Peter’s Vision
Acts 10:9 – 10:23
Jeff Hughes – July 20, 2003
Calvary Chapel Aggieland
I. Introduction
a. Ever been in a situation where someone was trying maybe not so subtly to get your attention? You know, like when you’re at a restaurant, and you have a small bit of food on your face. Whenever, I’m in that situation, Stacie wipes the same spot on her face a couple of times, thinking I’ll get the hint.
b. Where I used to just blindly go about my business, now, after ten years of marriage, I’ll wipe the corner of my mouth. This is because I have picked up on this, and try to save myself the embarrassment of her telling me to wipe my mouth.
c. Well, today’s study deals with this very idea. God had a message for Peter, and He really wanted Peter to get it, so He let’s Peter pick up on it himself. But, more than just Peter, though. What God was trying to tell him would impact the church from that day forward.
d. God wanted to show His grace and mercy to all people, not just a select few, and we will see this as we continue our study through the book of Acts today, but first, let’s take a moment to pray and ask the Lord’s blessing on our study this morning.
II. PRAYER
III. Illustration
a. Several years ago a story came out about a man by the name of Larry Walters, a 33-year-old man who decided he wanted to see his neighborhood from a new perspective. So, he went down to the local army surplus store and bought forty-five used weather balloons.
b. That afternoon he strapped himself into a lawn chair, to which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled used weather balloons. He took with him, something to drink, a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and a BB gun, figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land.
c. Walters, who assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in the air, was caught off guard when the chair soared more than 11,000 feet into the sky--smack into the middle of the air traffic pattern at Los Angeles International Airport. Because he was too frightened to shoot any of the balloons, he stayed airborne for more than two hours, and forced the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon.
d. Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions:
"Were you scared? "Yes."
"Would you do it again? "No.
"Why did you do it?" His answer is no less intriguing than his flight itself. "Because a man can’t just sit around."
e. In our message today, we will look at a man that needed a change of perspective. We will see just how God accomplishes that today.
f. Our study comes from Acts, chapter 10 verse 9, through verse 23, as we continue our study this morning. Let’s read along -
IV. Study
a. Intro
i. 9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." 14 But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common." 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again. 17 Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate. 18 And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.
ii. 19 While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are seeking you. 20 Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them." 21 Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, "Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?" 22 And they said, "Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you." 23 Then he invited them in and lodged them. On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
iii. Last week, we saw Cornelius at his house, praying, and God sending a messenger, an angel to give Cornelius some instruction as to what to do.
iv. You see, the problem was that Cornelius was a good man seeking after God, but he wasn’t saved. Even though Cornelius lived in Judea, he worshipped God, he prayed, he gave to the poor, but that wasn’t enough.
v. Jesus came to die for the sins of not only the nation of Israel, but the whole world. Still, some very big cultural barriers existed that hindered the mainly Jewish church from taking the gospel to the gentiles, and today, we will see those barriers begin to be broken down as we continue our study through the book of Acts.
vi. In our message, we will look at six points this morning– the invocation, the images from God, the inquiry for Peter, the Instructions from God, the Imploring Companions, and last the Invitation from Peter.
vii. Our first point comes from verses 9 and10. We see Peter on his knees here, seeking the Lord.
b. The Invocation (Acts 10:9-10)
i. 9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance.
ii. The first thing that we see here is that while the friends of Cornelius were still on their way to Joppa, Peter was praying and talking to the Lord.
iii. Prayer is more than a one-way form of communication with God. Sometimes it seems that way, but if we open our hearts and just listen to the Lord, he will give us direction.
iv. So, on the one hand, we have three guys sent from Cornelius to get Peter, and we have Peter on the rooftop praying, seeking the Lord’s direction.
v. God’s plan was to put Cornelius and Peter together, so that the gospel could be spread, so God uses supernatural events in both cities to draw these men together.
vi. I think that it’s so neat when God puts something together totally unbeknownst to the parties involved. It gives me goose bumps when I look back at all the divine appointments that He has sent me on, and how cool it was to see them walked out by His grace.
vii. Peter was in the right position to hear from God. He was praying, and not only was he talking to God, but he was listening.
viii. Notice here that Peter went to the rooftop to pray. Why is that? Well, think about it. How can you hear from God with a bunch of other things going on around you? Well, you really can’t.
ix. We see many times in scripture where Jesus went off to pray by Himself. He spent time alone with God, and that is what we need to do with God, if we expect to hear from Him.
x. The roof top wasn’t an odd place to go and pray in those days. They used their rooftops kind of like we use our patios today. It was far enough removed from the rest of the house though, that Peter wasn’t going to be disturbed as he prayed.
xi. It was about the sixth hour of the day, that’s around noontime for all of us. So, here is the picture, Noontime, Peter up on the roof quietly praying and seeking God.
