Acts 10:1–16
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. 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.
9 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. 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.” 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.
Peter was on the housetop praying at about the sixth hour. He was keeping the religious custom of praying three times a day, not so much out of simple habit or ritual, but out of dedication and commitment to God. Peter had already been radically transformed by the events of Pentecost. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit, and was a very different man to the one who had sworn undying allegiance to Jesus, only to deny Him three times just hours later.
Now, he was a born again Christian believer. Peter was probably in the habit of praying three times a day, as it would have been something he had carried over from his previous life as a devout Jew.
We’re not told what he was praying about, but if we look back into the earlier chapters of Acts, it would be safe to assume that among other things, he would’ve been praying for a continued boldness as he spread the Gospel of Jesus.
In Acts 4 Peter and John prayed, “Now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Peter may have even been asking the Lord to open the doors of opportunity to lead people to Christ. This was the call to the church in the first century, and they were obedient to that call.
The irony is, that while Peter was praying on his rooftop, Cornelius’ servants were knocking on his door downstairs in obedience to the angel’s command. But Peter missed it, because he was so puzzled by the vision God had just given him.
Basically, what God was saying was, “Okay, you want opportunities to preach, so I’m going to give you one right now, but to a Gentile, not a Jew.”
While Peter prayed on the roof, “Lord, open the doors of opportunity to me,” there were people downstairs knocking on the door.
We mustn’t miss the irony here.
We may pray, “Lord, bless the sick, discouraged, and downtrodden, and those who mourn and suffer,” but then do we actually visit the hospital and encourage the sick or go to the care centres to pray for the frail and lonely? Do we seek to be the instrument by which the prayer can be answered, or is that “not my ministry?”
Another lesson we learn from this passage is that even though Peter had been radically transformed by the events of Pentecost, he still carried a lot of baggage from the past. “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” Racism was still an issue for Peter.
Peter was standing before the Lord telling Him how good he was, much like the parable of the Pharisee who went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee, very religious and very concerned that everyone see him as a man of God, said, “Lord, I am thankful that I am not as other men are. I am not an adulterer; I am not a thief; and I am not a murderer.” In essence he was saying, “Lord, how grateful You should be that I am such a fine representative for you.”
The tax collector though prayed, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Jesus said that man’s prayer was justified.
Peter was, at this point, a legalistic person. His religion was very outward. He was concerned about an external purity.
This is the same background that Paul came from, but he soon learned that his own imaginary righteousness counted for nothing.
This is what Paul wrote at the end of Romans 3: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one - who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”
What he is saying here is that any righteousness found in the Christian is the result of Jesus Christ living in him. When Peter stands as “pure Peter,” he is looking at his own external righteousness: “Look what I am doing, Lord. I’ve never eaten any of these unclean things. I wouldn’t dare defile myself.” Peter had not yet learned that whatever purity and righteousness comes in the life of a Christian, is a reflection of Jesus Christ.
We must also learn the lesson Peter was learning here. We have no righteousness of our own. We have no reason to boast of our own goodness, because we have none.
“Lord I have never… I have never…” Peter could not see God’s will yet because “I” was in the way.
In Matthew 16 Jesus says that part of discipleship is denying self. “Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” We will never be fit for purpose as Christian disciples until we deal with the pride issue.
Selfishness is a continuing problem we must confront.
Why did Adam and Eve do what they did? Because the devil said to them, “You shall be like God.” They wanted to be their own god and authority. Every sin, if you boil it down to the bear basics, is rooted in the desire to serve self.
Even though Peter has much so much to learn, he is still a man whose heart is after the will of God. He is struggling but he wants to be a vessel of the Lord. That too, should give us tremendous encouragement. We are all works in progress on the road to discipleship of Christ.
After Peter works through this he says in verses 34 and 35, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him.”
Peter had learned something. Imagine if each day we’d spend time in the Word, and afterwards would say, “I have learned something today. I didn’t just read it, but I’m learning from the Word.”
This is the point that Peter finally reached.
When we learn what God’s will is for us, we have to change our will in relation to it. It may go against all we have learned. It may go against our religious prejudices or our lifestyle. But it will not do any good to go to God and say, “Lord, that is the way I’ve always been.” Peter, who wanted to do God’s will and was ready to change, said, “Lord, if You want me to eat the food You put on that sheet, I will do it. Lord, if You want me to preach to people who are not necessarily people I would choose, I will so it, because I have learned something today.”
These examples are given to us by the Holy Spirit for a purpose. They are not just put in the Bible for us to read. These are lessons for life. These are truths of God. When we recognise commands and actions in the Bible we have not embraced, we need to change our minds and, if necessary, our actions. Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
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. 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.
