SEE THE VISION
Text: Acts 10:9-33; 44-48
Introduction
1. Illustration: Walt Disney never lived to see the opening of Disney World. During the opening ceremonies, someone is reputed to have said to Walt’s wife, "It’s a shame Walt is not here to see this." To which she responded, "He did see it, or it wouldn’t have been here."
2. Acts 2:17-18 (ESV)
17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
3. What does Scripture mean by the word vision?
4. Vision: an event in which something appears vividly and credibly to the mind, although not actually present, but implying the influence of some divine or supernatural power or agency
(Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains, Under: "33.488).
5. In other words, it a Holy Spirit given ability to see the way things the way they will be, not the way they are, but the way they will be in the future.
6. In our text today Peter received a vision from the Holy Spirit of the church the way it would become. In this text we see…
a. Receiving The Vision
b. Giving The Vision Legs
c. Realizing The Vision
7. Let’s read together Acts 10:9-16.
Proposition: A Holy Spirit given vision is a snap shot of the way the church will be in the future.
Transition: First we see…
I. Receiving The Vision (9-16).
A. What God Has Made Clean
1. One of the great promises of the age of the church is that “God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh.” That God would no longer be selective as to whom he gave his Spirit, but rather he would give his Spirit to anyone that asked.
a. However, a part of that promise had to do with seeing visions.
b. It didn’t take long for that to become a reality.
c. What happened to Peter this day on Simon’s roof was undoubtedly a vision from the Holy Spirit.
2. It says in v. 9, “The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.”
a. Peter was in Joppa staying at the house of Simon the Tanner and about the "sixth hour" (which is dinner time) he went up on the roof to pray.
b. The flat roofs of Palestine, approached by an outdoor flight of steps, were common places of prayer in biblical times.
c. It was a good place to pray during the daytime as it was separated from the activity of the house, and the sea breeze and an awning helped cool the place (Fernando, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Acts, 320).
3. Then in vv. 10-12 we read, “And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.”
a. Now being the good Pentecostal that he was, Peter got hungry.
b. Since it was dinner time, Peter became very hungry and while he waited for the meal to be made, he saw a large sheet being let down from heaven with every kind of animal imaginable.
c. Isn’t it just like the Holy Spirit to speak to Peter when his belly was empty?
d. The problem was that the Holy Spirit was showing him a vision of food that as a good Jew he wasn’t allowed to eat!
e. It goes back to the dietary regulations that we read about back in the OT. God gave the Israelites a list of animals that they were forbidden to eat.
4. So look at Peter’s initial response to the Holy Spirit’s vision. Look at vv. 13-14, “And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
a. The voice he heard was the voice of the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit was telling him to do something that was against everything that Peter had been taught.
b. This command would be unacceptable for him as a Jew, as some of the animals were not kosher (Fernando, 320).
c. Therefore, Peter says "No way!" He has never eaten anything unclean and wasn't about to start now (Bruce, NICNT: The Book of Acts, 206).
d. Keep in mind that Peter is responding the way any good Jew would respond.
e. But also keep in mind that the Holy Spirit was trying to teach Peter something here. He was giving him a vision about the way the church would be, and he had more to do with people than it did with food.
f. You see, not only did the Jews consider food unclean, but they also consider anyone that wasn’t Jewish unclean.
g. He was trying to show Peter that the Gospel was for everyone, and that they church was to be an all-inclusive assembly of people.
h. That the Kingdom was open to whosoever would come.
5. But if you know anything about our friend Peter, he wasn’t always the sharpest knife in the drawer, and he could be a little thick headed. Look at what happens in vv. 15-16, “And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.”
a. However, the Holy Spirit called to him and said, "What God has cleansed you must not call common."
b. Just like with us, the education of Peter took some repetition, three times in this case.
c. However, the Spirit was revealing to him that the church was headed in a new direction; and if he was going to be obedient, he needed to follow.
d. Just like Peter, when the Holy Spirit gives a vision of a new direction for the church, we need to be willing to follow.
e. We need to be willing to get out of our comfort zones and move in whatever direction he might call us.
B. The Way It Will Be
1. Illustration: Donald S. Whitney in his book, "Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life" has said: "Discipline without direction is drudgery." He gives an example of a six-year-old boy named Kevin sitting one afternoon at guitar lessons. Outside are the other boys laughing and running - playing baseball - having fun. For Kevin the guitar lessons are drudgery. Then all of a sudden, an angel comes and transports Kevin to Carnegie Hall where a guitar virtuoso is giving a concert. Kevin is amazed how the musician is able to play the guitar with fluidity and grace. Kevin gets excited and is enthralled by the concert. Then the angel then tells him - "Kevin that musician is you - years from now." Kevin says - "Wow!" and the next thing you know he is sitting back at his guitar lesson. The other boys are still outside playing baseball - but something has changed. Kevin now has a vision. He now has a direction. He now has a goal.
