The Acts of the Apostles Acts 10 1

The Acts of the Apostles “Acts 10: 1 -22 “Peter with Cornelius & the Great Sheet” • Acts 10: 1 -8: Cornelius and His Vision – Cornelius was a Roman and centurion • A non-commissioned officer who commanded a division in the Roman army, consisting of a 100 men. • A regiment (band) was 600 men, 10% of a Roman legion of 6000 soldiers. – Five centurions mentioned in the NT • Cornelius and others in Matt 8: 5 -13; Luke 23: 46, 47; Acts 22: 24 -26; Acts 27: 1 – Caesarea was on the Mediterranean ~30 miles north of Joppa. – Was Cornelius a believer? • He was described as devout (pious), one who feared God and gave alms generously and prayed continually (presumably to the Jews’ God). – More about Cornelius - Acts 10: 28, 34, 44; 11: 1, 8; 15: 7 – The vision occurred at the 9 th hour - ~3: 00 PM, the hour of prayer. • See also Ps 55: 17; Dan 6: 10 1 June 8, 2014 Bob Eckel

The Acts of the Apostles “Acts 10: 1 -22 “Peter with Cornelius & the Great Sheet” – Notice the gender of the angel (v 4) – masculine – Why were Cornelius’ alms and prayer called a memorial before God? • See the prayers of the saints in Rev 8: 4 – If Cornelius is unsaved, doesn’t this experience remind you of Paul? • What’s similar? • What’s different? • Why didn’t the Lord bring Peter to Cornelius rather than the opposite? – Notice the command was to send men not himself. • Acts 10: 9 -16: Peter’s Vision – The men are on their way and ~12: 00 Peter is up on the (flat) roof praying. • And Peter got hungry and proceeded into a trance (ecstasy) (hypoglycemia? ) and then had a vision of clean and unclean animals coming down on a white sheet. June 8, 2014 Bob Eckel 2

The Acts of the Apostles “Acts 10: 1 -22 “Peter with Cornelius & the Great Sheet” – Like similar states described in II Cor 12: 2; Rev 1: 10 – Seems like a reasonable vision for a hungry man doesn't’ it. • And he saw heaven open up (v 11) – Like Steven in Acts 7: 55, 56 • And there are other visions in the book of Acts – Acts 7: 31; 9: 10 -12, 12: 9, 16: 9, 10, 18: 9 • What do make of the sheet being bound at the four corners? – And this was difficult for Peter because these animals were not all Kosher (Lev 2: 11 -45). • Who was speaking to Peter? • What was the message – repeated 3 times? – An important turning point - let’s leave the Law behind Peter! » Constable – ‘He had either not understood or not remembered Jesus' teaching in which He had declared all foods clean (Mark 7: 14 -19, Rom. 14: 14). Peter's "No, Lord, " is, of course, an inconsistent contradiction. Nevertheless Peter's response was very consistent with his impulsive personality and former conduct. He had said, "No, " to the Lord before (Matt. 16: 22; John 13: 8). ’ 3 June 8, 2014 Bob Eckel

The Acts of the Apostles “Acts 10: 1 -22 “Peter with Cornelius & the Great Sheet” – And calling someone ‘common’ should have become invalid – Acts 10: 28 – Can you think of ways in which our response to legality continues today? • Acts 10: 17 -22 Peter’s Response to the Vision and Men Sent by Cornelius – Peter’s response of wondering or doubting about the white sheet phenomenon was in the imperfect tense – continual and repeated wondering and doubting – Notice how the Holy Spirit leads (v 19) • The timing of the visit – related to Peter’s roofly experience • That Peter was to come down and greet the men sent by Cornelius and realize the Lord had brought them to him. • In addition to being called by angels of the Lord (vv. 3, 22) and the ascended Lord Jesus Christ (vv. 4, 14). – How unexpected this all must have seemed to Peter • Gentile men being sent to him from another town. 4 June 8, 2014 Bob Eckel

The Acts of the Apostles “Acts 10: 1 -22 “Peter with Cornelius & the Great Sheet” • Summoning him to the house of Cornelius and sharing words with him. – Presumably the gospel. » The heart of Cornelius had been prepared. » Is this the way God works today? – How important do think it was for them to describe the attributes of Cornelius? I Pet 3: 15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: ” 5 June 8, 2014 Bob Eckel