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Scripture Reading: Acts 10:1-33
By the end of chapter nine the Lord had done many things to prepare the way for Peter to open the door for the Gentiles to come into the kingdom of God. Acts 9:31 points to the success of Peter’s ministry: “The church throughout the whole of Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it was multiplied.” Here we see that churches had been strongly established in the three provinces of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. This indicated that Peter’s ministry in the propagation of the resurrected Christ was very successful in the Jewish land. This land included not only Judea but also Galilee and Samaria, a region in between Judea and Galilee. Through Peter’s ministry the territory called the holy land was filled with churches.
According to 9:32-43, Peter was moved by the Lord toward Caesarea, which was a strong center of the Roman government. In Caesarea lived a man named Cornelius. Here we see the Lord’s preparation for the opening of the door for the Gentiles to come into the church life.
In Matt. 16:19 the Lord Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom. On the day of Pentecost Peter used the first of these keys to open the door for the Jewish people to come into the kingdom of God. As we shall see, in Acts 10 Peter used the second key to open the door of the kingdom of God to the Gentiles.
Acts 10:1 and 2 say, “Now there was a certain man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what is called the Italian cohort, devout and fearing God with all his household, giving many alms to the people, and beseeching God continually.” The word “cohort” signifies one of the ten divisions of an ancient Roman legion. It was composed of six hundred men. Cornelius, the Roman centurion, like the Ethiopian eunuch, was seeking God, as mentioned in 17:27.
In 10:1 we see that the Lord now took a further step in His evangelical work. By this He reached another total Gentile, a man of Italy of the Roman Empire in Europe. Thus the door of the gospel was opened to all the Gentiles. It was a difficult thing for the Jewish apostles and disciples with their Jewish background and habit to approach the Gentiles (v. 28). Hence, it was an extraordinary move, needing an angel of God to take part in it (v. 3), just as an angel did in the case of Philip approaching the Ethiopian from Africa in 8:26. And in both cases the Spirit spoke to Philip and Peter particularly (8:29; 10:19).
The Lord is sovereign over the entire situation of the world. What happened in Acts 10 was surely according to the Lord’s sovereignty. In Caesarea, an important city for the Roman government, there was a certain centurion named Cornelius. Cornelius was not only a good man and a moral man, but was also a devout man, one seeking after God. From the beginning of mankind, there have always been devout men who sought God. Cornelius was in this category. He and all those of his household feared God and were devout. Acts 10:7 even speaks of a devout soldier. This indicates that in Cornelius’ household there was a devout atmosphere. In Acts 10 we see the kind of person used by God to open the way for the kingdom of God to the Gentile world.
Acts 10:3 and 4 say, “He saw clearly in a vision about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him and saying to him, Cornelius! And looking intently at him and becoming terrified, he said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have ascended for a memorial before God.” Cornelius was one of fallen mankind, sinful and condemned before God as all others, yet God accepted his prayers and his alms, whereas Cain’s He rejected (Gen. 4:3, 5). This must have been due to the fact that God, based upon Christ’s eternal redemption and in view of his believing in Christ in the ensuing days, forgave him (v. 43) according to His foreknowledge.
According to 10:3, an angel of God appeared to Cornelius and spoke to him. An angel was also used by God in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch. In that case “an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Rise up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza” (8:26). The angels in these two cases indicate that these cases are extraordinary. The preaching of the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch was the bringing of the gospel to a Gentile. Likewise, the preaching of the gospel to the house of Cornelius was the preaching of the gospel to a Gentile family. Since this was an extraordinary case, an angel was involved. However, neither in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch nor in the case of Cornelius and his household was the angel commissioned to preach the gospel. The reason for this is that only human beings who are believers in the Lord Jesus have the privilege of bringing the good news to others.
After the vision of Cornelius (10:1-8), we have the vision of Peter (10:9-16). Acts 10:9 says, “And on the next day as they were journeying and drawing near to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour.” Cornelius received a vision in prayer (v. 30), and Peter also received a vision (vv. 17, 19) in prayer, through which God’s plan and move were carried out. Man’s prayer is needed as a means of cooperation with God’s move.
