Hello, everyone. I'd like you to take your Bibles, please, and turn with me today to the Book of Acts. And we are going to speak today from the 10th chapter, Acts chapter 10. And the passage that I'm going to read begins in verse 9 to verse 33. Let me read those verses. And we read: 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 he saw heaven open, and a certain vessel descending unto him as it had been a great sheet, knit at the four corners, and led down to the earth, wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, the wild beasts, the creeping things, the fowl 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 speaking to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed that call not common." This was done three times, 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 for Simon's house and stood before the gate. And he called and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodging there. While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, "Behold, three men seek thee.

Arise therefore, get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them." Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius and said, "Behold, I am he whom ye seek. What is the cause wherefore ye are come?" And they said, "Cornelius, the centurion, a just man, and one that fears God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by a holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee." Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Jaffor accompanied him.

And the morrow after they entered into Kessaria, and Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends. And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, "Stand up, I myself also am a man." And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together. And he said unto them, "Ye know how, that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common, or unclean.

Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent. For I asked, therefore, for what intent ye have sent for me." And Cornelius said, "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour. And at the ninth hour I prayed in mine house. And behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are in remembrance in the sight of God. Sent therefore to Jaffo, and call hither Shimon, whose surname is Peter. He is lodged in the house of one Shimon a tenor, by the seaside, who when he cometh shall speak unto thee. Immediately, therefore, I sent to thee, and thou hast well done that thou hast come.

Now, therefore, are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commended thee of God." And I think I'm going to stop right here, because I almost want to reach into the next part of the story, and this is really the continuation of the passage, because the amount of material that we have here, I don't want to overbear. Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that what we see here in Acts chapter 9 and 10, those two chapters, including chapter 11, we really see how Peter had been witnessing, and in a sense the Lord is now going to use Peter in using the key that he had given him, not only to present the message of the Gospel to his own brethren, the Jewish people, Acts chapter 2, not only to present the Gospel message to the Samaritan, Acts chapter 8, But in chapter 9, on into chapter 10, he's going now to use the key that Yeshua the Messiah had given him to open the door into the body of Messiah, also to the Gentile world.

And you can see Peter's ministry from Lod to Jaffo, and from Jaffo to Kessaria. He had been in Lod, and we have spoken about it in our last meeting together, and what happened in the city of Lod. He had moved to Jaffo, and you remember, in Jaffo he had been used by the Lord to raise this person, this woman that died. And now he's reaching to the place that is called Caesarea, and there we're going to see Peter is leading a soul to Yeshua the Messiah. And if there is a comparison to be done, healing of a person physically is great. Raising a person from among the dead in the power of the Messiah is even greater.

But leading a soul to the knowledge of sins forgiven is superseding them all. A man might be healed physically, a man might be raised for a season, but eternal salvation comes only through faith in Yeshua the Messiah. And here we see how the Lord is now using Peter in coming to another person's home, a Gentile home, a man by the name of Cornelius, to seek to share with him the message of the Gospel. And by doing so, he's going to use the key to open the door for the Gentile world to enter into the body of the Messiah. And so, if you remember in the first eight verses of chapter 10, we saw the vision that Cornelius had experienced.

An angel came to Cornelius and told Cornelius in chapter 10 and verse 4, "Your prayers and your alms came up as a memorial before God." Cornelius was a commander. He was a leader. He was a powerful man as a commander of a 100 and he had been a God-fearer. He believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You know why? Because he found that all what the Romans have taught concerning other gods were not sufficient to meet the heart need. And so, he became a believer in the God of Israel and yet he was not sure of his salvation. He was a God-fearer, yet he was actually needed to go the next step forward.

So, the Lord had revealed to him, through a vision, the necessity to call for the man by the name of Peter in the city of Jaffo. And so, we read in our verses here in verse 5 and 6 of chapter 10, "Send men to Jaffo, call a man by the name of Shimon Petrus, and he will tell you what you need to do." So, in obedience to the word of the angel, in verses 7 and 8, Cornelius sent these men to find Shimon Petrus. Now, in the portion that we began the reading today, we see now the other side of the story. And you know why it is so important to see this, brothers and sisters?

