I'm pleased, God, to help us
as we continue our meditation in the Acts of the Apostles,
chapter 10. And this evening we'll consider verses 9 to 18. 9 to 18 in the 10th chapter of
the Acts of the Apostles. And we'll just read it through,
those verses. So, from verse 9. On the morrow,
as they went on their journey and drew nigh unto the city,
Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour
and he became very hungry and would have eaten but while they
made ready he fell into a trance and saw heaven open and a certain
vessel descending unto him as it had been a great sheet knit
at the four corners and let down to the earth wherein were all
manner of four-footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts
and creeping things and fowls of the air. And there came a
voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, Not
so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him
again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not
thou common. This was done thrice, and the
vessel was received up again into heaven. Now while Peter
doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should
mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made
inquiry into Simon's house and stood before the gate and called
and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged
there. The account before us of Cornelius
and Peter is very remarkable and it shows to us so clearly
the great knowledge of our God. Because here was a situation
which needed to be brought about. Remember the Jews had no dealings
really with the Gentiles. and yet they've been commanded
to go and to preach the gospel throughout the world and therefore
we might say, well, how was this to be brought about? The Jews
knew their position and the Gentiles knew their condition and so it
would seem naturally a difficult situation. But we know that God
is on the throne and God is almighty and in this account we very clearly
see God's purposes God's purpose is being worked out in quite
a remarkable way. First of all we've considered
how God appears to Cornelius and spoke to him with regards
to sending people to Joppa to meet Peter. And we know that
he did this immediately and so we see what occurred on the morrow
as they went on their journey. That was, of course, the three
people, the two people from his household and a soldier. The three of them went on this
journey and God knew exactly when they were leaving and He
knew exactly how long it would take them to get to the place
where Peter was and the time he would arrive and the preparation
that was needful to come to Peter so that he might be willing to
go with them. And so we find here that these
three men, they've gone out and they've started their journey,
but we then see God's purpose towards Peter. And Peter went
up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour. The sixth
hour was really midday, twelve o'clock our time. It was the
middle of the day and the time when the Jews often would pray. And so Peter now, he went out
upon the housetop, no doubt a place of comparative quiet and peace. He wouldn't be disturbed, a place
that he was able to come and to pray to his God. Now, we know
that we can, of course, pray to God everywhere. And we're
so thankful for that in our lives. but sometimes there are situations
and conditions which enable us, as it were, to draw aside, to
come aside into a peaceful place where we can come and pour out
our heart before God. So, here was Peter then, gone
up to the house clock and was praying at midday. And we're
told that he became very hungry. Well, it was lunchtime, no doubt
he was very hungry as many people would be, we would be as well
and he became very hungry and would have eaten but while they
made ready he fell into a trance. Now first of all we can observe
here that Peter then was praying to God and it would seem very
clear that although he was very hungry he still put the things
of God first and he still committed himself unto the Lord. We don't know, of course, precisely
what he prayed, but we know that the disciples have been commanded
to go into all the world and to preach the gospel, and that
may have been heavily upon his spirit to be able to perform
that which God had committed unto him. Well, we can only surmise
that could have been one of the things that Peter had gone to
pray about. We know he was a praying man,
and we know the Lord had been with and had wonderfully blessed
him. So while they made ready for
the meal, he fell into a trance and he saw heaven opened and
a certain vessel descending unto him as it had been a great sheet
knit at the four corners and let down to the earth wherein
were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth and wild
beasts and creeping things and fowls of the air." Well, it must
have been a most astonishing vision for Peter. And we can
imagine, can we not, wondering what such a vision would mean?
What really does this mean? And here he was, in this situation,
on the rooftop, with this before his eyes. And now came a voice,
a voice from heaven to Peter and spoke again very clearly
in a similar way to that voice which had come to Cornelius. And I believe still today God
does speak to us in our heart and does sometimes direct us
into those things that we should do and what we should say and
where we should go. And here now, Peter was to receive
a commandment from God which was very alien to him, very strange. He wouldn't have expected such
a statement as this. Sometimes in our lives, God may
speak to us with statements which we weren't expecting, and we
might not be able to make a lot of sense of them initially. Well,
here was Peter then, and the Lord spoke, Peter, kill and eat. Well, what did Peter say? What
was Peter's response? Now remember, first of all, that
Peter had been a Jew and the Jews had been forbidden to eat
unclean animals. And there was a very complete
list you can read of in Deuteronomy, a list of those animals which
they were not allowed to eat. They were forbidden. And the
Jewish nation were commanded to keep statements like that.
