience.

And no surprise… he starts seeing a sheet full of animals to be killed for food.

But not just any food. Food he never DREAMED of eating… things like BACON… and FROG LEGS… all these foods forbidden in Jewish law...

(If you love eating bacon, thank God for Acts 10).

And he hears a voice say, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat...”

And he’s like, “Am I being punked? Is this a prank? I would never THINK of eating this UNCLEAN stuff… whose dream IS THIS anyway?”

And the voice is like, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”

And because Peter can be a little dense, this whole thing happens 3 times.

And the vision is over.

And Peter’s like, “Woah… I must have been hungrier than I thought… I wonder what all that was about.”

Was God telling me to disobey him and contradict his word? What is going on?

Maybe as he was pondering, he would have remembered what Jesus said in Mark 7, that it’s not what goes INTO a person that defiles him, but what comes OUT… our hearts and our WORDS defile us.

Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law, and therefore the categories of clean and unclean were finished.

So God wasn’t contradicting himself… but he was preparing Peter’s heart to experience what’s next.

He was convicting Peter about some thought patterns that needed to change so that the gospel could go to the nations.

I love God’s timing here: at the moment Peter was pondering, Cornelius’s men arrive at the gate.

They had left the day before! But they just HAPPEN to get there right when Peter was hungry and went up on the roof to pray.

We pray to a POWERFUL God, don’t we.

We pray to a God who breaks down barriers we don’t even know need broken down!

And so just in case Peter missed the point that the voice repeated THREE TIMES in the vision, the Spirit says, “Go down to meet them and go with them.”

And he finds out that a Roman Centurion is sending for him to be his guest.

So Peter shows his immediate conviction in response to the Spirit’s prompting... he invites them in to be HIS guests!

God is doing a MASSIVE work to UNIFY his church...

He is tearing down some MAJOR walls of division so that his gospel message can go forward and people can walk in the way of a disciple.

God couldn’t do what he wanted to do in his church without some walls coming down in this key leaders life...

Peter is the one who is going to convince everyone else that the gospel has gone to the Gentiles.

And he needs to take HIS next step in the way of a disciple so that a lot of other people can take THEIR next steps as witnesses of Jesus.

And I want us to see that Peter’s heart is ready to take that step because his heart was convicted in a moment of prayer.

Peter’s heart is convicted by the Spirit as he prays. Conviction means that we become CONVINCED that what God has said is true.

Conviction is what happens in our hearts so that we are ready to repent.

Now again, it’s not usually going to come in a vision that is repeated three times… if you’re waiting for THAT to happen, you’re going to miss a lot of the Holy Spirit’s conviction.

Luke DESCRIBES how it happened for Peter… but the rest of the scriptures PRESCRIBE that we need to have SOFT HEARTS to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

A heart that is focused on God in prayer is a heart that is softened toward God in conviction.

I want you to understand: When we pray, we are conversing with GOD.

God hears our prayers. And he works in our prayers.

Prayer is not some religious ritual we do.

Prayer is not some mental exercise to calm our anxiety like Yoga or something.

Prayer is not talking out to an empty space wondering if anything will happen.

Prayer is talking to and hearing from God.

In the words of Allen Reid, “Prayer is intimacy with God that leads to the fulfillment of his purposes.”

We need to be open to what God wants to do in our hearts through prayer.

We pray, “YOUR KINGDOM COME… YOUR WILL BE DONE...”

And God says, “OK… this is my will… I want you to forgive that person you’ve been holding a grudge against.”

Remember that whole, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us.” That’s pretty convicting, right?

God says, “OK… I want you to stop thinking that your opinions are more important than your love for other people.”

God says, “I want you to show radical kindness to that person who offended you.”

God says, “I want you to move toward that person who looks or acts different than you even though it might feel REALLY uncomfortable.”

God says, “I want to reveal some prejudices in your heart and you need to stop coming up with all your excuses as to why they are OK.”

God says, “I want you to pick up the phone and call that person who feels like they are on the fringes of the church and feels like they are an outcast.”

God’s WILL is to move us TOWARD his people. He wants a unified church, because a unified church is a powerful witness in a divided world.

So when God moves in our hearts in those ways, RESPOND! REPENT!

Don’t just wonder if it was just a bad piece of pizza you ate the night before… don’t just wonder if it’s the hunger talking...

Move TOWARD what he is convicting you about.

As long as it is in line with what he has said in his word and what he has done in his gospel… MOVE ON IT!

Sometimes we PRAY “your will be done” but then when he shows us his will, we are like, “I’m sorry… there must be static on the line. Never mind. I’ll try praying again tomorrow.”

Sometimes we are surprised when the Spirit would ask us to change our way of thinking or living to align with God’s kingdom purposes.

So let’s not be surprised.

Let’s allow God to convict us in prayer.

Now, not only was Peter convicted… he acted on that conviction.

Read Acts 11:23b-33

Prayer is essential to unity because in prayer, our hearts focused on God, convicted by God… finally,

3) In prayer, our hearts are humbled before God. (v. 23b-33)

Explain: Peter and a few Christian friends (who remember, were also Jewish) set out on their journey and they find a whole HOUSE full of Gentiles.