Because sometimes, we do not understand how God is working. The same God that works in the heart of Cornelius in the city of Caesarea, is the same God who is going now to work in the heart of Peter in a total different city, about 30 miles different location, and the same Lord is going to work in the heart of Peter to prepare him to go and share the message with Cornelius. So, what we have here in verses 9 to 16, we have the vision that Peter had experienced in the city of Jaffo. So, let's just go through it verse by verse. First of all, we read in verse 9.

"On the morrow, as they went on their journey, they drew nigh to the city, Peter went up upon the housetop about noontime to pray." Now, you notice that among our people Israel, according to Psalm 55, morning and evening and noon is a time where our people, as the Jewish nation, would be individually spending time with the Lord in prayer. It also has to do with the temple. When the temple sacrifices were offered, there was a morning sacrifice. There was an evening sacrifice. The hour, the time of prayer was also at noontime. And Peter, as a custom, as a Jewish man, went to the housetop. In the Middle East, the housetops do not have a slanted roof.

At least in the past, today, they build many homes with a slanted roof, but most of the houses, the tops of the houses are flat. And you use this upper area for prayer time, for a time of meditation, for a time of reflection, and for many reasons. And so, Peter, according to verse 9, he went up to the housetop to pray, and it was about noon. The sixth hour here, it's about noontime. In the middle of the day, Peter is going up to pray. What a beautiful lesson we learned from the desire of Peter to spend time with the Lord in prayer. But now the Lord has a message for him.

While it says here in verse 10, and he became very hungry, and he wanted to eat, but while they made ready the food for him downstairs in the house, Peter fell into a trance. The Greek word here, ecstasia, in Greek, simply means he fell into a mode, if you will, where the mind, or it's like a vision. He fell into a trance whereby he was now in a suitable condition to hear something from the Lord. And so, in the next verses, verses 11 and 12, Peter now sees heaven open. And a sheet, look at this, verses 11, he said, "And he saw heaven open, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, led down to the earth." And what happened in this sheet, it was kind of held, if you will, with the four corners of the sheet, and inside that sheet there was all manner of beasts.

It says in verse 12, it's a four-footed beasts, wild beasts, creeping things, and a fowl of the air. Those are the four types of beasts, of animals, if you will, and creeping things that were in that sheet. Remember, dear brothers and sisters, the Lord is going to prepare Peter to share the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua to the Gentile world. The Lord is beginning now to show Peter what he has already told him in Acts chapter 1, "Ye shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." And so now he has to teach him something. Remember, Peter was a Jewish man.

Yes, he grew up in Galilee, was not in Jerusalem, but he was a man that was, in his life, he was embedded with the Jewish traditions, with the Jewish customs, with what God had given in his word, plus the rabbinical and the phariseistic influence in the lives of the nation of Israel. He was embedded in this. And the Lord is now begin to prepare him for a message that he is to declare to the nations of the world, to the Gentile world. And so, he is bringing down this sheep with all sorts of animals. Now you notice, it says here in verse 11, that it was not only four-footed beasts, but there was wild beasts, there were also creeping things, and the fowl of the air.

There were all sorts of animals there in that sheep, and it's coming down from heaven in a supernatural way, because Peter was in a trance. He saw a vision. And so it says here in the next verses, in verse 13, a voice come to Peter. In Hebrew, some call it Bat Kol, a daughter of a voice. We don't know who spoke. We only read that there was a voice. It could be the voice of the Lord. It could be the voice of an angel, but we call it Bat Kol, just a voice. God was speaking to Peter, on the top of the roof, as he was praying and meditating, preparing him to go out, and share the Messiahship of Yeshua, with the Gentile world.

And so the voice said to him, Peter, it says in verse 13, rise Peter, kill Peter and eat. The voice was telling Peter, and remember, Peter was very hungry. They were preparing for him food, inside the house of Simon the tenor, while he was on the rooftop, hungry, and a vision that came to him, telling him, Peter, you get up, kill, and eat. Now Peter, Peter, looking at this sheet, filled with all sorts of animals there, inside that sheet. And Peter, of course, you notice the next verses, it says here, Peter responding, look what he's saying, in the next verse. Peter, in verse 14, Peter said, not so, Lord.

