"Removing Barriers to the Gospel" (Acts 10:1-33)

Transcript:

Well, this morning, turn with me to our sermon text, which is found in Acts, chapter 10, verses 1 through 33. If you're using a Pew Bible this morning, this is on page 1091, 1 091. And again, it's Acts, chapter 10, verses 1 through 33. Hear now the word of the Lord from Acts 10:1 33. At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.

About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, cornelius. 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. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon, who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner whose house is by the sea.

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, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. 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, and he became hungry and wanted something to eat. But while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat.

But Peter said, by no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice came to him a second time. What God has called, or what God has made clean, do not call common. This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 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 and called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there.

And while Peter was pondering the vision, the spirit said to him, behold, three men are looking for you. 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 were looking for. What is the reason for your coming? And they said, cornelius, the centurion, an upright and God fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was.

Was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say. 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. And on the following day they entered Caesarea.

Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped him. But Peter lifted them up, saying, stand up. I too, am a man. And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered.

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. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask them why you sent for me. 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 and said, cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.

Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon at Tanner, by the sea. 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. This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God. Please be seated.

As we prepare to study this text together, let's join our hearts this morning in prayer. Gracious Father, we do pray that you would help us to hear this word. This word that you have spoken, breathed out by your spirit, written by the hands of chosen men who were inspired by that spirit. And we pray that as we study this ancient text, that you would give us hearts to understand, eyes to see and ears to hear all that is contained in the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In Christ's name we pray.

Amen. Well, this morning, as we Study Acts, Chapter 10 Together, we see the last major barrier to the spread of the Gospel being removed. From this point forward, the Gospel would freely go to the Gentiles. It is a major moment in salvation history. And I want us to think about this barrier to the Gospel that was once here, that God himself had established, and that God was now himself removing.

Think first of all of those who were kept by a barrier from coming to the Lord, like this man Cornelius. And his household. It's hard for me personally to really think about what that would be like to be kept from the gospel. I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home. We were at church every time the doors were open.

I had an embarrassing number of Bibles in my home that were within an arm's reach at any point in my childhood. And those were incredible blessings. But maybe you do have a story where you were kept from the church, where growing up, maybe there were churches near to you, but they might as well have been barred from you because of how infrequently, if ever, you visited the church to hear the gospel preached. Well, this morning we are hearing about how the Holy Spirit overcomes barriers to draw sinners who need to hear this gospel, the faith in Jesus. But I also want to think about this from the perspective of Peter.

Peter had a barrier in front of him that kept him from going until this point to the Gentiles. Now, here's a barrier that maybe I can think a little bit more about. I can think about barriers that have been in my life that have kept me from sharing the gospel. I can think about rules that were in place at my school. Actually, one of the most intense sort of scrutiny of maybe coming close to persecution that happened was when I wrote a letter to the editor in my high school newspaper sharing the gospel, that you can only be saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

And I remember I had to come into the principal's office and talk to him about that. He was not pleased that that was in his school's newspaper. I remember hearing teachers talk about hate as I was walking into the room, and suddenly they got very quiet. That was a barrier that kept me from sharing the gospel or that tried to keep me from sharing the gospel. I think also at the time I was in China, and there were things that we could say and things that we could not say, depending on where we were.

But even beyond that, I think about languages, cultures, and distance that could keep me from sharing the gospel with people. But then, if I'm honest, and maybe this is what you experience, one of the biggest barriers that keeps me from sharing the gospel with people is fear. What if I do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing? What if people don't like me anymore if I do share the gospel with them? Well, this is a passage that is so practical.

It gives us real hope, real understanding of how God is the One in every stage to bring the gospel to people who need to hear it. So our theme this morning as we study this passage is Follow the Spirit beyond barriers to the Gospel. Follow the Spirit beyond barriers to the Gospel. So we'll look at, first of all, two different barriers. First, barriers to hearing the gospel.

