“23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
▪ The expectancy: ‘’Now we are all here in the presence of God…’’ Is that the spirit with which we gather together? It ought to be
Acts 10:9-23: God-incidences.
“9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” 14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. 17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there. 19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three[a] men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” 21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?” 22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.”NIV UK
Some people might see a number of coincidences in chapter 10, but I see ‘God-incidences’. It is a remarkable story of the Holy Spirit preparing the very Jewish Peter to take the message about Jesus, the Messiah, to the Gentiles. Before he met with the party sent by Cornelius, God was dealing with this man’s inherent prejudices; challenging and changing them. Peter’s thinking needed to be altered if he was to be used more widely.
‘’It should be carefully noted that the mental impression which was produced by Peter’s vision was corroborated by the fact of the knocking and inquiring group at Peter’s door. This is God’s invariable method. For us all, as we contemplate taking a new and important step in life, there is the urging of the Spirit, the impression or vision of duty, and the knock or appeal of outward circumstances.’ F.B.Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.490.
It has been correctly pointed out that a disciple cannot legitimately say, ‘’Surely not, Lord!’’ (14). You can say, ‘’Lord’’ or ‘’Surely not’’, but these words do not belong together in a true Christian. Jesus is Lord and we are not to refuse Him.
It remains the case that we should not call anyone impure whom God has made clean (15). What kind of people can we be guilty of treating as if they were somehow dirty; as though they had not been cleansed?
Acts 10:1-8: Beside they sea.
10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. NIV
‘At this point the Church took a new departure, and the gospel broke over the walls of Jewish exclusiveness and was preached for the first time to pure-blooded Gentiles.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.489.
We must not imagine, when we read the story of Cornelius, that he had somehow earned salvation. Rather he was to hear a message that would that bring him to know Jesus (36).But Cornelius was a ‘God fearer’. He was attracted to the Jewish faith, and had adopted certain of its characteristics, such as almsgiving and the set hours of prayer. Now what he knew theologically needed to be brought to completion. God knew him; knew all about him. He knew where he was, and he knew the precise location of His ‘special agent’ Peter, and He pulled the necessary strings to get them to meet.
Somebody described how God works ‘at both ends of the line’ to cause the right people to meet in the right place at the right time. Not only are there remarkable examples of this principle to be found in the Bible, but experience shows it to be true.
As a Roman ‘’centurion’’, Cornelius was a powerful man. You may be surprised to find such a person seeking God (see also the mention of ‘’a devout soldier’’ in verse 7). But the Lord has His people in unexpected places, and even before they are converted, the Holy Spirit is at work in hearts. Sometimes you can see this, and it is a privilege to catch a glimpse of God mysteriously at work, even though you can’t understand everything that is going on.
After hearing God speak to him, Cornelius responded promptly. What has the Lord said to you and what do you need to be getting on with? Why drag your feet?
Acts 9:32-43: Jesus at work!
“32 As Peter travelled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralysed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 ‘Aeneas,’ Peter said to him, ‘Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.’ Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. 36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became ill and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, ‘Please come at once!’ 39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood round him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. 40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning towards the dead woman, he said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.”NIV
This short section, presenting two glimpses into the ministry of Peter at the time, shows that the ministry of Jesus was continuing. They have the feel, the atmosphere, of stories from the gospels; there are gospel echoes. Peter was the human instrument, but Jesus was continuing both to do and to teach (see Acts 1:1). The ‘acts of the apostles’ has been called the ‘acts of the Holy Spirit’. However, it has been suggested that a fuller, if more wordy, title could be, ‘the continuing words and works of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.’
David Pawson said that at the ascension Jesus just ‘switched bodies’. In the gospels we see Him moving towards Jerusalem in a physical body; in the ‘Acts’ we see Him gradually moving out from Jerusalem in a spiritual body, the church. But it is ‘’this same Jesus’’; He is alive and active and doing ‘’greater works’’ than ever He could in His human body – ‘’greater’’ in quantity. When Jesus is obviously present in His church, people get amazed and God gets the glory. How we need this spiritual reality.
‘’Everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him walking around and woke up to the fact that God was alive and active among them.’’ The Message.
Acts 9:26-31:The gift of encouragement.
“26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.”NIV
In the unfolding story of the infant church, Saul (Paul) gets many more mentions than Barnabas. He has lots of lines to deliver in this play, whereas Barnabas appears on the stage just a few times. Saul becomes high profile; Barnabas doesn’t.. Yet reading between the lines, the progress of the early church owed a lot, humanly-speaking, to Barnabas and his gift of encouragement (and maybe to others too who, like him, did not have star-billing, but quietly and faithfully went about their lives of service.) What a wonderful thing Barnabas did for the church when he took Saul by the hand and brought him into the church at Jerusalem (27). He smoothed the way and allayed their understandable fears. In the church today we know about the big name speakers, but often we don’t hear the stories of the anonymous, godly believers who encouraged them when they were younger. The church needs its Saul’s if it’s going to grow, but how it also needs its Barnabas’s.
Another attempt was made on Saul’s life, yet in the wake of these events the church ‘’enjoyed a time of peace’’ (31) after a season of persecution. It was only for ‘’a time’’, but during it the church prospered (31),experiencing the kind of growth we all long for, I’m sure – that in both quality and quantity.