For I never eaten anything that is common, or unclean. Now some have suggested, that when you call the Lord, you never say to him, not so. He's either Lord, and you submit to him, and you say, Lord, you cannot use that word, not so, to your own Lord. But nevertheless, the Lord knew Peter. The Lord knew the need of Peter, he knew the condition of Peter, but he needed to prepare him, to go out, and share, with the Gentile world, the Messiahship of Yeshua. You know, as I grew up in Jerusalem, in Israel, in our home, we never eaten anything, even today, by the way, we have never eaten anything, that was not, what we would call kosher.

We lived in land, most of the land, not everyone there, but in a land, that there is rabbinical authority, designating a restaurant, and call it kosher, or a food store, or a market. A market is not considered, to be kosher, unless the rabbi, have their stamp of approval. Now we are talking about now, in 2011, can you imagine, about 2000 years ago? among the nation of Israel, who were still, the Messiah just have come, the age of grace, has just began, in a sense, Israel, as a nation, were under the law. The temple is still, standing. And the Jewish people, including Peter, he says, look, I have never eaten, anything that is common, or unclean.

Or unclean. I have never done so. Now I know, many times, people blame Peter, and they say, well Peter, how could Peter says this? Doesn't he understand, that the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, said to him, that he is to go, to preach to the nations, of the world. But what would you do, in a stage like that? When something, totally new, have begun. When something, that the rest, of the religious leaders, of the nation, have refused, to accept. What would you do? When the Bible, clearly taught, the nation of Israel, what is to be eaten, and what is not to be eaten. So Peter, when he said, what he said, he had a reason, to say, what he said.

Let me, for a moment, turn with me please, to the book of Leviticus, for a moment. Just to, get this before us, Leviticus chapter 11, so you can see, what the law, had said, to Israel, as a nation, concerning, food, to eat, or not to eat. You will notice, the certain, meat, that Israel were to eat, and certain meat, and food, that Israel were not to eat. Clean, and unclean. But I just want to read, the last verses, from verse 41, to 47. It says, "And every creeping thing, that creepeth upon the earth, shall be an abomination. It shall not be eaten. whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all foe, or whatsoever hath more feet, among all creeping things, that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat.

For they are an abomination." Look at verse 43. "Ye shall not make yourself abominable, with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean, with them that ye should be defiled thereby." And then the Lord said to them in the next verse, He says, "For I am the Lord your God, ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall ye defile yourselves, with any manner of creeping things, that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the Lord, that bringing you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God, and ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that movers in the water, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth.

To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beasts that may be eaten, and the beasts that may not be eaten." This is a clear passage. Dear brothers and sisters, that were given to our nation, Israel, long before the Messiah had come, under the law. God had given Israel a clear instruction concerning what they are to eat, and what they are not to eat. And therefore, when we look at Peter, and we see what he is saying to Yeshua, the Messiah, he says, Lord, I have never touched, never eaten such things. Now, of course, the Lord is going to teach him a lesson, and Peter connects this food eating, and what he can call common or unclean, he connects this with his relationship to the Gentile world, to believers from among the nations of the world.

We'll see this later on. And so, Peter said to him, in verse 14, he says, "Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." And so, Peter stated to the Lord exactly what he felt, and what he had always done. He had never eaten anything that is unclean, that is not kosher. Now, I'm saying this from experience, because I remember the first time that I've eaten something that was not kosher, or something that was not, let's put it this way, that was not one of the animals that we can eat. I mean, it was something like, I thought maybe God is going to strike me down.

I thought maybe there will be some sort of discipline, because I have done so. Now, mind you, a person needs to understand, and we need to be careful in various ways. We have certain conviction in our lives, as individuals, and this is fine, as before the Lord. But nevertheless, here now, we can see that the Lord was preparing Peter to go and to share the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua with the Gentile world, beginning with Cornelius. So, as Peter said to him these words, he said to him, "Not so, Lord, I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." Look what the answer that came, the voice that came from heaven to him, the voice said, speak to him again the second time, and he said, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." Peter needed to hear these words from the Messiah Yeshua.