That's Cornelius and his household. Second, barriers to going with the Gospel. That's Peter's plight. But then third, barriers to the gospel removed. So we'll start with barriers to hearing the Gospel in the first eight verses.

As we study the man Cornelius, we see that this was really a very remarkable man. He was a Gentile. He was a Roman centurion in what was known as the Italian Cohort. But this was a very devout man. This was, we read, a man who feared God.

Now he was, as a God fearer. That was a specific category of people. These are Gentiles who had come to faith in the God of Israel. They believed the scriptures of the Old Testament. They believed in the God of Israel, but they stopped short of actually doing all that would have been required to become Jews.

They did not get circumcised. They did not present themselves three times a year at the temple. And if they did come to the temple, they would have been kept out in the court of the Gentiles, prohibited, barred a real barrier, a wall of separation that kept them from entering into the temple, like the other people of God, to worship the Lord. But even so, look at how far this man goes with his faith. A devout man who feared God with all his household.

He was a leader not only in the Roman army, he was a leader in his home, leading the rest of his household to fear God. We read that this is a man who put his money where his mouth was. He was giving alms or gifts to the poor, generously to the people. And this is a man who prayed continually to God. A man who, in public and in private his life was characterized by the fear of God that had changed his heart.

But again, because he was not circumcised, he remained a Gentile outside, kept away from the people of God. Well, we read in verses three and four that an angel came to him and addressed him. And like everyone else who meets an angel in the Scriptures, he's terrified, but asks what this messenger would want to see. Tell him. And the angel tells him.

Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now, this does not mean that he had earned something from the Lord. What this means rather, is that because of his faith, the first thing we read about him is that he is a man who feared God. That's a statement about his faith that his faith then had produced fruits, these prayers and alms that had flowed from his faith. This is a man who had been saved by faith, but a man that then his faith was real and active and living, and flowed out into all manner of obedience in the whole course of his life.

And what the angel is saying is that God is seeing these outward acts, these fruits that flow from the faith that had saved him as a God fearer. And so because of this, he was to send a man to Joppa to collect one Simon who was called Peter, staying with another Simon, who is a tanner by the sea. And again, this is a man of faith who immediately does exactly what the angel tells him to do. It's very interesting when Jesus met another centurion in Matthew chapter 8, that when this centurion said, oh, you don't have to come back with me to heal my servant. You can just speak the word and it will be done.

Jesus marveled also at that other centurion's faith. And he said, truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline that table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. And one commentator at FF Bruce writes this. He says, these words of Jesus begin to find their fulfillment in this other centurion that Peter will shortly meet.

Now in Cornelius, we see a man who pursues the Lord to the best of his abilities in spite of real barriers that keep him from the Lord. These were not just Israelite priests being mean to Cornelius by keeping him away from the temple. These are laws that God had appointed to establish walls of separation and to separate away Gentiles from God's chosen people, Israel. And yet, in spite of this, this is a man who nevertheless fears the Lord, who leads his household to fear the Lord, who prays to the Lord, who gives alms to the poor. He's a man of deep faith in public and in private.

And here we have a challenging picture that I think provokes some questions for us to ask. Do I make use of all the opportunities that I have? I have more opportunities than this man had. Do I make use of all of them to seek the Lord? And if there are no barriers outside me keeping me from the gospel, are there barriers in me that keep me from following Jesus as much as I should?

Do I truly fear the Lord? Do I take advantage of the Bible that is translated into my language to study it and give myself to it in daily reading as a husband and a father? Do I lead my whole household to fear the Lord with me am I committed to private prayer to the Lord, to sacrificial giving to those in need? And again, this Roman Gentile, this outcast, far from the people of God, he was excluded from worship in the temple. But do I take advantage of my freedom to worship here both morning and evening on the Lord's day?

Now, these are the barriers that keep Cornelius from the Gospel. Gentiles like Cornelius are the Gospel, at least thus far. But there are also barriers on Peter's side. There's a reason that Peter has not yet gone to the Gentiles. And this is where we need to look at the passage of Scripture.