In chapter ten of Acts there is a strong emphasis on the importance of prayer. First we have Cornelius’ prayer and then Peter’s prayer. The prayers of these two men became the means for the Lord to come in to open the door for the Gentiles. While Cornelius, a devout man, was praying, a vision came to him. Likewise, it was while Peter was praying that the vision recorded in this chapter came to him. From this we see that we all need to learn to have a prayer life, for a prayer life always prepares the way for the Lord’s move and opens the gate for Him to spread. As those who are here for the Lord’s recovery, we must learn that the Lord can use only those who have a prayer life, a life of contacting Him in prayer.
We are not told for what Cornelius and Peter were praying. The record does indicate, however, that they set aside certain times for prayer, that they prayed according to a schedule. Acts 10:3 says that Cornelius was praying at the ninth hour, at three o’clock in the afternoon, and 10:9 says that Peter was praying at the sixth hour, at twelve o’clock noon. From this we see that they had a prayer life and even prayed at scheduled times. If we in the Lord’s recovery have such a prayer life according to set times, we shall be used by Him in opening the way for the spread of His recovery.
According to 10:10 Peter “became very hungry and desired to eat; and while they were preparing, a trance came upon him.” Peter’s hunger here signifies the seeking after the things of God (Matt. 5:6). God fills this hunger (Luke 1:53). The Greek word rendered “eat” is usually rendered “taste.”
The Greek word translated “trance” is ekstasis, which means being put out of its place; hence, referring to a state in which a man passes out of himself and from which he comes to himself (12:11), as in a dream, but without sleep. It differs from a vision, as in verses 3, 17, and 19, in which definite objects are visible to human eyes. In this ecstasy — trance — Peter saw a vision (11:5).
In this trance, this ecstasy, Peter “beheld heaven opened, and a certain vessel like a great sheet descending, being let down by four corners onto the earth, in which were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of the heaven” (vv. 11-12). The opening of the heavens in verse 11 indicates that the Lord’s evangelical move on earth is under His administration on the throne in heaven (see Heb. 8:1; Acts 7:56). All the apostles and evangelists were and still are carrying out the heavenly commission on earth for the spreading of the gospel of the kingdom of God.
Verse 11 says that a vessel like a great sheet descended from the heavens. This vessel symbolizes the gospel spreading to the four corners of the inhabited earth to collect all kinds of unclean (sinful) people (Luke 13:29). The four-footed animals, reptiles, and birds mentioned in verse 12 symbolize men of all kinds.
Acts 10:13 says, “And a voice came to him, Rise up, Peter, slay and eat!” To eat, in this sign, is to associate with people (v. 28).
In verse 14 Peter answered, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common and unclean.” Peter’s not eating things common and unclean is according to the teaching in Leviticus 11. Circumcision, Sabbath-keeping, and a particular diet are the three strongest ordinances according to the law of Moses that caused the Jews to be distinct and separate from the Gentiles, who are regarded by them as unclean. All these scriptural ordinances of the Old Testament dispensation became an obstacle to the spreading of the gospel to the Gentiles according to God’s New Testament dispensation (15:1; Col. 2:16).
Acts 10:15 continues, “And a voice came to him again a second time, What God has cleansed, do not consider common!” This refers to the people whom God has cleansed through the redeeming blood of Christ (Rev. 1:5).
In chapter ten of Acts we see an important matter related to God’s economy — the need for a dispensational transfer. In the Old Testament, God’s economy was in a dispensation of figures, types, and prophecies. There was no accomplishment at all of God’s economy in the Old Testament. Eventually the Triune God came in to accomplish everything required by God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory to carry out His economy. It was not only the Son who came but the Son with the Father and through the Spirit. The carrying out of God’s economy is the dispensing of Himself into His chosen people so that He may be mingled thoroughly with humanity to build up an eternal habitation for Him and His chosen people in order that He may have a full expression of Himself in eternity.
Since God in His Trinity came to accomplish everything necessary that He might carry out His economy, there was a dispensational transfer. On the one hand, God could not avoid using the Jewish people for this transfer. On the other hand, Judaism was the foremost obstacle to this transfer. We can see in the four Gospels that there was a struggle, a confrontation, between Judaism and the Lord Jesus. The Lord came to initiate the transfer, that is, to initiate the change. But Judaism tried to frustrate this change. This struggle that began in the Gospels continued in Acts.