What God hath cleansed, he cannot call common or uncommon. Now, I want again to put the text in its context. By the time Peter had received that vision from the Lord, he didn't understand yet all what he was going to learn as time went on. But nevertheless, the truth of God's dealing with men in various dispensations are very important. For example, if you remember, when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they were eating only vegetation, right? In the beginning, when they were living on earth, before sin came in. But after sin came in, when they were outside of the garden, the Lord said to Adam and Eve, "Everything that is moving upon the face of the earth, you shall eat." And then under the law, God restricted our people Israel and he said to them, "There are certain food that you are to eat and there is certain food that you are not to eat." But by the time the dispensation of the days in which you and I live in what we call the assembly age, the church age, here we can see that now the limitations are different.

We are not having the same limitation that Israel have had under the law. Timothy speaks about this as well. So, the Lord said to him, "What God has cleansed, don't you call them common?" So, this was done three times, the vessel was received unto heaven back again and Peter was astonished. A sheet coming down, one time going up, second time going up, third time going up, the Lord is telling him, "Peter, you get up, kill and eat." Peter said, "Not so, Lord. I have never eaten this before. Anything that is called common or unclean I have never eaten." And three times the Lord did it for him.

Peter eventually, we don't read of him eating here, this food, but nevertheless, the Lord was preparing him for something that is ahead of him. Well, now notice the next verses. In verses 17 to 22, we see Peter and the messengers that came from Cornelius. It says in verse 17, "While Peter was doubting in himself, what is this vision which he had seen? What does it mean? And behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and they stood before the gate. And they called and they asked whether Simon, which is Simon and Peter, were lodging there." At the very same time, then Peter was doubting or he was perplexed.

At the same time, the messengers from Cornelius came and arrived to the city of Jaffa and they began to search for the house of Simon the Tenor to see if Simon Peter is there. And so look at this. They called and they asked Simon, which is his son of Peter, if he's lodging there. They were searching for Peter. They were sent by Cornelius all the way. It must have taken them probably a couple of days because it's about 30 miles, the distance from Kesaria to Jaffa. And when they arrived all the way on the shore there of the Mediterranean, they came from the north, further down south.

They have arrived to the city of Jaffa. the city of Jaffa. They have found the house of Simon the Tenor and they were calling for Simon Peter. Just after he finished this experience on the top of the roof there. Now he was doubting or it says perplexed. he was wondering what does that mean? What is God telling me? What is the message? I mean, it was very strange. Sheet coming down, going up, coming down, going up. All sorts of animals kill it. What does it mean? What is the Lord is trying to teach him there? Well, the people came from Cornelius. They have arrived. And you notice now you can see that Peter is starting a little bit to understand certain things because it says here in the next verses, verses 19 and 20, notice first of all, while Peter thought on the vision, it says here in verse 19, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek you.

Arise therefore, get thee down, go with them, do not doubt anything, for I have sent them. It's so beautiful to see again, brothers and sisters, that the Spirit's involvement here and the Spirit is speaking. Look, it says, notice it is a capital S, it is the Holy Spirit of God. While Peter fought on this vision, the Holy Spirit of God spake unto Peter. The Holy Spirit of God involvement in the whole movement of the life of Peter, the life of Cornelius, the messengers coming, the sheet that's coming down and up, the involvement of the Spirit of God. If you look at chapter 13, the Holy Spirit of God calling Paul, Shaul, it says here, and the Holy Spirit of God says, chapter 13, verse 2, separate unto me Barnabas and Shaul for the work of the ministry, which I have called them.

There is an involvement of the Spirit of God in this event of connecting Cornelius with Petros, with Shimon Petros. There is an involvement of the Spirit of God in any work of the ministry that we do in our life. Really, the Spirit of God wants to get involved in a message and a messenger's life. And the Spirit of God speaking to Peter and he's saying to him, Peter, you know, there are three men that are looking for you. You go down, get thee down, go to them and do not doubt anything. That word for doubting is don't make any distinction. Don't make any difference between those people.