Next. The second section deals with barriers to going with the Gospel. When verses 9 through 16, the scene shifts to Peter moving away from Cornelius and Caesarea to Peter, who is still in Joppa. And we read that Peter was hungry. And we read that while he was waiting for food, he gave himself to prayer.

And he was praying like Cornelius was. And during this prayer, he also saw this vision. And in his vision, he saw different kinds of foods. Remember, Peter was hungry and he was waiting to eat. Well, in this vision, he's offered food to eat.

The problem, the real barrier that kept him from moving forward to satisfying his hunger is that the voice told him, rise and kill, Peter. Rise and kill and eat. And the problem with this was what he saw in this vision was a sheet falling from heaven that contained all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. Now, that's language that comes directly from creation stories, from Genesis 1, verse 30. And then in the animals in Noah's ark, in Genesis 6 through 20, there were all kinds of animals.

Particularly there were clean animals and there were unclean animals. And all of these were represented here. And Peter, as a good Jew, was not supposed to eat the unclean animals. Now, I think there's kind of an interesting parallel here if you think about Jesus. Temptation in the wilderness.

After 40 days, he was in the wilderness. And after 40 days, we read that he was hungry. And we read the first temptation that came to him was that Satan came to him and said, turn those stones into bread. If you are the Son of God, then eat. There was illegitimate food offered, and Jesus flatly refused.

And that's kind of what's happening here. But it's different, because it's not the devil who is tempting Peter to eat this food. It's the Lord. Three times the Lord says, rise, Peter, kill and eat. And so Peter, at the end of this, is really perplexed.

He does not know what to make of this vision. And so we read in verses 17 through 20 that as he's trying to make sense of it, the Spirit comes to him and speaks to him very directly. Now, sometimes we say, well, a picture is worth a thousand words. I wish I didn't have so many words that I had to sift through in this. I wish God would just give me a picture, maybe a movie that I could watch that would be so much easier to learn what I'm supposed to do in life.

But notice here, Peter is given a vision, a picture, and he doesn't know what to make of it. He needs a thousand words, or really, it doesn't take that many to know exactly what he is to take from this. And this is why we are given the whole scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments to teach us who God is and what he has done for us and what he wants from us. And in this case, in verse 19, the Holy Spirit. Here's the Holy Spirit making his introduction.

And he says to Peter, behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them. It was the Spirit who sent these messengers, and it's the Spirit who tells Peter to go with these messengers. Now, the reason this is important for us to see that the Holy Spirit is the one to tell Peter to God. And the reason and the way in which this answers what had happened, what Peter had seen in this vision is very clearly spelled out, actually, in the Old Testament.

It goes back to the whole reason why there were food laws to separate clean foods for unclean foods. God wasn't withholding. It wasn't that there was all of this good food that God wanted to just keep from them because he was mean. That's not what happened. The separating of clean and unclean foods, God had meant it as a representation of the separation that God intended between his people and the wider world, the wider Gentile world.

And so in Leviticus 20, verse 26, the Lord insists that they must obey the food laws because he says, you shall be holy to me. For I, the Lord, am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. As the foods were separated, so the Lord had separated his people to himself. Now we follow this logic, the conclusion, and Peter, we don't know exactly when he arrives at this conclusion, but by the speech we see in the next section, he comes to understand this. The conclusion is that if the food laws have thereby been abolished and the separation between Jews and Gentiles have Also been abolished.

This is important because then Peter, without hesitation, he comes down and talks to them. And when they tell him to go with him, he goes without hesitation because this is exactly what the Spirit had told him to do. Now, I want to ask Peter had a real barrier separating him from going to the Gentiles and bringing the Gospel to them. Them. What kind of barriers separate you from sharing the Gospel with others?