Even the Lord’s chosen ones such as Peter, John, and James were not clear concerning the need for an absolute and thorough transfer. Peter’s response to the vision of the great sheet descending from the heavens indicates this. Peter was very good in keeping this time of prayer. But when the Lord wanted him to go to the Gentiles and associate with them, this became a problem to Peter.
Due to his Judaic background, Peter did not want to associate with Gentiles. For a Jew to associate with Gentiles was like eating unclean things. To eat something is to take that thing into us and make it one with us. Peter’s refusing to eat the unclean things contained in the great vessel that descended from the heavens is a portrait of the Jews’ unwillingness to take in the Gentiles and to be one with them. Any Jew who would go to the Gentiles and become one with them would be like a person who eats unclean things.
We have pointed out that the three main ordinances that caused the Jews to be distinct and separate from the Gentiles are circumcision, Sabbath-keeping, and a particular diet. Concerning these ordinances conservative Jews are very strict. According to Ephesians 2:15, these ordinances of the law have been abolished by the Lord’s death on the cross. He has abolished circumcision, Sabbath-keeping, and the particular diet. But although the Lord Jesus abolished these ordinances, Peter still held to them.
In Acts 10 the Lord Jesus tested Peter. As Peter was praying, a trance came upon him. This means that Peter was in an ecstacy, that he was outside of himself. While he was in this ecstasy, this trance, a vision came to him. He saw a vessel like a great sheet descending, and in this vessel there were all the four-footed animals, reptiles of the earth, and birds of the heaven. Peter must have been greatly surprised at this vision. Then a voice said to him, “Rise up, Peter, slay and eat!” (v. 13). Peter responded by saying, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common and unclean” (v. 14). Here Peter seemed to be saying, “Lord, I cannot eat these things. I have never eaten anything that is common. Whatever I eat, Lord, must be holy. I can only eat things that are sanctified.”
Peter’s answer indicates that it was very difficult for the Lord to work out His transfer with him. Because of this difficulty, it was necessary for the vision to take place three times: “And this occurred three times; and immediately the vessel was taken up into heaven” (v. 16). Like Peter, we also may have difficulty making the transfer today, for our thinking may still be under the influence of religious tradition.
In 10:17-33 we have the account of Peter’s visit to the house of Cornelius in Caesarea. Verses 19 and 20 say, “And while Peter was pondering concerning the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three men are seeking you. But rise up and go down and go with them, doubting nothing, because I have sent them.” This indicates that Cornelius’ sending of the three men (vv. 7-8) was the Spirit’s move and act through him even before his conversion. In 8:29 the Spirit spoke to Philip, and here in 10:19 the Spirit spoke to Peter. In the cases both of the Ethiopian eunuch and of Cornelius and his household, first an angel spoke and then the Spirit spoke.
Peter received those sent by Cornelius and lodged them. “And on the next day he rose up and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him” (v. 23). Peter, in this strategic case, did not act individualistically, but with some of the brothers in the principle of the Body of Christ so that they might witness what God would do with the Gentiles through the preaching of the gospel by his breaking the Jewish tradition and habit (11:12).
Acts 10:24 says, “On the next day he entered into Caesarea; and Cornelius was awaiting them, having called together his relatives and intimate friends.” Here we see that Cornelius was prepared to receive Peter and hear what he had to say. For this purpose Cornelius had called together his relatives and intimate friends. Here we have a good pattern for our gospel preaching today. According to this pattern, we should open our homes and invite our relatives and intimate friends to hear the gospel.
In 10:28 Peter said to those who were gathered together in the house of Cornelius, “You understand how unlawful it is for a man, a Jew, to associate with or to approach one of another race; and yet God has shown me not to call any man common or unclean.” Peter’s word here indicates that eventually he understood the significance of the vision he saw in the trance (vv. 11, 17, 19), that the animals in the great sheet signified men. In the next message we shall consider the content of Peter’s message to those in the house of Cornelius.
