Summary: ...Imagine, if you would, a man who had spent years in prison promising himself that if he ever got out, he would never return of his own free will.

What God Has Made Clean

Acts 10:9-16, 30-35

I want you to imagine, if you would, a man who had spent years in prison promising himself that if he ever got out, he would never return of his own free will. While in prison, he spent the vast majority of his time doing those things that would help keep him from ever coming back. He took innumerable Bible studies and every religious course he could find in order to deepen the faith he found in county jail and help him stay on that journey toward faithfulness, holiness, righteousness, and sanctification.

Years went by and miracle of miracles, he did get paroled. He got a job and eventually went to college to complete the education he had begun in prison. In college he met his wife, they had kids, and after graduation he got a very good job which eventually transferred him to Kentucky. He had been out of prison for 10 years by then. Prison was far behind him and seldom in his thoughts.

Then one night he had a dream which disturbed him so much that he woke up in a cold sweat. His waking was so abrupt that it woke his wife as well. He dreamed he was back in prison, and the thought of that really bothered him. Why did he dream this? He had made a point of blocking that part of his life out of his mind, and he had blocked it so well that it was as if he had never been in prison in the first place. That was someone else—not him. That night he had great difficulty getting back to sleep. The dream haunted him the rest of the day.

Then, the following night it was as if someone had pushed the “repeat” button. Same dream. Same reaction. Both husband and wife woke up in the same fashion, and he went through the previous day all over again, even more disturbed than the day before. Twice in a row, the same disturbing dream? He had never had this happen before. He just could not figure out what was going on. Why was he dreaming of being back in prison?

A third night, the same thing again. Same dream. Same reactions. Three nights in a row, only this time he began to wonder if the Lord was speaking to him. He knew the stories in the Scriptures where dreams were sent by the Lord for a specific purpose. Joseph, Pharaoh, Paul, and others warned or led by God to some purpose through dreams or visions. He began to wonder if God was leading him back into the prison system to lead others to His Son. That thought led him to contact the chaplain of the prison in Eddyville, KY which set him on course for years of prison ministry which he continues to this very day.

I want you to imagine now, another man, a very devout man, raised in a culture with very strict boundaries, when suddenly he is confronted by a heavenly vision that shattered everything he thought he knew about purity, holiness, and acceptability before God. Picture him on a rooftop in prayer. He’s hungry, but this is the hour of prayer. So, while he waits for lunch, he prays and sees a vision of a sheet descending from heaven filled with all sorts of animals he had been taught all his life were unclean and forbidden as food. But a voice from heaven tells him, Act 10:13 …"Get up, Peter, kill and eat!" So, let’s read about that now…

Act 10:9-16 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. [10] But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; [11] and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, [12] and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. [13] A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat!" [14] But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean." [15] Again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." [16] This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.

Now obviously, the link between my man in prison illustration and Peter in this story is the three dreams or three visions. But the link runs deeper than that. In both stories the dream and vision led the protagonist into doing something they never would have done in themselves. I never would have called that chaplain at Eddyville and began a ministry in prisons had it not been for the three dreams, and Peter might never have considered what things he had been taught all his life and believed to be unclean as something that was in fact, considered clean by God. He never would have thought that. In fact, he even slipped back into that frame of mind years later and had to be corrected by Paul.

Friends, this story isn’t just about food, it’s about divine demolition of prejudices that would keep people from doing God’s will and spreading His grace throughout the world. Our world is greatly divided by race, class, culture, and geography and this story challenges us to shed our preconceptions and look at things in a whole new light. To look at the world through God’s eyes and see worth where before we only saw unworthiness, to see our fears and go beyond them into places, areas, and regions we might never have considered before. Beloved, what “unclean” barriers do we still hold that need to be torn down?

Now, the book of Acts was written by Luke, the physician. He wasn’t one of the original disciples, but he was a faithful chronicler of the birth of the church and its explosive growth after the Lord’s ascension. He records those pivotal moments where the gospel broke out from its strictly Jewish roots in Jerusalem and Judea to Samaria, and the world of the Gentiles.

