ACTS 10 — THE CENTURION AND THE CLEANSED VISION: CORNELIUS, PETER, AND THE DOOR TO THE NATIONS ============================================================ Course: Potter’s School of Service (PSOS) Lesson: 10 Scripture: ACTS 10:1-48 Language: English URL: https://kgm-school-preview.netlify.app/lessons/en/psos/10-acts-10-the-centurion-and-the-cleansed-vision-cornelius/ WhatsApp: PSOS EN 10 LESSON 10 — ACTS 10: THE CENTURION AND THE CLEANSED VISION: CORNELIUS, PETER, AND THE DOOR TO THE NATIONS ============================================================ BIG IDEA Religion, generosity, and prayer are not enough. Cornelius is devout, gives to the poor, prays continually — and still needs Christ. The same morning, God moves both Peter and Cornelius simultaneously: an angel visits the Roman centurion in Caesarea while Peter sees a sheet of unclean animals lowered from heaven in Joppa. The two visions converge. Peter walks through the door he never planned to open, the Spirit falls on Gentile listeners while Peter is still preaching, and the church will never be the same. The door to the nations has opened. PART 1 — SCRIPTURE READING: ACTS 10:1–48 Open your Bible and read Acts 10 slowly, all the way through. The chapter has four movements: Cornelius’s vision (verses 1–8), Peter’s rooftop vision (verses 9–23), the journey to Caesarea and Peter’s sermon (verses 24–43), and the Spirit falling on the Gentiles followed by their baptism (verses 44–48). Acts 10 is the longest narrative chapter in the book and one of the most pivotal. Luke gives it this much room because it is a hinge. Before Acts 10, the gospel has gone to Jews, Samaritans, and a single Ethiopian eunuch on a desert road. After Acts 10, the doorway to the Gentile nations is openly walked through, blessed, and witnessed by Jewish believers themselves. The mission of Acts 1:8 — “to the ends of the earth” — takes its decisive step here. KEY VERSE — ACTS 10:34–35 “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right.” PART 2 — WALKING THROUGH ACTS 10 A. CORNELIUS — A DEVOUT ROMAN OFFICER “At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.” Caesarea was the Roman administrative capital of Judea — not Jerusalem. Cornelius is therefore a senior officer in the occupying army of Israel. And yet Luke gives us a portrait of a serious God-seeker. He is a “God-fearer” — a Gentile who had become attached to the synagogue without becoming a full Jewish convert. He prays. He gives alms. His household worships with him. It is essential to read Cornelius carefully. He is religious, generous, prayerful — and yet, as Acts 11:14 makes clear, he still needs to hear words by which he and his household will be saved. The most religious sincerity in the world is not the same as faith in Jesus Christ. Many of the kindest people in our generation are devout in some general sense and have never personally met the risen Christ. They need a Peter at their door. Cornelius is religious, generous, prayerful, and helpful — and he still needs Christ. We must be born of the Spirit. B. THE ANGEL’S VISIT — PRAYERS AND GIFTS REMEMBERED At about three in the afternoon — the same hour Peter and John went up to pray in Acts 3 — Cornelius has a vision. An angel of God comes to him and says, “Cornelius\! Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.” Pause on that sentence. Cornelius’s prayers and gifts had not yet brought him salvation. But heaven had not ignored them. They had risen as a memorial offering — the language of incense ascending in the temple. God was watching the man’s seeking. The Father is not deaf to the seeker, even when the seeker has not yet reached the Son. The angel does not preach the gospel to Cornelius. Instead, he sends him to find a man: “Send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.” God uses an angel to set up the appointment, but He does not use the angel to preach. The Word is given to a person, by a person. Heaven’s preferred messenger is a redeemed human being. C. PETER ON THE ROOFTOP — A PRAYER BECOMES A VISION The next day, around noon, Peter goes up onto the roof of Simon the tanner’s house in Joppa to pray. He becomes hungry and waits for food. While the meal is being prepared, he falls into a trance. Heaven opens. A great sheet is let down by its four corners, full of every kind of four-footed animal, reptile, and bird. A voice says, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” Peter answers: “Surely not, Lord\! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice answers, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This happens three times. Three times — the same number of times Peter denied his Lord around a fire in the courtyard. Three times the Lord re-shapes Peter on a rooftop. Heaven re-shapes us where we once failed. D. “DO NOT CALL UNCLEAN WHAT GOD HAS MADE CLEAN” This vision is dense with meaning. On the surface it is about food laws — the kosher rules of Leviticus 11. Underneath, it is about people. The Jewish food laws had become a constant boundary marker between Jew and Gentile. To eat together with Gentiles meant violating the laws. By cleansing the food, God was preparing Peter to enter the home of a Gentile, share his table, and recognize him as a brother. Peter is still puzzling over the vision when the men from Cornelius arrive at the gate. The Spirit speaks to him directly: “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” Peter goes down. He invites the men in as guests — already crossing a line. The next morning he travels