I think it's hard for us to realize and recognize and appreciate how free we are to share the Gospel with others. Our First Amendment in this country protects our legal freedom to share the Gospel even in public spaces. And every time this is challenged, thankfully, those laws are upheld. The ability of Christians to faithfully bear witness in this country is upheld. There are often more regulations in the workplace, but even there, there's some real freedom to share the Gospel.

And because of what happens in this story, there are no longer religious barriers. The wall of separation, Christ is torn down. The main barriers then are in us, their social barriers. What will people think of me? How will this affect my relationship with them?

And then emotional barriers. Fear. I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing, or I am afraid of what people will think of me, or I'm afraid of how this might affect me if I boldly share the Gospel of Jesus. As Cornelius challenges us to seek the Lord for ourselves and our households, Peter challenges us to cross the barriers, many of them, which may be in us to bring the Gospel to people who need it. Are we willing to press through those social and emotional barriers?

Well, maybe this is the point where you're expecting the preacher to come down on you with a lot of shame and guilt. Why aren't you doing this? What is wrong with you people out there? But thankfully, the next section gives us real power, real comfort, real empowerment to go share the Gospel wherever we need to. And so let's look in this third section.

Barriers to the gospel removed in verses 24 through 33. This last section is so beautiful because we see Peter again walking, traveling along with these Gentiles, coming to a Gentile city, meeting a Gentile. And when he gets there, the first thing we read is that corporate Cornelius had made preparations. Cornelius was expecting him, and he had called together his relatives and his close friends. Some of you have faithfully invited your relatives and your close friends to come worship with you here to hear the Gospel of Jesus, just as Cornelius and his household heard the gospel of Jesus 2,000 years ago.

In this scene, continue doing so until they come. Gather as much as you can. Your friends and your relatives to come to a place where they can hear the Gospel of Jesus faithfully preached. But then Peter, he's a Cornelius, is maybe a little too eager. And so Peter says, don't worship me.

Stand up. I too am a man. But then they go on with the conversation, and Peter starts talking first about the barriers that have kept him from them. He. He says, 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. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I asked them for why you sent me. And then we have Cornelius on the other side. And when he responds, he tells the story of the vision that he received, telling him to send for Peter and.

And to hear what Peter would have to say to him. And I love this last line of verse 33. Now, therefore, we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord. And that of course, we will save for next week as we study that passage together of the sermon that is there. So what do we do with this?

What kind of emboldening and strengthening do we have? What is the good news here that will give us boldness when we talk to our faith, family and friends? And the answer is the good news here. The emboldening we have is by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the Spirit who's the good news Here again, our application is our theme.

Follow the Spirit beyond barriers to the Gospel and the key point here to observe is the Holy Spirit is on both sides of this. The Holy Spirit is the one who sends Peter. The Holy Spirit is the one who sends the messengers who come to collect Peter and to bring him back. It is the Holy Spirit, God, the Spirit, who removes barriers on both sides between Jew and Gentile to keep the apostle Peter from preaching the Gospel of Jesus. Let's consider barriers on both sides that may be key.

Let's start with the barriers that may keep you from the Lord. I want to ask you what is keeping you from seeking the Lord with your whole heart this morning? Is it pain from the difficulties of life that really keep you from trusting the Lord? Are you burned out? Are you weary in your soul?

Is it fears and anxieties about your needs that keep you wondering, where is the Lord in the midst of the difficulty and the suffering that you're having? Is it confusion or doubt about the truth and that keep you from trusting his word with a whole heart? Is it sin or sinful desires or temptations, maybe ones that you're not quite ready to cut out of your life, that are distracting you and keeping you from seeking the Lord? Or do you just feel stuck this morning and are not sure how to seek the Lord? We'll begin.

And this passage shows us with gratitude. Jesus Christ has already moved the dividing wall of hostility. Jesus Christ has already removed the enmity that separated you from God. Jesus Christ has already drained the cup of God's wrath against you because of your sin. And he did this at ultimate cost.