xii. One particular thing I though about when I was preparing this message was this – Rooftops were the place that people used to shout from if they had big news in those days. They used their rooftops to spread the word about something.
xiii. God had a message to spread to Peter, one that was very important to the church and how the church would go forward in the coming years. We see God preparing Peter in the verse 10.
xiv. He got hungry up there on the rooftop, praying and seeking God. The Jews only ate two meals a day at this point in history, one around noon, and the other in the evening.
xv. So, Peter was up there getting hungry for his meal, he could probably hear the goings on of preparing the meal down below in the house, he wanted to eat, but a strange thing happens to him at this point.
xvi. God causes Peter to fall into a trance. The word trance there is the Greek word Ekstasis and what it means is a separate state of mind from the norm.
xvii. It is used to describe people’s reaction to supernatural events, just like Peter is about to experience, and this state was brought on divinely by God, I don’t want you to think Peter was sitting around chanting, or looking at crystals or something.
xviii. Quite the contrary, Peter was hungry. That speaks even more as to how supernatural this was. When I am hungry, I’m thinking about eating, or praying to bless the meal.
xix. But, the thing was God wanted to use Peter’s hunger to get His point across to Him. We see His message in the next seven verses.
c. The Images from God (Acts 10:11-16)
i. 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." 14 But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common." 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.
ii. Peter is in this dreamlike state, and God sends him a vision. He sent Cornelius an angel, but sends Peter a vision. Both were miraculous, Cornelius, the Roman Centurion needed an angel to tell what he had to do. The difference with Peter was that God had a relationship with Peter, and the vision was more effective in getting God’s point across. You’ve heard it said, a picture is worth a thousand words.
iii. Peter sees the heavens opening up, and this big sheet coming down. Literally, the word there means sail. Peter was living by the sea, he was a fisherman, and he had seen his fair share of sails in his day. But this sail was more like a net; it was bound at the four corners, and being lowered down in front of him, like a net full of fish.
iv. So, this sail lands in front of him, and curiosity must have been running rampant at this point. Peter, probably thought, what’s in this thing??
v. The corners let down, and Peter gets to look inside the sail. In this thing are all kinds of living animals in it, ready for eating. The problem was, there were un-kosher animals in there, mixed with the kosher ones!
vi. This was and still is a big no-no for strict Jews. If the kosher animals are mixed with the un-kosher ones, the whole thing is unclean. No BLT’s for these guys.
vii. God made these strict laws for eating way back in the times of Moses, so that the nation of Israel could be set apart from their neighbors. We see this in Leviticus chapter 20, verses 25 and 26:
viii. 25 You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. 26 And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
ix. The reason God did this, was that if the nation of Israel ate different kinds of food from everybody else, they would not get involved with their religious activities, which usually involved feasts of un-kosher animals.
x. This sheet had all kinds of stuff, pigs, snakes, you name it. God’s command to Peter probably surprised him – Rise, Peter, kill and eat. I want us to notice one thing here. The word tells us that the voice came to Peter, meaning it wasn’t an audible voice, it was just for Peter. That’s how God speaks to us today for the most part.
xi. Peter was shocked though at what God had told him to do. What do you say in this situation? Peter says, “Not so, Lord.” We would say, “No way!”
xii. Now, you can tell your friends no way, you can tell your family no way, but you get on pretty shaky ground when you tell God no way. So, Peter goes on to qualify his objection.
xiii. He says, Lord, I have never eaten this kind of stuff. Up to this point in his life, Peter thought that by keeping the dietary laws, he was showing God his love for Him.
xiv. But, God was asking him to do something that directly contradicted that. Was God telling Peter to sin here? There are Christians that run around today, talking about how we should keep the Jewish dietary laws.
xv. They are called Judiazers in the New Testament. People that want to take the freedom afforded to us under the new covenant of grace, and put us back under the bondage of the law. Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Now that it’s fulfilled, laws like this don’t apply to us anymore, and that’s what God is trying to tell Peter.
xvi. Peter’s answer is one of legalism and bondage, but now he was free and he didn’t even know it. He’s like a prisoner who’s in a cell with an unlocked door, but doesn’t know it’s unlocked.
xvii. He was free, but he just didn’t know it yet. God repeats the vision to Peter two more times, and tells Peter, “What I have called clean, you don’t call common”
xviii. The word common there had a certain meaning in Jewish culture. In Old Testament thought, there was the holy and the common. The holy was made common when it came into contact with something common, and could only be made holy again through a ritual cleansing. When something was made holy it was called consecration; when it was made common it was called desecration.
xix. What it means is this. God didn’t need to be reminded of the dietary laws, He wrote them. He wanted Peter’s obedience concerning the food, but on a grander scale – this was the message.