9 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. 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.” 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.
Peter was on the housetop praying at about the sixth hour. He was keeping the religious custom of praying three times a day, not so much out of simple habit or ritual, but out of dedication and commitment to God. Peter had already been radically transformed by the events of Pentecost. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit, and was a very different man to the one who had sworn undying allegiance to Jesus, only to deny Him three times just hours later.
Now, he was a born again Christian believer. Peter was probably in the habit of praying three times a day, as it would have been something he had carried over from his previous life as a devout Jew.
We’re not told what he was praying about, but if we look back into the earlier chapters of Acts, it would be safe to assume that among other things, he would’ve been praying for a continued boldness as he spread the Gospel of Jesus.
In Acts 4 Peter and John prayed, “Now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Peter may have even been asking the Lord to open the doors of opportunity to lead people to Christ. This was the call to the church in the first century, and they were obedient to that call.
The irony is, that while Peter was praying on his rooftop, Cornelius’ servants were knocking on his door downstairs in obedience to the angel’s command. But Peter missed it, because he was so puzzled by the vision God had just given him.
Basically, what God was saying was, “Okay, you want opportunities to preach, so I’m going to give you one right now, but to a Gentile, not a Jew.”
While Peter prayed on the roof, “Lord, open the doors of opportunity to me,” there were people downstairs knocking on the door.
We mustn’t miss the irony here.
We may pray, “Lord, bless the sick, discouraged, and downtrodden, and those who mourn and suffer,” but then do we actually visit the hospital and encourage the sick or go to the care centres to pray for the frail and lonely? Do we seek to be the instrument by which the prayer can be answered, or is that “not my ministry?”
Another lesson we learn from this passage is that even though Peter had been radically transformed by the events of Pentecost, he still carried a lot of baggage from the past. “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” Racism was still an issue for Peter.
Peter was standing before the Lord telling Him how good he was, much like the parable of the Pharisee who went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee, very religious and very concerned that everyone see him as a man of God, said, “Lord, I am thankful that I am not as other men are. I am not an adulterer; I am not a thief; and I am not a murderer.” In essence he was saying, “Lord, how grateful You should be that I am such a fine representative for you.”
The tax collector though prayed, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Jesus said that man’s prayer was justified.
Peter was, at this point, a legalistic person. His religion was very outward. He was concerned about an external purity.
This is the same background that Paul came from, but he soon learned that his own imaginary righteousness counted for nothing.
This is what Paul wrote at the end of Romans 3: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one - who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”
What he is saying here is that any righteousness found in the Christian is the result of Jesus Christ living in him. When Peter stands as “pure Peter,” he is looking at his own external righteousness: “Look what I am doing, Lord. I’ve never eaten any of these unclean things. I wouldn’t dare defile myself.” Peter had not yet learned that whatever purity and righteousness comes in the life of a Christian, is a reflection of Jesus Christ.
We must also learn the lesson Peter was learning here. We have no righteousness of our own. We have no reason to boast of our own goodness, because we have none.
“Lord I have never… I have never…” Peter could not see God’s will yet because “I” was in the way.
In Matthew 16 Jesus says that part of discipleship is denying self. “Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” We will never be fit for purpose as Christian disciples until we deal with the pride issue.
Selfishness is a continuing problem we must confront.
Why did Adam and Eve do what they did? Because the devil said to them, “You shall be like God.” They wanted to be their own god and authority. Every sin, if you boil it down to the bear basics, is rooted in the desire to serve self.
Even though Peter has much so much to learn, he is still a man whose heart is after the will of God. He is struggling but he wants to be a vessel of the Lord. That too, should give us tremendous encouragement. We are all works in progress on the road to discipleship of Christ.
After Peter works through this he says in verses 34 and 35, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him.”
Peter had learned something. Imagine if each day we’d spend time in the Word, and afterwards would say, “I have learned something today. I didn’t just read it, but I’m learning from the Word.”
This is the point that Peter finally reached.
When we learn what God’s will is for us, we have to change our will in relation to it. It may go against all we have learned. It may go against our religious prejudices or our lifestyle. But it will not do any good to go to God and say, “Lord, that is the way I’ve always been.” Peter, who wanted to do God’s will and was ready to change, said, “Lord, if You want me to eat the food You put on that sheet, I will do it. Lord, if You want me to preach to people who are not necessarily people I would choose, I will so it, because I have learned something today.”
These examples are given to us by the Holy Spirit for a purpose. They are not just put in the Bible for us to read. These are lessons for life. These are truths of God. When we recognise commands and actions in the Bible we have not embraced, we need to change our minds and, if necessary, our actions. Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”