The Same Resurrection Message - The Same Life-Giving Holy Spirit

 “Adventure at Caesarea” (continued)

(Acts 10:25-48, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, April 1, 2012)

[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.”

Cornelius was a good man, a man commended by God. He was so ready to receive the Word of God through the Apostle Peter that when the two men met, he worshiped Peter. For Cornelius, to see God's apostolic representative was to be in the presence of God Himself. Peter gently corrected him. “Stand up. I too am a man.” (When Peter wrote about how to be a godly elder, he wrote as a humble fell-elder. God spoke through this man. There is a greater chance that God will speak through us if we are not full of ourselves. What did Peter suffer to gain humility?)

[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.”

Peter broke the Jew/Gentile barrier by going into the home of Cornelius. Peter was in a Gentile home, and he found that there were many people already gathered there to listen to him. He drew attention to the barrier between them even as he crossed it. God had broken the barrier in the death of His Son. In fulfilling the Law, God had brought down a wall that had to come down. The tearing down of that wall meant peace between God and man. It also meant an end to the division between Jew and Gentile. It was not Peter's idea, nor had Peter taken the wall down. But God had brought him to the point where he accepted and even embraced the tearing down of this formidable, but temporary, divine barrier. God had shown Peter something. Peter could not call any person common or unclean. That's why Peter was standing there among Gentiles.

[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.”The tearing down of the Jew/Gentile wall was also not the idea of Cornelius. God had met him through an angelic messenger, directing him to send for Peter. Cornelius had admired the faith of the Jews, believing the God of the Jews, and obeying the God of the Jews. But he had not become a Jew. Now he was eager to hear the Word that God had for him and for all assembled, and he knew that this word would come through the lips of a Jew. He did not know what Peter would say, but he and his guests sensed that they were not only in the presence of one another, but also in the presence of God. They were there to hear, to hear everything that God had told His messenger Peter to say.

[34] So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, [35] but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

Cornelius wanted to learn from God. But it was Peter who had just learned something. Years before he had heard the resurrected Jesus say that the apostles would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the utmost parts of the earth. But had the Lord intended that the Gospel would go forward by people becoming Jews, or could it be that Gentiles could come to Jesus without ever becoming Jews? Now Peter knew. Now he understood. God was not only the God of the Jews. He was also the God of the Gentiles. Faith and repentance would work for anyone. The message that Peter had given to Jews on the day of Pentecost would become the same gateway of life to these eager Gentiles. They could repent too. Anyone who would fear Him and do what was right would be acceptable to the Lord.

[36] As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), [37] you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: [38] how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. [39] And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, [40] but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, [41] not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. [42] And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. [43] To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Jesus, the Jewish Christ, is Lord of all. He is the Word that God sent to Israel, not for Israel only, but for the whole world. This Jesus had displayed who He was through His life and His miracles. He fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures that were written about Him. Everything that Jesus did, He did with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. This same Jesus, was put to death publicly as a sin offering for us. But God raised Him up. This is the message of Christianity. It starts with the resurrection. That message of Christ, the cross, and the resurrection is spread abroad through witnesses, like Peter, chosen by God. Peter ate and drank with Jesus of Nazareth after Jesus rose from the dead. He commanded that Peter and the others should bring this message to the world. They were to tell the nations that this Jesus was the one God appointed to judge the living and the dead. But everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name. This message is the very same message that the church brings all over the world today, twenty centuries later. There is hope in the Name of Jesus Christ. There is forgiveness of sins in Him.

[44] While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. [45] And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. [46] For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, [47] “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” [48] And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

This message is for Jews and it is for Gentiles. The same Holy Spirit that authenticated that message with His presence in Acts 2, was also present at the home of Cornelius that day, and He is present among His people here as we call upon His Name. This shocked the Jews that had come with Peter from Joppa. The same signs that were given to Jews in Jerusalem on that first Pentecost were given to Gentiles now who heard the unchanging message of Jesus Christ. The church needed to follow the obvious leading of God. The assembly had been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Who was Peter or anyone else to deny them water baptism and entrance into the church. From this beginning, streams of living water still flow forth from Christ our Rock to Gentile lands everywhere. We want that water from Christ in our lives, and we want that water to flow through us to all who would be thirsty for the Lord of heaven.
1. What did Peter understand about the purpose of this visit when he arrived at Caesarea?

2. What did Cornelius understand about the purpose of this visit?

3. What did both men learn from this encounter?

4. What does it mean that “the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the Word?”

OT Passage: Psalm 121