Soldier or Servant?
Acts Chapter 10
We will continue our study today in the Book of Acts looking at the early church and what God was seeking to do – toady we are looking at a passage where God is really seeking to turn a corner with His followers.
Acts 9 – Saul becomes Paul – we saw this incredible persecutor of the church become one of its biggest advocates.
The thing about Paul is that God had a specific plan for his life:
Acts 9:10-16 10And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. 11And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 13Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: 14And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. 15But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.
Here is what is so interesting about this passage – this is one of the first time we see God explain His incredible plan for His church where GENTILES are the target audience.
Sure, Philip the evangelist went to the Samaritan’s in Acts 8 – lead a stray Ethiopian eunuch to Christ later in that chapter, but really the focus up to this point has been primarily JEWISH.
Not so with the Apostle Paul – he is called to be the Apostle to the Gentiles:
Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
God begins to turn this corner using – A Soldier and A Servant here in Acts chapter 10 – lets take a look at them and see what God can teach us through His word and their lives. Lets begin by looking at:
1) THE LOST SOLDIER
Acts 10:1-8 1There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, 2A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. 3He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. 5And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 6He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. 7And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; 8And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.
It is interesting to see where we find Cornelius – he is in Caesarea – which we have seen before:
Acts 8:40 40But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.
We don’t really know too much about Cornelius’ background – but that he is a centurion – a leader of 100 soldiers in the Roman army stationed in a place where we find our incredible evangelist wind up – coincidence?
God is working in this soldiers life – check out what the word of God says about this man:
Acts 10:1-2 1There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, 2A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.
1) He was DEVOUT
2) He FEARD GOD
3) He was a GIVER OF ALMS
4) He PRAYED to GOD ALWAYS
What an incredible guy here! How do we compare to this Roman soldier?
There is just really one problem – yes – he is doing all of these incredible things, HOWEVER, HE DOES NOT HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST!
THIS MAN IS UNSAVED – UNREGENERATE – AND IF HE DIED IN THE NEXT BATTLE WOULD SPEND ETERNITY IN A GODLESS HELL!
This man reinforces the fact that OUR SALVATION IS NOT A PRODUCT OF OUR GOOD WORKS!
There is nothing we can DO TO EARN OUR SALVATION!
Ephesians 2:8-9 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Titus 3:3-5 3For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Right now Cornelius’ RELATIONSHIP with God is based on his DEVOTION to do things like GIVING money and PRAYING out of his FEAR of God.
Now guys, there is nothing wrong with supporting God’s ministry and praying – we are actually commanded to do these things in the Word of God – but these actions can never SAVE US!
However, God cares for this Centurion.
2) THE LOVING SAVIOUR
Acts 10:3-6 3He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. 5And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 6He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
God is not about to let this SINCERE SEEKER slip through the cracks and begins drawing this soldier to Him!
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 16:7-13 7Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 12I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Cornelius responds to this leading of God:
Acts 10:7-8 7And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; 8And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.
This response to the leading and drawing of God shows that he was a true seeker who just needed to understand a few things about the grace of God verses his own works.
LETS COMPARE HIS MINDSET TO THE MAN HE IS GOING TO SEE – ONE SIMON PETER.
3) THE LOFTY SERVANT
Acts 10:9-16 9On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: 10And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, 11And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 12Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 14But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 16This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
Unlike the Roman Centurion, we do know quite a bit about this Simon Peter and his background. He has really been the mouthpiece of God since Pentecost and is one of the primary leaders of the church in Jerusalem.
He unlike the Centurion is not only a born-again believer, but was one of the original DISCIPLES of Christ!
No question on Peter’s salvation – no question as to whether Peter understands the true gospel without any perversion or trying to add the law or good works.
As a matter of fact, the Bible could define Peter as a man much like the Centurion: DEVOUT, FEARS GOD, GIVEN WHOLE LIFE, A MAN OF PRAYER. (That’s what we find him doing in the text)
Acts 10:9 9On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
Peter, as he is going to the Lord in prayer in this passage – has a God experience in which we are told that he falls into a trance and God something a little strange – something He has never done before:
Acts 10:10-13 10And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, 11And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 12Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
Now this was a major no-no for a Jewish individual!
There were strict laws that were given to the people of God regarding what they could and could not eat – back in Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 14:3-8 3Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. 4These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, 5The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. 6And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat. 7Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. 8And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.
It is amazing to see how Peter responds to God’s command in Acts 10
Acts 10:14 14But Peter said, Not so, Lord;
Now Peter at times had an uncanny way of thinking that he knew more than God – do you see that here – God tells him to do something and his respond is “Not so, Lord?”
Matthew 16:21-23 21From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
As we look at Peter in these instances we see – even though he is a believer, disciple, and follower of Christ; we sometimes catch a glimpse of the same mentality as the Centurion.
Acts 10:14 14But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
The Jews were consumed with keeping the Law and attaining “their own righteousness” through their actions and good works – just like our Centurion was seeking to do.
Even when we have been delivered from that mentality – that false works salvation, we can still sometimes slip back in to believing that our security in Christ is somehow based on our performance.
Look at how God responds to Peter:
Acts 10:15-16 15And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 16This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
That is all that matters – that we have been cleansed of our sins by the incredible power of God!
That we are forgiven and in a right relationship with Him – that is what God sought to communicate to Peter – it wasn’t about our backgrounds – it wasn’t about what kind of a life we lived before we met Christ.
It wasn’t about how many good or bad things that we had done – it was simply: the cleansing power of the precious blood of that lamb without spot or blemish – the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter got the picture – and then took this incredible gospel to that Roman Centurion who believed, was saved, and demonstrated to the Jewish believers that God was no respecter of persons!
How about us today?
How do we view God today? Is He this Deity that is ready to forsake and cast us away the second we make a mistake? Or is He a God who will never leave us or forsake us?
If you are saved today – are you still trying to earn the favor of a God who loves you so much that He gave His only begotten Son for you?
Rest secure – You are loved!
It is not about our performance – it is about His cleansing and His grace!
Lets pray.