xx. God designed the dietary laws to keep the Jews from mixing with the other people around them. Now, Jesus had come, and the laws were fulfilled.
xxi. God wanted the church to mix with the people around them. Just like He had mixed the animals together in the sail. He wanted them to eat together, he wanted them to fellowship together, because in Christ they were all the same, they were a family now.
xxii. Galatians chapter 3 verses 26 through 29 tells us this - 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
xxiii. God had spoken to Peter, and imparted what the apostle Paul would later write through the vision on Simon the tanner’s rooftop that day.
xxiv. Peter was about to get to put his new-found liberty to the test. You see, there were some gentiles knocking on the door, and they were looking for him, they had come from Ceasarea.
d. The Inquiry (Acts 10:17-18)
i. 17 Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate. 18 And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.
ii. So, Peter is sitting here on the rooftop, still hungry, wondering what all of that meant. Three men show up out front.
iii. Simon’s house was not a palace; most likely, it was a rather humble building. These messengers from the Roman centurion came from a mansion to ask in a hut about God.
iv. Awesome. That’s so cool how God works like that. God is not a respecter of persons. God doesn’t care whether you’re rich or poor. Peter was starting to figure out how God didn’t care whether you were Jewish or not.
v. They stood outside, asking if Simon, whose surname is Peter was staying there.
vi. These men standing here was no doubt surprising, and certainly a sign of God’s hand at work, and while Peter is still on the rooftop, these guys show up, asking for him.
vii. That’s how God provides. God gives us what we need, when we need it, not a moment too soon, and not a moment too late. The key is to move as God moves us, and keep everything in His hands.
viii. Peter was doing this at this point. Here he is, hanging out with at tanner, which was one of the most despised professions in ancient Judea, a place that was ceremonially unclean all the time. God put him there so that he would learn; he would see how God would guide him as to how to interact with these men in the next two verses.
e. The Instruction (Acts 10:19 - 20)
i. 19 While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are seeking you. 20 Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them."
ii. Peter was still thinking about the vision. Remember, the vision that God gave to Peter was a lot to take in. It shook the very foundations of the life that he had built as a Jew.
iii. I mean, wow. He’s hanging out with a tanner, showing God’s love to this man, a man that was despised by most Jews. But, he was still Jewish.
iv. God wanted to expand Peter’s borders. God wanted him to reach out to the people that were outside of his box, just like God still calls us to today.
v. The Jews at this point didn’t like the gentiles. They were unclean, they are unclean food, they were uncircumcised. They wouldn’t talk to gentiles normally. They thought the gentiles had no hope, so they didn’t care about them either. Their main thought was that the gentiles were used as kindling wood for the fires of hell. Pretty scary stuff. It broke God’s heart.
vi. This wasn’t God’s plan from the beginning though. Isaiah chapter 42, verses 6 and 7 tells us this: 6 "I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
vii. Peter is sitting here reflecting, and God had more for him. God told him – there are three men here looking for you.
viii. One thing I want to visit while we are here is this. These guys showing up at the gate shortly after the vision Peter had from God confirmed this: Cornelius had heard correctly from God the message from the angel, and Peter had heard right from God that these men would be seeking him.
ix. God will always confirm what He is doing. That’s how He works, if He is leading in one direction or another, both parties will be made aware of this.
x. We see this in scripture in Jeremiah chapter 32, verses 6 – 8.
xi. 6 And Jeremiah said, "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 7 ’Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, "Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it." ’ 8 Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, ’Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord
xii. This passage in Jeremiah is a model for how we should receive someone who tells us something like – “I have a word from the Lord for you brother”
xiii. The truth is, they may well have a word for you, but don’t just blindly jump into it. Some would say that if you don’t embrace it, then you’re not having faith.
xiv. Here’s what I have to say about that. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that Faith is the substance of things hoped for. I’ll have faith in your word from the Lord when I see some substance, some evidence from the Lord that it is true.
xv. The passage I just read in Jeremiah is interesting as well because of this: Jeremiah was a Levite, he was the son of a priest. He bought a field. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, right?
xvi. Wrong. It was against the law for a Levite to own land. However, God had instructed Jeremiah to buy it. So, he obeyed.
xvii. Peter was in a similar situation. God was instructing him to go down and meet with these gentile men, and go with them, not having any doubts, because He had sent them.
xviii. So, Peter goes down to meet the men that God had sent to him, we see this in verses 21 and 22.
f. The Imploration (Acts 10:21 - 22)
i. 21 Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, "Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?" 22 And they said, "Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you."
ii. Peter goes downstairs, and tells the men, “Hey, I’m Peter.” He wants to know why God had sent them to him, so he asks, “Why did you come?”
