Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Acts: Enlarging Our Vision

By being prepared (Pt1) 12/28/08

Sermon Series: Acts: Enlarging our Vision

                Title: ‘By being prepared’    Text: Acts 10

Introduction:  (Enlist the help of 3 to 5 veterans) (Thank veterans for serving, Congregation applauds, ask for them to introduce themselves and which branch they served in.)

 

Questions:

·       Where did you go for basic training?

·       What was the most difficult thing about basic training?

·       What was the greatest thing you learned at basic training?

·       How did you feel when you found out you were going into a war zone?

·       How would you describe your training to go into battle?

·          What do you think would have happened if you weren’t prepared?

 

Thank you guys for serving our country and helping us understand how important it is to be prepared for battle.

 

Background: Would you agree that it’s important to be prepared if you are going into battle? Let me ask all of you. Who prepared the men who came forward to go to war? Yes…the Government. These men gave their lives to the government (whether by enlisting or by the draft) and the government prepared them to fight.

Read: Ephesians 6:10-18

If you’re here this morning and your name the name of Christ; if you have placed your faith in Jesus to forgive your sin and be your Savior, then you are being prepared for spiritual battle. That’s why as Christians we are told to put on the full armor of man…no, we’re told to put on the ‘full armor of God.’ God provides it and prepares us, it’s up to us to be obedient and use it.

Transition: Open your Bibles to Acts 10:1 (pg. 839 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) For it’s there we’ll find we enlarge our vision of God by being prepared.

I. Acts 10:1-8                  God prepares Cornelius

Read: Acts 10:1-8

·       Peter is in Joppa.

·       Cornelius is in Caesarea, a Roman city on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea about 60 miles north of Joppa.

·       As a Roman Centurion, Cornelius was high ranking an army officer.

·       He was part of the Italian Regiment from Italy and they were considered to be the most loyal soldiers.

That’s Cornelius’ military record, lets get to know Cornelius. The text tells us that he and all his family:

·       Were devout. They were godly. They knew there was One True God and they were seeking after Him.

·       Were God fearing: They were Gentiles who loved and believed in the God of Israel.

·       Gave generously to the poor.

·       Prayed to God regularly.

These were admirable people, people we would like to see here at CBC…But, the text wants us to see that while they were godly, they were still lost. While they were sincere, devout, generous and prayed, they were still not saved.

There are those today who believe that all they have to do is live a good life…be moral, sincere, generous and religious. Cornelius and his family were just like that…Yet,

·       they still needed to know Jesus in a personal way.

·       They still needed to hear and accept the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

·       They still had to be ‘born again’ by the Holy Spirit.

What we see in Cornelius and his family was God’s preparation for the gift of salvation. God was working in their hearts to ‘woo them’ if you will, to gently and lovingly lead them to faith in Jesus Christ and eternal life in heaven.

That’s God’s way. He often touches our lives in a personal way when He calls us to Himself. I’m sure each of you who profess Christ would agree. God used some situation in your life to draw us to Him. For Cornelius it was a vision from God.

Notice how he responds to God’s call on his life, he says ‘What is it, Lord?’ He acknowledges God’s presence, and His lordship.

Cornelius probably didn’t know who Peter was but that didn’t stop him from obeying God….what a great lesson there. We don’t need all the information in order to obey God.

As soon as the vision was over Cornelius sent his men to get Peter. Cornelius didn’t question God, he didn’t debate with God, he did what God told him to do…He was obedient.

Transition: God had prepared Cornelius and his family for His great work of Salvation…but God also had to prepare God’s messenger, Peter, because Cornelius and his family were despised gentiles.

II. Acts 10:9-23a          God prepares Peter

Read: Acts 10:9-23a

There are no coincidences with God. At just the right moment in time, God speaks to Peter to prepare him to be used in an extraordinary way.

It’s noon and Peter is on the roof praying. (Rooftops were like patio’s in Peter’s day) While praying, Peter gets hungry… I can almost hear Peter say ‘I’m so hungry I can eat a horse’ I would have liked to have seen Peter’s face when he saw God’s vision because what came next would have caused Peter to lose his appetite.

In Peter’s vision, God instructs him to kill and eat various kinds of animals, some of which were clearly unclean and banned by Jewish law.

Peter’s response to God is interesting, but not unlike Peter. Let’s look at it in the context of the book of Acts and how people responded to God’s call.