They had BETTER be convinced of what God was doing… because they are neck-deep in it now!

I don’t know about you, but I feel this anticipation and tension in the room as they enter...

Here’s this large group of wide-eyed Gentiles staring eagerly as this group of reluctant Jewish Christians… now what???

We see that it’s Cornelius who makes the first move… he falls down at Peter’s feet.

Now Cornelius has been through a lot… there’s been four days leading up to this moment… I’m sure he just doesn’t really know HOW to act… so we’ll cut him some slack here...

But just get this picture into your head: here is this high-ranking military official of the occupying force in Palestine… and he HUMBLES himself before Peter... a citizen of occupied territory… one whom he is charged to subdue… but he is on the ground at his feet.

That’s humility.

Meanwhile, here’s Peter who used to have a view that he was morally and religiously superior to this Roman in every way…

But he also knows his position before God has a mere man… a sinner...

And he doesn’t want ANYONE thinking that HE should be worshipped, so he tells Cornelius to get up, because he is merely a man.

That’s ALSO humility.

So Cornelius stands… Now they are both on level ground… face to face… what brought them to this place? PRAYER.

Now in order to make introductions, they both give their prayer testimonies…

Peter says, “I wouldn’t normally come to a place like this and have a meal with you all… but God convicted me and so I came with out objection.”

It takes humility to admit that you were wrong. But that’s the work God did in Peter’s heart through prayer and Peter is ready to say it.

Cornelius says, “Four days ago I was praying and I saw an angel. And he told me to send for this guy. And now he’s here. So let’s all listen to what the Lord wants him to say.”

That takes humility to say, “This Jew has something to tell you that I don’t even understand.”

Ultimately, Cornelius is saying, “This is important… you had better listen because God is about to say something.”

We are all humbled underneath GOD to hear his voice.

You see… their testimonies of God clearly answering prayer... humbled THEM… and are meant to HUMBLE the whole group of people who are gathered...

Prayer REVEALED Cornelius’ humility...

Prayer PRODUCED Peter’s humility...

And the testimony of prayer prepared everyone else to listen in humility.

And when humility gets a hold of a group of people, the result is supernatural unity as God comes toward them with his SAVING grace.

What comes next is Peter’s first ever presentation of the gospel to non-Jewish people.

Read v. 34-43.

Our God is the God of no partiality… and the gospel proves it.

He doesn’t look at what the world looks at… he looks for those who will FEAR HIM… who will SEEK HIS KINGDOM.

And so he sent Jesus… the Anointed Savior King…

He lived a perfect life that revealed the power of God...

NONE of us.... neither Jew nor Gentile… could live a perfect life that God required… but Jesus did.

And he was put to death on a tree… on a cross made of wood… because we ALL sinned… we all deserve the judgment that Jesus took upon himself.

But God raised him on the third day… God’s chosen witnesses SAW him and ATE with him… we can believe that Jesus overcame death and the grave...

And EVERYONE… no matter where you came from… no matter what nation you were born into… no matter what color of skin you have… no matter what sin you’ve committed...

EVERYONE who believes in him… who BELIEVES that HE is the ONLY SAVIOR for their sin… that he is the ONLY Lord for their life… everyone who BELIEVES in him receives forgiveness in his name.

Listen… that’s the message of the gospel that each one of us needs here today...

That’s the message that SAVES US from our sin and makes us part of God’s people… and gives us access to pray to God.

And it’s the message that produces UNITY because there is no partiality… the ground is level at the foot of the cross!

And you can turn from your sin and trust that good news and receive FORGIVENESS TODAY!

The message we need believe today is the same message they needed back then…

So because of the preparation work that God did through prayer… look at what happens in verse 44...

Read v. 44-48.

Their hearts were focused on God. their hearts were convicted by God. And their hearts were humbled before God.

And the result was a great move of the Holy Spirit… a great salvation of souls… and a church that found unity across one of the biggest dividing lines ever known to man.

Are you tempted to allow things to come between you and others in the church?

Are there prejudices hindering unity in your heart?

Is there anything in your heart right now that you are harboring bitterness over?

Maybe it’s with a specific person… and things just aren’t right between you… and it’s because you’ve held something against them...

Maybe it’s a group of people… and you think they’ve wronged you in some way or that they aren’t right about some thing… and you are just at odds with them.

If that’s you, you need to come to a place of humility.

And that humility starts with prayer.

It starts with focusing your heart on God. Adoring him. He is WORTHY.

It involves responding to his conviction… aligning your heart to his… your kingdom come, your will be done...

It involves admitting that you are needy… asking him for what you need to walk in the unity he desires.

We are going to move into a time of prayer… and then a time of communion.

Communion is a time when we come together and eat of the same bread, recognizing that Jesus died for us ALL and we ALL need his death to pay for our sin.

Communion is a time when we come together and drink of the same cup… recognizing that the New Covenant in his blood is not only for Jews like the Old Covenant was… it makes us a part of a NEW PEOPLE with whom we await the return of our King.

Before we get take communion, we want to have a time of prayer to prepare our hearts for unity.

Up on the screen is going to be a passage that is going to unite our hearts in prayer… when we read God’s word, he is revealing his heart… he gets the first word in our prayer conversation.

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