They are seeking for you. You have a message to give to them. Don't doubt. Just go down to them because I have sent them. And so, interesting to see that Peter went down to the men which were sent, in verse 21, from Cornelius. And he said to them, I am the one whom you seek. What is the cause wherefore ye are come? Why did you come? And so, they said to him, in verse 22, Cornelius, A centurion, a just man, one that fears God, and of a good report among all the nations of the Jews, he was warned from God by the holy angel to send for thee into his house and to hear words from thee.

You notice, brothers and sisters, that these messages were such a faithful messages. They said to Peter exactly what happened to their master there in Kessaria. And they gave a testimony to this person, a man by the name of Cornelius, the centurion. He was a just man. He was a man that feared God. He had a good report among the Jewish people. And ultimately, it says here, that he received a message from the angel of God to send for you and to hear words from you, Peter. What an opportunity Peter had here. You know, it is hard for a man such as Peter, as a Jewish man, when the Gentiles in the first early church age came to him and asked from him to hear a message.

Peter needed to learn, brothers and sisters, that now the door of this great salvation to be part of the body of Messiah was no longer only limited to a nation alone, the nation of Israel, but the door was open to the nations of the world. And so Peter had heard what these messages were speaking concerning Cornelius. And again, I want to emphasize, it's the Holy Spirit of God that moved in the life of Peter to reveal him this truth. It is so unfortunate when we don't see or men do not see or don't recognize the movement of the Spirit of God in their life to discern that God has now opened the door to the nations of the world.

It is unfortunate even today among our own people not realizing the present day dispensation of the church age. Not recognizing this, but Peter have. But he needed now to learn how to behave, how to conduct himself. So in the next verses now, we are moving forward in verses 23 to 33. Peter is now moving ahead to meet Cornelius. The first thing that we learned that there is a shift in Peter's attitude in verse 23, the first part. Peter, listen to that, he called them in, he took them into the house, and he took the responsibility to lodge them in. That shows us already that Peter, though he was Jewish from among the nation of Israel, he had lodged them in the house of Simon the tenor.

You could see already right there that he began to understand that even though these messengers were not from among the nation of Israel, were not Jewish, they were Gentiles. He said, nevertheless, they can come in and I can go into them. There is a lesson to learn. There is a movement of God beginning right now in reaching the Gentiles with the message of the gospel. And so Peter did not hinder that. He brought them into the house. He took the responsibility to lodge them. And then it says in the rest of this verse, On the more, Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Jaffo accompanied him.

Now again, I would like to say, he knew what's going to happen and how people will look at that, that he, as a Jewish believer in Yeshua the Messiah, going to the Gentile world and speaking, going to a Gentile home, he knew that he needed to have witnesses along with him to show him and to show others of this great work that God was doing, not only among the Jews, but also among the Gentile world. And so he took with him, according to this verse, it says certain men. He took some of his Jewish brethren along with him. And you know how many people he actually took with him?

We don't have it written here in this verse 23. But if you turn the page to chapter 11, and you notice in verse 12, when Peter vindicates his ministry to the Gentile world, look in verse 12, he was saying, "And the Spirit bade me to go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover, these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house." Peter took with him six Hebrew Christians, six Jewish believers from Yaffo. He took them along with him to the house of Cornelius. And so he took a certain brethren. Then verse 24 tells us that, "On the morrow they have entered into Kessaria, and Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends." Peter had been walking again.

It seems to be like there are two days, because you find in verse 23, "On the morrow, verse 24, maybe a two-day journey, about 30 miles, about 50 kilometers, about 25 kilometers a day per se." And they arrived to the city of Kessaria, and here you see this man by the name of Cornelius. What does he do? He was waiting for Peter. And you notice what he did. What a man he must have been. He called together all his family, and he called together his friends, and he was sitting there and waiting for the messengers to come with Peter, and the message that he has for them. You know, Cornelius must have been a unique man.

You know, he was a commander who had authority. He must have had power and authority. He must have had means. He could say, "Well, I don't need God in my life. I'm satisfied with what I've learned from my forefathers, what I've learned from the Romans about the Caesars, and the gods of the world, if you will." But he was a godly man who wanted to know the ways of God. He knew something was missing. So what did he do? He was waiting eagerly. He called together his family. He called together his friends. And they were all in his house waiting. I remember years ago when I was traveling in White Russia, in Belarus, to minister the Word in certain places.