with them to Caesarea, taking some Joppa believers along as witnesses, because he knows what is about to happen will need a chorus of witnesses for the Jerusalem church. E. PETER ENTERS A GENTILE HOUSE When Peter arrives at Cornelius’s house, Cornelius falls at his feet in reverence. Peter immediately raises him up: “Stand up. I am only a man myself.” The same Peter who said “Do not look at us” in Acts 3 says it again here. Spirit-filled servants do not allow themselves to be worshipped. Then Peter says something that would have been unthinkable a week before: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.” God did not show Peter that He was changing the law of clean and unclean food in some abstract way. God showed him that He was making clean every nation that He had been keeping at arm’s length. Cornelius tells Peter the whole story of his vision and ends with a beautiful invitation: “We are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” Few preachers in history have ever had such a hearing. A whole household, with friends and relatives, ready to hear everything the Lord has commanded. F. “GOD DOES NOT SHOW FAVOURITISM” Peter begins to preach. His opening sentence is the master key of the chapter: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right.” This is not a denial of Israel’s privilege. Peter still believes that the message came “first to the people of Israel.” But he now sees what the prophets always taught and what Jesus had hinted at — that God’s saving purposes are for every nation. The promises to Abraham (“all peoples on earth will be blessed”), the prophecy of Isaiah (“a light to the nations”), the words of Jesus (“go and make disciples of all nations”) — they are all converging in this living room. G. THE SERMON — THE WHOLE STORY OF JESUS IN BRIEF Peter’s sermon is a remarkable summary. He preaches the message that started in Galilee, after the baptism that John preached. He preaches Jesus of Nazareth, anointed by the Holy Spirit and with power. He preaches Christ doing good and healing all under the devil’s power. He preaches the cross and the resurrection: “They killed Him by hanging Him on a cross, but God raised Him from the dead on the third day.” He preaches the witnesses who ate and drank with the risen Lord. He preaches the command to proclaim Him as the Judge of the living and the dead. He preaches forgiveness through His Name. Notice how this sermon includes everything: anointing, ministry, cross, resurrection, witnesses, judgment, forgiveness, the Name. Peter does not edit the message for a Gentile audience. The same gospel that converted Jerusalem is the gospel that will convert Caesarea. The gospel does not change at borders. H. THE SPIRIT FALLS MID-SERMON “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.” The Spirit does not wait for the altar call. He does not wait for the fine print. He falls on the Gentile household while Peter is still in the middle of his sermon. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter “were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.” This is sometimes called the “Gentile Pentecost.” The same signs that marked Acts 2 now mark Acts 10. Heaven is making the unity of the church visible: one Spirit, on Jew and Gentile alike, with the same evidence. I. BAPTISM IN THE HOUSE Peter’s response is immediate. “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” He orders them to be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. The order matters. The Spirit fell first; the water came second. In Acts 10, the visible sign of God’s acceptance preceded the church’s formal welcome. Heaven was forcing the church’s hand. Peter could not refuse water to people God had already baptized in the Spirit. The next chapter, Lesson Eleven, will show Peter going back to Jerusalem and being asked to explain himself. He will tell this same story, and the Jerusalem church will glorify God: “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” PART 3 — KNOW THE WORD: TEACHING FOCUS 1. RELIGION IS NOT SALVATION Cornelius was already devout. He prayed. He gave. He feared God. And he was not yet saved. Acts 10 stands as a permanent answer to anyone who imagines that decent religious living is enough. The most generous, most prayerful, most morally upright Gentile in Caesarea still needed to hear “the message of forgiveness through His Name.” Be careful with this teaching in our day. Many people in our churches and in our families are like Cornelius — sincere, kind, religious. We must love them, honour their seeking, and gently bring them the message about Jesus that no amount of religion can replace. They need a Peter. 2. GOD DOES NOT SHOW FAVOURITISM Acts 10:34 is one of the great democratic statements of the Bible: God does not show favouritism. He receives from every nation those who fear Him. This is a frontal assault on every form of ethnic, racial, or cultural superiority that has ever tried to lodge itself inside the church. There is no first-class and second-class believer. The same Spirit, the same gospel, the same Name — for the African and the European, the city worker and the village farmer, the educated and the unschooled. Every form of partiality must be repented of in the church of Jesus Christ. 