The Lord had told Peter Mat 16:19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." And I believe this is why Peter is the lead person on the day of Pentecost, the inclusion of the Samaritans, and now in chapter 10, the inclusion of the Gentiles into the church. This was that impulsive disciple who after being filled with the Spirit became the doorway through which the world would become part of the church through faith in Jesus Christ. What an awesome responsibility.

But what’s really cool is that miles away from where Peter is in Joppa, Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and uncircumcised Gentile but a God-fearer has his own vision while in prayer. Friends, God has always wanted the Gentiles to come into the fold and be His people. This was part of the Jews job from God—the part they failed at. They were to spread His word and His faith to the Gentiles, but they didn’t. Now, there were Gentiles who loved God and converted to Judaism, but the Jews made no real effort at converting the world. Their emphasis was on separation and seclusion not evangelism and inclusion. We read in Isaiah that he was sent not only to turn the hearts of the Jews back to God, but God also told him Isa 49:6 …I will also make You a light of the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

God has always wanted to open the door and include the Gentiles in His salvation, which is one of the main points we see in…

1. Peter’s Vision

Peter was faithful in his faith routine. He maintained certain times for prayer, and so in our text today, we find him up on a roof top during the sixth hour (which is around noon) in prayer. Going up on those flat roofs back then was pretty a common thing to do in the middle east because that was a great place to find solitude and quite time for talking with God. So, while he’s up there, his stomach is telling him that it’s lunch time and it’s time to eat. Have you ever experienced that during prayer? You know, the flesh has its own way to distract us from our purpose, doesn’t it? I mean, hunger, maybe waves of nausea might have struck him, and from personal experience, I know those kinds of hunger pains, and they can be a huge distraction.

So, he’s hungry, and behold, he receives a vision of a sheet that is lowered down from heaven, filled with all sorts of animals that he would have never before consider as food. God’s OT commands concerning that were strict. Good Jews did not eat what was unclean, but then this voice from heaven tells him Act 10:13 …"Get up, Peter, kill and eat!" Well, like I said, good Jews didn’t eat what was unclean, so he refused, declaring his faithfulness to the dietary requirements of the law. That voice from heaven then responded Act 10:15 …"What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy."

Now, this happened three times, and I find it interesting that his three refusals to eat mirrors his three denials of Christ in Ananias’ courtyard. Peter resisted once, twice, three times to give in but God hammered home the lesson that what was once unclean is now acceptable. He hammered it home by the arrival of the messengers from Cornelius. Can you see how God set the scene? How like a master carpenter who measures twice before cutting, Peter’s vision and the knock on the door were all manipulated by the Master of time and space.

Friends we run into and up against our prejudices all the time. Early church father, Augustine, wrestle with cultural barriers before his conversion, much like Peter here. William Carey, a 19th century missionary to India faced British prejudices against those “unclean” Hindus, but he saw God break through as thousands believed the gospel and converted to Christ. How many in our churches hold prejudices against the incarcerated in our prisons today? More than once, I’ve heard Christians comment that they’re getting what they deserve, and that may be the case. They’ve done the crime and now they should do the time. But beloved, they DESERVE prison---but they NEED Jesus!

We have got to face our own prejudices, our own snobbery, our own “unclean” lists, repent, and seek and believe in God’s cleansing word over our traditions. We need to submit to God’s sovereignty and let Him reprogram our hearts through the Scripture and actively pursue relationships across those “divides” we’ve nursed and nourished all our lives. We should follow our Lord’s command and example by inviting those “unclean” neighbors to our table just as He did with the “tax collectors” and “sinners!”

And friends, this vision of Peter’s doesn’t stand alone, it propels us toward Cornelius, whose own encounter with God sets the stage for mutual breakthrough.

2. Cornelius’ Obedience

Act 10:30-33 Cornelius said, "Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments, [31] and he *said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. [32] 'Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.' [33] "So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord."