2. The key to a great vision for the church is that it has to come from the Holy Spirit.
a. Zechariah 4:6-7 (ESV)
6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
b. For the church to move forward and be successful it has to get a hold of a vision from the Holy Spirit.
c. It’s not my vision the church needs.
d. It’s not your vision the church needs.
e. It’s not a vision from the past the church needs.
f. It’s a vision that comes directly from heaven delivered by the God the Holy Spirit.
g. Vision is a promise of Pentecost.
h. Vision is a promise of the Last Days.
i. Oh, Holy Spirit, send us a new vision of what the church will become!
Transition: After the vison is received, we have to be about…
II. Giving The Vision Legs (17-33).
A. Three Men Are Looking For You
1. Read Acts 10:17-33
2. The fact that it took Peter a while to figure this out does not mean that he lacked faith.
a. This was something he was not going to be able to figure out with human reason.
b. He was going to have to take a step of faith and trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
3. However, the Holy Spirit had also been working on someone else -- Cornelius.
a. At the same time that the Holy Spirit sent a vision to Peter, he also sent one to Cornelius telling him to send for Peter.
b. Now the men that Cornelius sent for Peter were at the door.
4. In vv. 19-20 it says, “And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.
20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.”
a. In spite of his prejudices, Peter was sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit to recognize His voice and be open to Him (Horton, Complete Biblical Library: Acts, 239).
b. Peter was to go with them without reservation because they would take him to see the real meaning behind his vision.
c. Unless we get off our seats and move in the direction the Holy Spirit is leading the vision will go nowhere.
5. Look what Peter does, in vv. 21-23 it says, “And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23 So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.”
a. Peter obeyed, told the men he was the one they were looking for, and politely asked the reason they had come.
b. They explained that they had come from Cornelius, who, they added emphatically, was a man who was a God-fearing and "respected by all the Jewish people."
c. Then they relayed the message of the angel (Horton, 200).
d. Ordinarily a Jew would not invite a Gentile into his home.
e. Peter must have done some explaining of his vision to his host Simon to be allowed to show the three men hospitality for the night.
f. Then, in the morning, Peter went with them. But he was careful to take six "of the brothers from Joppa" with him.
g. He knew other believers would call him into question for going into a Gentile house, so he wanted some reliable witnesses.
h. Just to be sure, he took double the two or three required by the Law (Horton, 201).
i. But the main point is this, the Holy Spirit called him to go and do something that was out of his comfort zone, and he did so without hesitation.
B. Putting It Into Motion
1. Illustration: The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must move our feet and step up the stairs.
2. Putting legs on the vision requires faith and obedience.
a. James 1:22 (ESV)
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
b. James 2:17 (ESV)
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
c. Getting a new Spirit-given, dynamic vision doesn’t do us any good if we don’t do anything with it.
d. For too long the church has been too afraid to step out in faith and do something new.
e. Do you know what the last seven words of a dying church are? “We’ve never done it that way before!”
f. If we want to see the vision grow legs, we have to be willing to get out of our comfort zone.
g. We need to be willing to get out of the seat, roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty.
h. We will have to go places we’ve never gone and do things we’ve never done.
i. Acts 1:8 (ESV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Transition: When we have received the vision and put legs on the vison, we will then be…
III. Realizing The Vision (44-48).
A. The Holy Spirit Fell
1. Read Acts 10:44-48
2. As a result of Peter's obedience, the Holy Spirit fell.
3. Luke tells us in vv. 44-45, “While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.”
a. The word used here for the Holy Spirit falling on them is the same word that is used in Acts 8:16 when the Holy Spirit fell on the Samaritans.
b. Therefore, the falling of the Holy Spirit is clearly proof of the Pentecostal experience of receiving the Holy Spirit in a mighty baptism of power (Horton, 255).
c. It was the proof for them that they had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
d. It was the proof that God had done something miraculous.
e. This is all because Peter answered the call!
f. He saw the vision of what the church would be.
g. He acted on the vision and headed the voice of the Spirit
h. As a result, heaven came down and miracles began to happen!
B. Vision Brings Power
1. Illustration: As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife’s voice urgently warning him: “Herman, I just heard on the news that there’s some nut going the wrong way on 71. Please be careful!” Herman replied, “It’s not just one car. It’s hundreds of them!”
2. When we follow the vision, the power will fall!
a. Acts 11:17-18 (ESV)
17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
b. One thing is for sure about a Holy Spirit given vision, it will bring results!
c. If we embrace the vision, the Holy Spirit will begin to open doors.
d. If we act on the vision in faith, the Holy Spirit will empower us to do his work.
e. If we believe in the vision, and step out of our comfort zones, miracles will begin to happen!
f. Needs will be met.
g. Souls will be saved.
h. People will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
i. Revival will take place!
Conclusion
1. In our text today Peter received a vision from the Holy Spirit of the church the way it would become. In this text we saw…
a. Receiving The Vision
b. Giving The Vision Legs
c. Realizing The Vision
2. THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER…
a. A HOLY SPIRIT GIVEN VISION WILL TAKE US OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONES.
b. A HOLY SPIRIT GIVEN VISION WILL CAUSE US TO DO THINGS WE DIDN’T REALIZE WE COULD DO.
c. A HOLY SPIRIT GIVEN VISION WILL CAHNGE LIVES.