3. THE WHOLE GOSPEL FOR EVERY AUDIENCE Peter does not soften, shorten, or strategically edit the message for the Gentile audience. He gives them the full story: anointing, cross, resurrection, witnesses, judgment, forgiveness through the Name. We sometimes assume that different audiences need different gospels. They do not. They need the same gospel — the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — in language they can understand. Adjust the language, never the message. PART 4 — TRUST THE SPIRIT: TEACHING FOCUS 1. THE SPIRIT MOVES BOTH SIDES OF AN ENCOUNTER In Acts 10, God does not just speak to Cornelius and hope Peter cooperates. He moves on both at the same time. He prepares the seeker and prepares the messenger. When you sense the Spirit pressing you to speak to someone, take courage — the chances are very high that He has been preparing them long before you arrive. 2. THE SPIRIT RE-EDUCATES THE DISCIPLE Peter had walked with Jesus, preached at Pentecost, raised the dead at Joppa — and he still had to be re-trained on a rooftop in his sixties. Spiritual maturity is not a destination. It is a posture of being teachable. “Do not call unclean what God has made clean” is a sentence the Spirit will say to all of us — about people, places, traditions, and prejudices we have inherited. 3. THE SPIRIT FALLS WHERE THE WORD IS PREACHED Peter was still speaking when the Spirit fell. The Spirit loves the Word. Where the gospel of Jesus is faithfully proclaimed, the Spirit moves — sometimes audibly, sometimes quietly, sometimes overwhelmingly. Preach Christ. The Spirit will do what only He can do. WORD AND SPIRIT IN ACTS 10 — SIDE BY SIDE Know the Word | Trust the Spirit Cornelius’s prayers and gifts are remembered as a memorial offering, biblical language drawn from temple worship (Acts 10:4). | An angel visits Cornelius, but the saving message must come through a human messenger filled with the Spirit (Acts 10:5–6). Peter’s rooftop vision overturns Leviticus 11’s clean/unclean distinctions in a redemptive direction (Acts 10:13–15). | The Spirit speaks directly to Peter: ‘three men are looking for you; do not hesitate to go’ (Acts 10:19–20). Peter’s sermon weaves the whole gospel — anointing, ministry, cross, resurrection, witnesses, judgment, forgiveness in the Name (Acts 10:36–43). | The Spirit falls on all who heard the message, mid-sermon, with tongues and praise (Acts 10:44–46). The prophetic theme ‘God shows no favouritism’ fulfills the Old Testament’s missionary heart (Acts 10:34–35). | The Spirit makes the unity of Jew and Gentile visible by giving the same gift to both (Acts 10:47). PART 5 — FORMING CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER Acts 10 forms Christ in us in three ways: 1. Christ is formed in us when we honour the seeker without confusing seeking for salvation. Cornelius’s prayers and gifts mattered to heaven. They did not save him. Be tender with the religious; be clear about Christ. 2. Christ is formed in us when we let the Spirit reshape our boundaries. Every disciple inherits prejudices. The Spirit will say to us, ‘Do not call unclean what God has made clean.’ Listen. 3. Christ is formed in us when we go where we never planned to go. Peter ate at a Gentile table that week. The Spirit will sometimes ask us to enter homes, neighbourhoods, and friendships we did not foresee. Go. PART 6 — DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Come prepared to answer. Come prepared to listen. 1. Who are the ‘Cornelius’ people in your life — sincere, religious, kind — who still need to hear the message of forgiveness in the Name of Jesus? How will you bring them that message? 2. What inherited prejudices or boundaries might the Spirit be saying to you, ‘Do not call unclean what I have made clean’? Be specific. 3. Have you ever sensed the Spirit moving on both sides of an encounter — preparing you and preparing the other person? Tell the story. 4. Peter preached the whole gospel without editing it for his audience. Where are you tempted to edit the gospel for fear of offence? What full version do you need to recover? 5. How does the truth that ‘God does not show favouritism’ challenge or comfort you in your specific cultural setting? PART 7 — WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT Before next class, take time with the following: - Read Acts 11 in preparation for Lesson Eleven. - Memorize Acts 10:34–35 or Acts 10:43. - Identify one Cornelius in your life. Pray daily for an open door to share the gospel — and be ready to walk through it. - Take twenty minutes to ask the Lord, ‘Where am I calling unclean what You have made clean?’ Write down what He shows you and repent. - Read Acts 10:36–43 aloud and rehearse the whole gospel in two minutes. Practice telling it the way Peter did. CLOSING PRAYER A PRAYER TO PRAY OUT LOUD THIS WEEK Lord, You do not show favouritism. You receive from every nation the one who fears You. Forgive me where I have shown partiality — in my heart, in my church, in my mission. Re-shape my boundaries by Your Word. Make me ready, like Peter, to enter homes and tables I never planned to enter. Make me ready, like Cornelius, to listen to everything You command. Send me a messenger when I am the seeker. Send me as a messenger when You are reaching the seeker. Spirit of God, fall while the Word is preached. Open eyes. Open homes. Open nations. Let the Name of Jesus be proclaimed in every people group, every language, every tribe — and let me have a part in it. In the Name of Jesus, the One who shows no favouritism, amen. NEXT LESSON LESSON ELEVEN — ACTS 11 The Antioch Church and the Name ‘Christian’: When the Word Crosses Cultures ---------- KGM School of Service — Knowing God Missions · Tumenyimana https://kgm-school-preview.netlify.app