Peter’s Vision: Breaking Down Walls
Text: Acts 10:9-23
Introduction
1. Illustration: “Preacher isn't talkin' 'bout religion no more
He just wants to praise the Lord
People aren't as stuffy as they were before
They just want to praise the Lord
And it's very plain to see
It's not the way it used to be
They're talkin' 'bout revival and the need for love
That little church has come alive
Workin' with each other for the common good
Puttin' all the past aside
Long hair, short hair, some coats and ties
People finally comin' around
Lookin' past the hair and straight into the eyes
People finally comin' around
And it's very plain to see
It's not the way it used to be.”
2. Like the song states, we’ve got to look past the hair and straight into the eyes. We’ve got to look past the outward appearance and look into the heart that needs Jesus.
3. Read Acts 10:9-23
Transition: To reach people different from us requires…
I. Opening Minds (9-16).
A. God Has Made It Clean
1. While Peter was staying at the house of Simon the tanner, God was about to show him things that were going to change not only his mind, but also his heart. In vv. 9-10 Luke tells us, “The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, 10 and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.”
a. Like Cornelius, Peter was also a man of prayer. He prayed in the morning and the evening. However, he also prayed at mid-day as well.
b. So, at noon time he went up on the roof to pray.
c. The houses in Palestine had flat roofs that were accessed by staircases that were on the outside of the house.
d. This gave people the chance to get away from the dust and noise of the street, and the homeowner would also usually provide some sort of awning for shade during the hot part of the day.
e. So, that’s where Peter went to pray, and while he was praying the noon meal was being prepared, which was a good thing because Peter was hungry.
f. While he was praying, he fell into a trance. The Greek word translated “trance” is the word from which we get our English word “ecstasy,” so, the Lord was putting Peter into a state of relaxation for Peter to receive the message he was about to give him.
2. While he was in the trance, “He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. 12 In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. 13 Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” 14 “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.”
a. In this vision, the skies opened up and a large sheet was let down from heaven.
b. In the sheet were all kinds of animals, including reptiles and birds.
c. The problem for Peter is that there were animals on this sheet that weren’t kosher, and as a Jew, he was forbidden to eat them.
d. However, the voice that spoke to him told him to get up kill them and eat.
e. Of course, Peter responds with a firm “no, Lord!” You’ll notice the use of the word “Lord” here indicating that Peter knew he was speaking to the Lord himself.
f. Peter told the Lord he had never eaten anything considered unclean and he wasn’t about to start now.
3. Next, the Lord responds to Peter’s objection. In vv. 15-16 it says, “But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” 16 The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven.”
a. The Lord tells Peter not to call something unclean that God has already made it clean.
b. The word “unclean” appears 5 times in chapters 10-11. In v. 15 it means to stop calling things unclean that God has declared clean.
c. However, Peter, being the thick-headed person that he was, had to have the message repeated 3 times.
d. But let’s not be too hard on Peter, for as a Jew this would have been a tough pill to swallow.
e. He was telling Peter everything he learned about dietary laws all his life were now null and void.
f. Consequently, not only was God going to change Peter’s mind concerning food, but he was also going to change Peter’s mind about people.
B. God Looks at the Heart
1. “Change will come into our lives when we change the way we look at people, when we have the same love and compassion for people that God does.”
2. We need to let God change our minds so that we can see people the way he sees them.
a. “The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7).
b. In the movie Jesus Revolution church people unhappy with the hippies in church get up to leave. Another man, an older gentleman dressed in a suit, got up and plopped himself down right in the middle of the hippies and said let’s have church!
c. We can be like the family that got up and left the church because they didn’t want to worship with hippies, or we can be like the man that chose to join them as believers.
d. The one man looked at their outward appearance, while the other man looked at their hearts.
e. We should look past their hair, or their clothes.
f. We should past their mistakes and their failures.
g. We should look into their hearts and see their need for Jesus.
h. We should look at their hurts and see their need for healing.
i. We need to let God change our minds towards how we see people.
Transition: Once we have let God change our minds, we need to begin…
II. Opening Eyes (17-20).
A. Don’t Worry I Have Sent Them
1. As you might expect, “Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate, 18 they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there. 19 Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you. 20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.”
a. The text says that “Peter was very perplexed,” which is understandable considering it went against what he had believed since a small child.
b. He kept asking himself, “what does this mean?” He knew that it had to be about more than food. What was the Lord trying to tell him?
c. In the meantime, the men that were sent by Cornelius had arrived and were standing at the gate asking for Peter.
d. As they were asking for him, Peter was “puzzling over the vision.”
e. This is the only place in the Bible that this word puzzling is used, and it means to think about something thoroughly and seriously.