And I never forget that. And I came to various places where there were so many Jewish people that were waiting to come to hear the message that I was going to share. And when I came into the apartment or a little church building, you can see everybody sitting there waiting so eagerly to hear the message of the Word of God. I thought it was tremendous. What an opportunity. What a willingness to listen to the Word of God. Well, here, Peter arrived to Kessaria. And here's the man Cornelius preparing his family, preparing his friends for the message that they were going to hear through this vessel.

A man by the name of Peter. And so, we have arrived there. And in verses 25 and 26, we see the meeting between Cornelius and Peter. And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and he fell down at his feet. And he began to worship Peter. Look at the attitude of Cornelius. Now, of course, it was wrong in what he was doing. Because how can he go and worship Peter? Even though Peter was a vessel that was sent by the Spirit of God to minister the Word of God. But nevertheless, do you see the reverence to the things of God? He wanted to know what God has to say to him.

And because, remember, Cornelius was a Roman commander, the Romans were worshipping all sorts of gods. So, we will not be surprised of him falling at the feet of Peter seeking to worship him. But Peter never allowed him to do such a thing. And that's where you see the other side of Peter. Because Peter took him and he raised him. He said, "Stand up. I myself also am a man." What an attitude Peter had. Peter could have said, "Well, what an opportunity I have to get some worship for men. I am the great Pope. I am this great one that God used to open the door to the Jewish people, to the Samaritan, and now to the Gentiles.

I am supposed to receive some honor and some praise and some glory." Peter had an attitude of humility. You can see, even though he was struggling with the issue to go to the Gentile world or to eat food that he was not allowed according to the Bible, according to God's word, according to the rabbinical teaching as well. Nevertheless, he was a man that was broken before the Lord. He was used as a vessel by the Lord. And he did not want this man by the name of Cornelius to worship him. And that's why he said to him, "Take him by the hand." He says, "Listen, stand up.

I also am a man just like you." I'm reminded of a verse in 1 Peter 5 when Peter wrote the letter to the epistle to the elders among the Jewish believers. He says to them in 1 Peter 5 verse 1, "The elders which are among you, I exhort you," he said, "who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of the Messiah. And I am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed." He says, "Feed the flock of God which is among you. Take oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy looker, but as a ready mind. Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being an example to the flock.

And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourself unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resists the proud, but he give grace unto the humble." Peter was speaking later on, writing these epistles, his first epistles and second epistles to the leaders, to the Jewish believers to whom he was ministering to. And he said to them, "Listen, don't exalt yourself. God resists the proud, and he gives grace unto the humble." And you can see this character formed in the life of Peter when Cornelius was worshipping him.

And Peter said to him, "You know, you better stand up. I'm also a man." How different it is in what's going on today with those great leaders, if you will. And I speak specifically of the Pope who received, in a sense, worship almost by men who look at him as if he is the one who represents Peter here. And it's so different. You can see the difference. Peter was not desiring for Cornelius to worship him. And he said to him, "I am only a man. Stand up." The apostle Paul, Shaul, also experienced this. If you remember that later on in the book of Acts, in chapter 14, when they also thought of him as gods.

And you remember what Paul as well said. Shaul said, "I am also a man. Don't you come and worship me." Also, John had experienced that when John was falling at the feet of the angel in Revelation 19. And the angel said to him, "No, no, don't you worship me." He needed to learn, "You cannot worship men. You cannot worship angels. You only worship God. You only worship the Messiah, who is the God-man." And so, Peter told him, "Stand up. I am also a man." And that's very moving, very touching. And so, we find that now Peter went into Cornelius' house in the next verse. And as he talked with him, he went in.

And again, brothers and sisters, listen. And he found many that would come there together. He found many that were sitting there together. Their knowledge of God's truth were limited. Their knowledge about the Messiah was nil. But they only wanted to know what God has to say to them through the vessel that he was sending. And he was sitting there quietly, waiting for the messenger to speak. And so, he found many there sitting together and waiting to hear the word of the Lord. And so, look what Peter is saying now. In verse 28, Peter beginning to explain what in the world he is doing in the house of Cornelius.