·       Saul: Who are you, Lord?

·       Cornelius: What is it, Lord?

·       Peter: Surely Not, Lord!

Do you see a difference? Saul and Cornelius responded in a positive way, but Peter in a negative way. I need to take a few moments to examine Peter’s response to God because there is a lesson to be learned.

Peter says ‘Surely not, Lord. I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’

‘Surely not…I have never….’ Perhaps it’s not immediately obvious but think about this…what Peter said is legalism. ‘Certainly not, I have NEVER, done anything like that in my life.’

How do you recognize legalism? It is being proud of the negative, proud that you’ve never done something God has said not to do. It’s not negative to do those things you aren’t supposed to do.

·       It becomes negative when you are proud that you don’t do those things and you are sure to let others know you don’t do them.

·       It becomes negative when you define your Christianity by the things you don’t do.

Perhaps you’ve heard this before:  ‘I don't dance, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't chew; I don't go out with girls that do.’

It’s legalism and it’s focusing on the negative.

The grace of God is experienced when we find pleasure in the positive, not in the negative. So we shouldn’t be talking about what we ‘don’t do’ the negative, that’s legalism and prideful. But about what we do…do, the positive, grace. That’s the ‘full message of this new life’ in Christ that the angel told Peter and john to Go, Stand and Tell.

The world isn’t impressed by what we don’t do. There are many non-Christians who don’t do the same things, for reasons other than spiritual. God is not honored among the unsaved, by what we don’t do. God is honored among the unsaved by what we do.

·       Non-Christians want to see us live a full lives, filled with faith and peace in the midst of difficult times.

·       Non-Christians want to see our homes filled with love and acceptance, where we openly and freely talk to one another. Where there is love, warmth, joy and commitment.

The world is impressed when Christian do, what they can’t.

Peter is proud of the fact that he never ate anything impure or unclean…and he had the gall to let God know it too. And notice that God rebukes Peter for it. There is a lesson to be learned here.

Peter, denying his pride, has to be shown the same vision three times. Why three times? Perhaps it’s saying:

·       Look, we all agree on this: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

·       We don’t like your pride and negativity.

At this time, Peter didn’t fully understand what he was being prepared for…but he will when he hears the knock at the door.

God told Peter that three men were coming to get him and that he was to show hospitality to them and go with them without hesitation…God failed to mention these three men would be gentiles.

I can imagine Peter’s jaw dropped when he answered the door, saw the Gentiles and heard what they had to say. But, to his credit, Peter obeyed God and invited the men to stay the night…Gentiles sleeping and eating in a Jews home…not done in that day. Perhaps Peter is learning something through God’s preparation.

Conclusion

Peter was saved, indwelled by the Holy Spirit and  had been greatly used by God. At the same time, Peter was still Peter. God wasn’t preparing Peter to be used because he was perfect, but because he was available to God. We often fall into the trap of believing that God can only use us when we are perfect.

If God were to give you a vision like Peters, what/who would be on the sheet He lowered from heaven?

·       The scruffy biker, the kids with strange colored hair, the old person who is set in their way, the homeless person you pass every day on your way to work, the un or less educated, the poor.

The text is telling us to see them as God sees them…They are the ones Jesus came to die for. They are the ones Jesus want you to win over to the Kingdom of God by telling them the message of new life in Jesus.

    God’s ability to prepare people to come to faith in Jesus is not limited by spiked hairdo’s, leather jackets, body piercing and tattoos.

Who we might consider undesirable, God created…just like he created you.

ILL: A young believer, facing the choice of obeying the call of  God to the mission field or of continuing in a rewarding and comfortable business position, once consulted a veteran missionary. He explained how clearly God had called and yet how hard it was to make the choice to go. The missionary opened his Bible at this passage and pointed out to the young person Peter’s words, "Not so, Lord." "You cannot say that," the wise, older man explained. "It’s either ’Not so’ or it’s ’Lord.’ The two words put together are a contradiction in terms. Now then," he continued, "take my Bible and take this pencil. Sit down here and pray about it. Then cross out one of the expressions. Cross out the words  ‘not so’ and leave the word  ‘Lord,’ or cross out the word  ‘Lord’ and leave the words ‘not so.’ You cannot have it both ways." You cannot argue with the Lord and be wise. (Jimmy Chapman)

 

Which do you need to cross out so that God can continue preparing you for His work?

We enlarge our vision of God by being prepared.