He went to the cross in your place. He suffered physical spirit, spiritual torture, in anguish, suffering because of your sin as your substitute in your place. And for all those who turn from your sins and look to Jesus, he takes his sins upon himself. And all of that has already been dealt with 2000 years ago at the cross. And he instead clothes you with the perfect robes of righteousness that you might be found righteous in Him.

There is therefore no condemnation if you are in Christ Jesus. But from gratitude, move to confidence. If God did not spare his only Son, what would he withhold from you today? If God was willing to send his son to the pit to the grave, and then would overcome that three days later by raising his son from the grave, if he was willing to have his only begotten son go through that for you, what will he keep back from you in your life today? Whatever is holding you back from the Lord, recognize that he has removed every barrier.

Turn to him in faith. But the second barrier is that of what might be keeping you today from sharing the gospel. If I asked you to think about a person that you know who doesn't know Jesus, you probably have someone come right to your mind. All of us know these people whom the Holy Spirit has put in our lives to use us as instruments of bringing the gospel to that person. So what keeps you from sharing the gospel with that person?

Is it fears about your relationship with them? Is it insecurity about your own knowledge and ability to answer? What if they ask these crazy theological questions? What do I do? This passage shows us that God is the one who appoints gospel opportunities.

You don't have to worry about all that other stuff. God is the one who is guiding these things. Peter did not hesitate to go to Caesarea to preach the gospel to Cornelius because he knew God was behind it. He knew that he could not fail because God was the one who was orchestrating every part. It wasn't about his skill, it wasn't about his knowledge.

It wasn't about his words. It was about the Holy Spirit's work to bring him to people whom God had specially prepared to hear the gospel from his lips. If God is putting someone on your heart, understand you can't fail so long as you open your mouth and tell them about the Jesus who has done so much for you. You can't fail because it's not about you. It's a great comfort for me as a preacher.

Oh, I could preach the worst sermon. And when I feel like I have preached the worst sermons, that is invariably the weeks that someone says that ministered so much to me. And it reminds me every time that it's not about me, it's about the Spirit of God working in you. I will still try hard to prepare and all of that, but understand that it is the Holy Spirit who must show up or everything we do here is lost. If God is putting someone on your heart, you're truly invincible.

Not because of you, but because the Holy Spirit is behind this. Because that's the big issue. What makes us so anxious, so fearful, is that we feel that evangelism falls on us. It rises with us and it fall falls with us. But if it's all on the Holy Spirit instead, he can take it.

If I am simply an instrument that he is using. That takes so much of the pressure off of me, you know? This week, as I prayed for the ladies who were headed to the March for Life event, I texted them, asked how I could pray for them. And they certainly asked for the event. But one of the things they asked for is to have opportunities to share the gospel with people along the way.

And they shared some stories from even the previous year where they had opportunities to share the gospel with people there. And so we prayed that the Lord would give them opportunities to share the gospel. And the Lord, the Holy Spirit provided those opportunities. Maybe you don't know where to start in sharing the gospel. Start with prayer.

Start with prayer that the Holy Spirit himself will ordain and orchestrate and bring together gospel opportunities for you to share the simple news that Jesus Christ came, he died, and he rose again for sinners. Because if he is the one who orchestrates those. If you're praying and then the Lord drops someone into your lap who needs to hear the gospel, how can you not be confident? I guess this is the Spirit. It's not you, it's the Holy Spirit.

If God is leading and orchestrating, it's not us. Who then could stand against us? Follow the Holy Spirit this week as he leads you beyond barriers. That keep you or others from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we pray that you would indeed give us boldness and strength, clarity. But, Father, we pray that you would give us trust in your spirit, that your spirit truly would be the one who guides, who leads, who orchestrates, who ordains, who saves at the end of the day. And that you would make us to be simple, humble, faithful instruments in our Redeemer's hand. We pray this in the name of Christ, by the power of his spirit, Amen.