Consider again the timing involved, Caesarea was 25-35 miles from Joppa, which was considered a two-day trip, one-way. So, a four-day round trip. Cornelius had his vision four days prior. He immediately sent his servants to fetch Peter. He didn’t tarry. He didn’t consider or think about it. His obedience was immediate. And now, it’s four days later and his family, his whole household are gathered in anticipation. Their sole purpose was to hear the message the Lord was going to give to them through Peter.

I want you to notice the sure, solid confidence Cornelius had that God was about to speak to them through Peter, and on behalf of all those gathered there, he expressed eagerness to hear what God had to say. If ever there was an ideal audience for a preacher or teacher, this was it. God had prepared His table and now all of those who had been invited to His feast were about to dig in!

Biblically, this mirrors Abraham’s prompt obedience in sending Ishmael away. Abraham loved his son Ishmael, but when it was made known to him that he had to go, Abraham trusted in God’s provision and purpose and sent him away. Another example I could give you is that once I realized what was going on with my dreams, I immediately made phone calls to find out where prisons were in Kentucky, called the chaplain and then went to see him. In short order I went through their volunteer training and was given keys to the whole prison, which really shocked me.

Friends, when God speaks to us through dreams and visions, it’s a call for immediate obedience. His directions may come to you in ways and means that seem foreign to you, but I can guarantee that when they come, you will know that it’s the Lord. Now, that being said, you need to understand that many times a dream is just a dream. It isn’t always that God is speaking to you, but scripturally and through personal experience I will say that when it is God speaking, you’ll know it.

When it is God speaking we should feel gratitude for His pursuit of us and cultivate the same attitude Cornelius had. Act 10:33 "…Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord."

Beloved, both of these men remained open to God’s divine movement in their lives. They paid attention to His message, followed immediately, and then received newfound insight into the timeless truth of…

3. God’s Impartiality

Act 10:34-35 Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, [35] but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.

When the scripture says “opening his mouth”, this is a dramatic Hebraism that signals authoritative speech. Peter didn’t hem and haw, he boldly proclaimed a truth he had recently received—a truth that went against his training from his youth and up—the truth Act 10:34-35 …that God is not one to show partiality, [35] but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.

God is not the respecter of persons. It matters not what age, race, language, or geographic location a person is—if they love and fear God and do what is right, they are welcomed by God into His kingdom. This epiphany connects Peter’s vision of cleansing of the unclean to human application—that God’s acceptance transcends ethnicity and is based on reverent faith and righteous living.

“God is not one to show partiality…” Friends, do you understand the enormity of what Peter is saying? It totally destroyed Jewish notions of covenant exclusivity while reaffirming universal accountability. The Jews totally believed that being the offspring of Abraham gave them free rein and license to live however they wanted and exclude everyone who wasn’t Jewish. For example, what did Peter say when he began his message to Cornelius? Didn’t he say, Act 10:28 …"You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.

God did choose the offspring of Abraham to be separate from the nations and unique in their relationship with Him, but they took that separation too far because like I said earlier, from the beginning God wanted the nations to hear His message and turn to Him. He told them long ago that He wasn’t partial and that they were to treat the strangers among them right.

Deu 10:17 "For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.

Lev 19:33-34 'When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. [34] 'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.

For us today, the Lord’s parable of the Good Samaritan shows us that even a despised outsider can prove to be more of a “neighbor” than those of our own country, and friends, our response as Christians should also be impartiality. We should repent of favoritism in our churches and in our culture. Our purpose as believers should be evangelizing every nation and discipling righteous seekers into full gospel faith in Jesus Christ.

Beloved, from vision, to testimony, to proclamation, God dismantles barriers and reveals His great love for all peoples. Remember what Jesus said, Jhn 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. [17] "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, thank you for visions that challenge, testimonies that inspire, and words that liberate. Cleanse our hearts of partiality, fill us with Your Spirit, and send us to every nation, tribe, and tongue with the gospel of Your Son. In Jesus’ name, amen.