iii. Their reply was as shocking to Peter as the vision on the rooftop. When God moves, He isn’t concerned about how He has worked in the past.
iv. One thing that I can’t stand to hear, whether I am at work, at church, wherever, is when I hear, “Well, we’ve always done it that way.”
v. God is the same way. It didn’t matter too very much to him that Peter might have some reservations abut what he was being led to do, God simply wanted him to do it.
vi. If you look back in history, whenever God moved in a big way, He used one person or a small group of persons to simply step out from what they had been doing to a new and better thing that He had designed to carry His message.
vii. This was one of those great moments in history. Peter had probably not said too many words to gentiles throughout his life. But here are three sent by God to get him.
viii. Their message was this. Our boss, the Roman centurion Cornelius from Caesarea, sent us to get you because an angel told him that this is what he should do, that you had a message for him.
ix. The message that Peter was to deliver to the centurion was the gospel that Peter had shared with so many people up to this point, but this was different, right?
x. Wrong. This guy was a Roman centurion, he was a gentile, he feared God, but God wasn’t through there, God loved Cornelius, and his family, and He wanted a relationship with Cornelius that was no different than the relationship that He had with Peter.
xi. Matthew chapter 27 tells us that when Jesus was crucified, the sky grew dark, the rocks split, and there was an earthquake. But something else significant happened that day – The veil of the temple was split in two from top to bottom.
xii. What is significant about that is that the veil was the four foot thick layers of curtains that closed off the inner part of the temple, the holy of holies, from the rest of the temple.
xiii. It was the place where God dwelt on the earth. The priest only went in there once a year, on the Day of Atonement, to pray for the sins of Israel.
xiv. Jesus was the atonement, and His desire was to dwell among us, so God tore the veil from the top down. This is important; because what it means is that there is no longer any separation between God and men. There really is no more court of gentiles, no court of women, no inner court, no holy place, or holy of holies anymore.
xv. Each one of us can approach God on His terms equally. That is mind-blowing when you think about it. Anyone can approach the God of the universe and ask His forgiveness, and it’s available to you. No more ceremonies, animal sacrifices, anything, just a relationship with Jesus.
xvi. All we have to do is accept Him. Maybe you’re here today, and you’ve never made that choice. In a few minutes, we are going to pray, and I am going to give you that opportunity. I pray that you make that decision today.
xvii. So, where were we? Peter is standing here shocked at what these guys are telling him, and he does something equally as shocking. We see this in the next verse, and we’ll stop there today.
g. The Invitation (Acts 10:23)
i. 23 Then he invited them in and lodged them. On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
ii. I wonder if Peter would have invited them in to stay the night if he hadn’t had the vision from God earlier that day?
iii. We’ll never know, but we do know this; what Peter did by inviting these guys in was against Jewish custom for how you were supposed to treat gentiles, even though it was not against Old Testament law.
iv. Like I said earlier, God wanted the nation of Israel to be a light to the nations around them, but they had missed the boat on that under the Old Covenant.
v. This time, it wasn’t going to be so easy to get out of. Peter extends hospitality to these guys, and the next day, he leaves with them, along with some of the church members from Joppa there, and they set out for Caesarea.
vi. Peter was gracious and hospitable to these men, he modeled the love of Jesus to them even before they got to hear the message of the gospel.
vii. I can almost guarantee that they had never spent the night in a Jew’s house. But, Peter does the right thing. That’s God’s love at work. We are going to stop there today.
viii. Point Summary – There are two life points that I want us to take away from this message, things from the Word today to apply to our lives. Think about these three things as you pray this week, as you have your quiet time with God.
1. Prayer is a two-way communication with God, take time to listen to Him.
2. Be ready to step out in new ways to serve God.
ix. I‘d like to close with a short story.
h. Conclusion
i. An older gentleman was walking along the seashore one day in the hot sun. As he walked he was sweating profusely and seemed to be in a hurry! Every few steps he would bend over, pick up a starfish from the hot, burning sands and cast it back into the cool waves. One after another, after another, after another he would pick the starfish up and cast them into the water. Some would come back to the hot sand as the waves washed them back in while most would eventually go into the deeper waters of safety.
ii. A young man came along, after having watched this for a while and told the old man, “You are wasting your time and energy. There are thousands of starfish on the sand, what difference can you possibly make?”
iii. The old man seemed to ignore this younger man. He simply bent over picked up another starfish and threw it into the water. As he quickly moved on to the next one, the old man turned to the younger man and said, “Well, it sure made a difference for that one didn’t it!”
iv. Cornelius was a man not too unlike that starfish. God was showing His compassion to this man, through Peter, but He had to get Peter ready to do it first.
v. Let’s go before Him now and seek Him.
i. Let’s Pray.
V. Closing Prayer