God in charge, Acts 9: 19b-25:
“Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, ‘Isn’t he the man who caused havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?’ 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah. 23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.”NIV
As Saul vigorously pursued his aim of arresting Christians and destroying the church, God showed him who was really in charge. Christ Jesus ‘’took hold’’ of him (Philippians 3:12). He was ‘apprehended’. The one carrying the arrest warrant was himself ‘arrested’. Someone said that he felt the hand of the Heavenly Policeman on his shoulder. He was taken into custody. His immediate plans were thwarted, and he became forever afterwards ‘’the prisoner of Christ Jesus’’ (Ephesians 3:1). Now that Saul was a Christian, he found himself subject to the kinds of attack he had launched on others. He was ‘kicking the other way’ and his former team mates were now his opponents. They wanted to kick him off the park.Today’s passage speaks of a careful, well-organised plot ‘’to kill him’’ (23). However, it failed because there is One who is in charge of all human affairs. From the time of his conversion onwards, Saul knew he was going to suffer a lot for Jesus’ sake (16). Nevertheless, he was immortal until he had accomplished all God’s purpose for his life. It is, I believe, the same for you and me.
PRAYER: Lord God, I believe you’ve ‘got the whole world’ in your hands; and I also believe you’ve got my little life in your hands. So I am safe and secure in a hostile world.
Acts 9:19b-22: A new man.
“Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, ‘Isn’t he the man who caused havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?’ 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.”NIV
God makes such a thorough job of changing people that those He works on regularly show little resemblance to what they once were. Just a short while earlier Saul had been persecuting the faith, now he was promoting it. Furthermore, he was doing so with such clarity and power that his life was now in danger. He himself became a target and was drawing fire. Saul was a pot broken in the Potter’s Hand, that he might be made again in the image of the Potter. The Master craftsmanship cannot be doubted by any of us who still benefit from the ministry of Paul (once Saul) in the pages of the New Testament.
‘The new convert started at once to testify of the Saviour. We have no right to keep to ourselves the great treasures that we have discovered, but must copy the lepers of 2 Kings 7:9. He probably showed, from a comparison between the predictions of the Old Testament and the facts of our Lord’s life, that the key exactly fitted the ancient lock, and so proved its genuineness.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’,p.489.
PRAYER: Lord, because everyone is held in your Hands, you can break, and make, and mould according to your will.
Acts 9:10-19: Special assignment.
“10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, ‘Ananias!’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he answered. 11 The Lord told him, ‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.’ 13 ‘Lord,’ Ananias answered, ‘I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.’ 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.’ 17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord – Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here – has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptised, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.” NIV
‘The supernatural is too closely intertwined with the story to be taken out of it without reducing it to tatters. The greatest of Christian teachers, who has probably exercised more influence than any man who ever lived, was made a Christian by a miracle. That fact is not to be got rid of.’ Alexander Maclaren. When someone is converted, the ‘fruit’ will start to show itself. Here we see a first bloom in Saul’s life: ‘’…for he is praying’’ (11). You can understand the reticence felt by Ananias. He knew Saul’s reputation. He knew his track record. He knew exactly why he had come to Damascus. But although he was initially hesitant, Ananias proved to be as ‘available’ to God as was Philip in the previous chapter. He was sent on a special assignment, and it was, at least in part, to give Saul details of his special assignment (15, 16). Here is an example of God working at both ends of the line, to bring the right people together at the right time. Ananias was ‘’a disciple’’, and showed it by his obedience. God is able to correct anyone’s thinking when this is required. True fellowship is found at the feet of Jesus, who is Lord. Repeatedly in today’s reading you get to see that Ananias knew Jesus as ‘’Lord’’. However, we have also seen that Saul had started to call Jesus ‘’Lord’’ (5). When two people, however different, can genuinely call Jesus ‘’Lord’’ that is the basis for true brotherhood – for genuine fellowship (17). ‘How sweet and strange to speaker and hearer would that ‘Brother Saul’ sound! Alexander Maclaren.
Acts 9:1-9: Darkness to light
“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ 5 ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. 6 ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ 7 The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.”NIV
‘’Meanwhile’’ even as the church was expanding; even as ‘Philip’s’, led by the Spirit, preached the Word in diverse places, Saul was out to destroy the Christian movement. This was his avowed intent. He was committed and diligent in his quest to oppose the church and stop its progress. (Notice that Christians belong ‘to the Way’ in at least two senses: they follow Jesus who said,’’I am the way’’ – John 14:6 – and they endeavour to walk in His way.) But God intervened. Never give up on anyone. Don’t stop praying. If Jesus could meet with someone like Saul, speak to him and turn him around, He can do it to anyone.
‘When God needs captains for his army, he not unseldom takes them from the ranks of the enemy.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.489. Saul was obviously a strong man – used to being in charge; to getting his own way. From now on, he would know Jesus as ‘Lord’ (5). He would find himself under orders, submissive, obedient (6). Also, in the encounter with the risen Lord, Saul was humbled (8, 9). He found himself weak and needy and vulnerable. He was knocked off his high horse, and ‘fell to the ground’ (4), where he truly belonged – at the feet of Jesus. (It’s the place where we all belong did we but realise it.) He was blinded physically, but was made to see spiritually. For the rest of his days, this proud man would be led ‘by the hand’ (8) – led by an unseen hand. But he would learn to follow.
Don’t miss the important truth lying at the heart of the passage that what we do to Christians we do to Christ (4, 5). The Head and the body are one.
PRAYER: Lord, I pray for ………. You know it feels to me like he/she will never be converted. But I also know that you can do far more than we can ask or imagine. You are able.
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