ESOCS Devotional 24 July 2024 – Fellow Citizens of the Kingdom
MEMORY VERSE: “And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.” Acts 10:11-13 KJV
TEXT: ACTS 10:1-16
There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”
So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. 6 He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.” 7 And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. 8 So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.
9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.
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The fundamental problem addressed in this passage is the ongoing separation of Jews and Gentiles. Hitherto, both at Jerusalem and everywhere else where the ministers of Christ came, they preached the gospel only to the Jews, or those Greeks that were circumcised and proselyted to the Jews’ religion; but now, Gentiles; and to them the door of faith is here opened: good news indeed to us sinners of the Gentiles. The apostle Peter is the man that is first employed to admit uncircumcised Gentiles into the Christian church; and Cornelius, a Roman centurion or colonel, is the first that with his family and friends was so admitted.
The bringing of the gospel to the Gentiles, and the bringing of those who had been strangers and foreigners to be fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, were such a mystery to the apostles themselves, and such a surprise (Eph. 3:3, 6).
We are here told that Cornelius was a great man and a good man – two characters that seldom meet but here they did; and where they do meet, they put a lustre upon each other: goodness makes greatness truly valuable, and greatness makes goodness much more serviceable.
But there is another type of conversion we need to consider, that of Peter. He had serious hang-ups regarding Gentiles, as almost all of the Jews did. From childhood a particular worldview had been ingrained in them that looked upon the Gentiles as unclean. The Lord began to dismantle Peter’s prejudice against Gentiles, tearing down the wall that had kept them separate. The Kingdom of God expands when the perception of cultural barriers is removed. Peter saw heaven opened, that he might be sure that his authority to go to Cornelius was indeed from heaven – that it was a divine light, which altered his sentiments, and a divine power, which gave him his commission. The opening of the heavens signified the opening of a mystery that had been hid (Rom. 16:25).
He saw a great sheet full of all manners of living creatures, which descended from heaven, and was let down to him to the earth, that is, to the roof of the house where he now was. It is knit at the four corners, to receive those from all parts of the world that are willing to be added to it; and to retain and keep those safe that are taken into it, that they may not fall out; and in this we find some of all countries, nations, and languages, without any distinction of Greek or Jew, or any disadvantage put upon Barbarian or Scythian (Col. 3:11). The net of the gospel encloses all, both bad and good, those that before were clean and unclean.
- Cornelius was loved for his generosity. What about you? Do you give freely to others because God has freely given to you? Are you generously giving to the Church?
- Cornelius faithfully prayed. What about you? Does your prayer have a consistent pattern?
Further Reading: Deuteronomy 10:11-end; Ezekiel 37:15-end; Luke 1:1-25
ESOCS Devotional 24 July 2024
