A Roman soldier named Cornelius has been told by God to send for Simon Peter. Peter doesn't know yet that Cornelius is sending three men to Joppa for him, but while the men are on their way the Lord prepares Peter for a task He's about to assign him. Peter is going to be bringing the gospel to a Gentile home and God needs to take away any prejudice Peter may harbor toward the Gentiles.
"About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell asleep. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' 'Surely not, Lord!' Peter replied. 'I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.' The voice spoke to him a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven." (Acts 10:9-16)
The sheet in Peter's vision contains animals that are on the unclean list. He balks at the idea of partaking of one of these, but God is about to use this example to show Peter that He is calling the Gentiles into the kingdom of God. For Peter, a devout Jew, simply going into the home of a Gentile would make him ceremonially unclean, just as eating forbidden food would make him ceremonially unclean. But God is about to sanctify all foods (for further reading on this matter, consult Romans 14) as a reminder that He is able to sanctify all people through Jesus Christ. Peter is to consider the Gentiles as worthy of receiving the gospel as the Jews. The Old Testament laws regarding intermarriage with Gentiles served a good purpose because the Gentiles were idolaters and the Lord didn't want them to influence His people. But the grace brought about by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ breaks down those barriers and makes the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers children of God. Therefore they are one big family.
The Lord repeats the vision three times. He will often repeat Himself so we can be certain that the instructions are truly from Him and so He can clearly imprint His instructions on our minds. God intends to make a strong impression on Peter's mind. At first Peter is puzzled about what the Lord means. "While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there." (Acts 10:17-18)
All things are about to be made clear. "While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, '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.'" (Acts 10:19-20)
Peter obeys the Lord. "Peter went down and said to the men, 'I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?' The men replied, 'We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.' Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests." (Acts 10:21-23) These men may be afraid Peter will refuse, so they are quick to assure him that Cornelius, though a Gentile, is respected by the Jews because of his faith and good works. Peter now understands the meaning of his vision. God has spoken to a Gentile in the same way He speaks to Jews. God intends the gospel to be taught to the Gentiles in the same way He intends it to be taught to the Jews. In God's eyes all who accept His Son are equal. As Saul of Tarsus will later say after he becomes Paul the Apostle, the apostle to the Gentiles, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
We will close with two things I think we really need to take away from our study time today. The first is that Christ loved us all, died for us all, and wants to save us all. We have no right to look down on anyone. We were all sinners and we all needed redemption. The second thing I think we need to note is that we shouldn't assume God isn't answering our prayers because we haven't yet received what we're asking for. As we've seen from the our study today, while He's dealing with our hearts He's also dealing with the hearts of others who are involved in the situation. Usually our answer involves other people and a lining up of circumstances in a particular way. God may have said "yes" the very minute we asked, but He has to work all things together to bring His "yes" answer to fruition. In the case of Cornelius and Peter we find them obeying God's instructions very quickly, but sometimes people (and even dark spiritual forces) resist Him for a time. This delays the receiving of our request while God works with their hearts. For an example of this, you can consult Daniel 10 where Daniel's prayer was answered immediately but an entity known as the "prince of Persia" resisted for twenty-one days and caused a delay in Daniel seeing the answer to his prayer. So keep on praying. Keep on trusting the Lord and growing in your relationship to Him. He's not sitting idle or ignoring your prayers. He's working all things together "for the good of those who love Him". (Romans 8:28)
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