2. At that moment, the Holy Spirit spoke to Peter and told him about the men looking for him.
a. He told Peter to go downstairs and go with them without hesitation.
b. He told Peter, “Don’t worry, for I have sent them.” This whole time the Holy Spirit had been preparing Peter for this moment, and now Peter was about to find out why.
B. Spirit Sent
1. Illustration: Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, in an interview told of his most memorable occasion to share the gospel. "I remember as a young believer I felt impressed to call on a man who was a CEO of one of the great fortune 500 companies. As presumptuous as it sounded, he was very responsive and agreed to see me. I asked for 15 minutes of his personal time, and when I was ushered into his big, beautiful office there was nothing on his desk... He was seated there waiting for me. He asked, "What can I do for you?" I said, "Sir, I've come to talk to you about your relationship with Jesus Christ." On the surface one would expect for him to call for a bodyguard and escort me out. He instead began to cry. Then he stopped and told me that at the age of 8 he had become a believer. He had become so ambitious, however, that he did not have time for God. Even though he had become one of the leading businessmen in the world he had not been to church in 30 years. He said, "God sent you. He sent you to help me. I'll be in church Sunday."
2. We always need to keep our eyes open for Spirit-sent encounters.
a. “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it.” (Heb. 13:2).
b. The part of this verse I want to focus on is not the angels part, but the part that says, “don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers.”
c. There will be those times in our lives when the Holy Spirit sends someone our way that needs to experience the love of Christ.
d. It may be at the grocery store or the gas station.
e. It may be at a restaurant or a place we regularly go.
f. It may be someone we know well or someone we’ve never met before.
g. Whatever the case may be, the Holy Spirit will direct us to someone and then he will begin to show us an opportunity to share Jesus with them.
h. Now remember, this does not mean we have to go to seminary; it only requires us making ourselves available to be used by the Holy Spirit.
i. Open your spiritual eyes and look for opportunities.
Transition: Once we allow God to change our minds, and we start to open our spiritual eyes, the Holy Spirit will start…
III. Opening Doors (21-23).
A. Hear Your Message
1. Next, Luke tells us, “So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?” 22 They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.” 23 So Peter invited the men to stay for the night. The next day he went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.”
a. Peter greets them at the door and acknowledges that he is the man they are looking for.
b. The three men begin to tell Peter about the message that Cornelius received from the angel.
c. Cornelius’s reputation had obviously gotten around to Peter, for when Peter heard of the message this Gentile soldier had received, he immediately knew it had something to do with the one he had received.
d. Things were about to change, and this is evidenced by the fact that Peter invited these Gentiles to stay the night with him.
e. The Holy Spirit was breaking down walls and preparing people on both sides of the isle for the spiritual awakening that was about to happen.
2. God was beginning to open new doors.
a. Once the focus had been on taking the message to the Jews.
b. Now, however, they were going to begin taking the Good News to the Gentiles.
c. God was opening new doors and new avenues for the Church to focus on.
d. Things were beginning to change, and it was very plain to see it’s not the way it used to be.
B. How Can They Hear
1. Illustration: Another scene from the movie “Jesus Revolution” I liked was when people in the church started complaining about the hippies not wearing shoes because they were afraid, they might stain the carpet. So, Pastor Chuck Smith, sat at the door of the church washing the feet of all the hippies without shoes, telling them, “Welcome to church.”
2. When we begin to open our minds and our eyes, God will begin to open doors.
a. “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” (Rom. 10:14-15).
b. Once we have opened our minds, God will begin to send people our way who need to hear the Good News. Not that they weren’t there before, but our minds were closed which limited our opportunities.
c. Once we have opened our eyes, God will begin to show us more people who can hear the message of the Gospel. Not that they weren’t there before, but our eyes were closed to the opportunity. Like they used to say on the Three Stooges, “I can’t see, I can’t see!” Why not, “I had my eyes closed!”
d. You see, when our minds are open to reaching out to people different from us, the amount of opportunities increases.
e. When we open our eyes to the opportunities that Spirit is opening for us to share the Good News, we’ll be able to see them better because we’ll be looking for them.
f. Like Peter and the Jesus Revolution, it will be plain to see things are not the way it used to be.
Conclusion
1. When God begins breaking down walls, he starts…
a. Opening Minds
b. Opening Eyes
c. Opening Doors
2. What’s the point preacher? Let God change the way you see people. Stop looking at outward appearances or misguided mindsets and start looking at the heart that needs Jesus.