They were to keep the ceremonial law and they were to be obedient
to those things which Moses had commanded them. So, a devout
Jew would have been very careful to try and fulfil that which
was in accordance with the Word of God. And it's good for us
to think of our example in the day and age in which we live.
We don't actually have those same laws and ceremonies which
they had to keep. nonetheless the Lord God has
given us many words which we are to observe and things that
we should do and we should observe them and not turn away from them
and we should be wholehearted like the Apostle Peter was and
so here was Peter then in this situation told to rise and to
kill those beasts which were unclean and therefore not surprisingly
he responded in this way not so Lord For I have never eaten
anything that is common or unclean." And it may be in our lives, we
may be, perhaps respond in that way, something which may, will
not be in accordance with our thinking. And we might say, well
not so Lord, I really can't do that. Well, the Word of God spoke
to Peter in this way and Peter responded, for not so Lord, for
I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. It was
a good statement to have been able to make, and we believe
that Peter was making an honest statement here, how he'd done
those things which were right throughout his life up to the
present moment of time. Well, what was going to happen?
Well, God spoke to him again. God spoke to him again to convince
him of the truth of the words that were being spoken, and the
voice he spoke unto him again, the second time, what God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common." And we may think, well,
why was this being addressed to Peter? Well, it's quite clear,
isn't it really? Because not only was Peter to
be directed here with regards to those things that he should
or should not eat, but also, of course, the Jewish people
did not really have dealings with the Gentiles. They definitely
were not allowed to eat with the Gentiles. The Gentiles would
have eaten such food that the Jews were forbidden to eat. And
so here we see God directing Peter in this way so that not
only would he be aware that he was no longer to consider things
which had been forbidden to eat, that he could now eat, but also
in a greater sense we might see now he was to be able and willing
to go and to meet these people that Cornelius had sent and to
go with them. Now, if he had not had this vision,
if God had not spoken to him in this way, no doubt he would
have refused. It wouldn't have been appropriate.
They might have come and asked him. But he would have said and
justified him, well I don't think I should go with you, I don't
think I should go and partake of food with you, because I'm
a Jew and I follow the way of the Lord. But we have this position
here, not only was that voice spoken to him twice, the voice
spoken to him again the second time, what God has cleansed,
that call not thou common, and this was done three times. and
the vessel was received up again into heaven. Well, God had spoken
and God had revealed his will by this vision. So it was a vision
of sign and also a spoken word to his heart. And therefore he
really didn't have any reason to doubt what God had spoken. We do read here, now while Peter
doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should
mean. Not surprising is it? Here was
Peter then doubting what this should mean. Sometimes in our
lives we don't always have clear directions. We may have a clear
word but we may not always understand how it's going to be worked out. how the direction is going to
be fulfilled. And we may be puzzled in our
minds. Well, if that is so, well, we
have someone here who was also puzzled in his mind. He wasn't
sure what it meant. He doubted in himself what this
vision which he had seen should mean. In this case, of course,
he didn't have to wait very long. He didn't have to wait very long
before it was revealed to him precisely why he had had this
vision and why the Lord had spoken to him in this way. While Peter
doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should
mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made
inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate. We can
see that God's timing was immaculate really Because if they'd been
knocking before, well, he would have been engaged and he wouldn't
have been ready to go down and to meet them. And of course,
if they'd been delayed, then he might have thought it wasn't
too relevant, that vision that he'd had. But now it was at that
he was still thinking, still doubting. And these men came
and they were enquiring, where is Simon's house? They didn't
know precisely where it was. but they were able to inquire
and they called and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter,
were lodged there. So, they'd come to the very place. They stood before the gate. They'd
come to the very place where Peter was. Well, of course, they
did know he was in Simon and Anna's house, but nonetheless,
God directed them to this place. And there they stood by that
gate. And there was Peter, ready now, moved by the Spirit of God
to come down. And as God willing, we'll carry
on next week and see how the Lord was in this. We know he
was in it from the beginning. And we see the wonderful outworking
and fulfilment of God's purposes. And we can be thankful we have
a detailed account like this. You might think, well, isn't
it strange? Well, it's not strange really, because although we live
Many years later on, we still need God to direct us, we still
need God to speak to us, and it's wonderful to think that
there was this marrying together of these two situations brought
together simultaneously. As for God, His way and His time
is perfect. Amen.