He began to explain and he told them, "You know how that is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to keep company or to come unto one of another nation. But God had shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean." What I want to say, in the Bible, in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament. When God had spoken to our nation, Israel. The issue was not necessarily to go into the house of a person who was not a Hebrew. But the issue there is not to do and to follow the ways of the Gentile world. In fact, the opposite, to draw them to come to believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

But you see, beyond that, traditions have evolved. And that's why you can see here that it says, "It is unlawful for a man that is a Jew to keep even company or to come into one of another nation." That was something that was added by the Pharisees. It was not scripture, per se. Because the opposite is to reach out to the nations of the world. Not to believe in what they believe. Not to do what they do if they follow in a wrong direction. But to draw them to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But here you can see there are certain things that have been added.

But then he added. And you can see now, brothers and sisters, how the Spirit of God is now connecting the event that occurred on the rooftop in the city of Yaffo to the situation that Peter found himself in the house of Cornelius in the city of Kessaria. Peter connected it here together. Remember, in Yaffo, he didn't even know that the people were coming from Cornelius. In Yaffo, he didn't know anything about what the Spirit of God was going to lead him to go into the house of Cornelius. He only knew the shit coming down with the food three times, uncosher, unclean animals that he said, "Lord, I'm not eating.

I haven't eaten that before." But now he's connecting it with what happened. The same Holy Spirit of God who worked in the heart of Cornelius is the same Holy Spirit of God who worked in the heart of Peter, bringing them together, enlightening Peter to understand that now the Gospel is to go to the nations of the world. And so God have showed me that I should not call men, notice, in earlier verses, it's not men, it's food. Here he says that I should not call men common or unclean. And that is verse 15 where the voice came to him, he says, "What God had cleansed, you do not call common or unclean." And verse 15, by the way, the word you, it is, "You, Peter, have to learn a lesson.

Because I have cleansed those who come to me, you, Peter, do not call this individual or those individuals common or unclean." And so, in verse 29, Peter asks them now for the reason they went to call him. "Therefore he said, I came to you, without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for, I ask now," he says, "therefore, what intent ye have sent for me?" He did in obedience to God, in obedience to the voice of the Spirit of God. He went down from the roof, went with the men the following day, went all the way to Kessaria. And he entered into the house of Cornelius and he asked them, "What did you send for me?" And so, in the last verses, dear brothers and sisters, so beautiful, the answer of Cornelius.

In verses 30 to the last verse that we have read today, verse 33, Cornelius gave him that answer. Very nice to see how Cornelius answered to Peter. Cornelius, he said, four days ago. Two days to send the servant, the messengers, two days for Peter to come back. Four days ago, Peter, he said, "I was fasting until this hour." And at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house. And behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing. And said, Cornelius, your prayers is answered, is heard. And your alms had a remembrance in the sight of God. Send therefore to Jaffo and call Simon, whose surname is Peter.

He lodged in the house of Shimon, the tenor, by the seaside, who when he comes, he will speak unto thee. And immediately, therefore, I sent to thee, and thou hast well done that thou hast come. Now, therefore, we are all here. In thy presence before God, we came here to hear all the things which are commended thee of God. Look at the testimony of Cornelius, straight to the point. He's telling him exactly what occurred that we have read already in the first eight verses of this chapter, chapter 10. He's telling him what had happened to him. And you can see that when a sincere man desires to know the will of God, God is going to move, move mountains, move hearts of people to give him the message that he needs to learn.

And so Cornelius, by answering this to him, he told him how it all came about. Now, I want us to just look at this, how interesting, just a couple of points in closing, that I think it would be very nice for us to learn from what happened here. The first thing that we want to learn here is that verses 30 and on, those verses shows us that God uses men to share the gospel and not angels. You know, God could have said already in the earlier part when the event occur, when Cornelius have experienced, have had this vision of the angel coming to him and saying to him, your prayers and your arms have been risen to God.

The angel could have said to him, let me tell you, Yeshua from Nazaret, he was born in Bethlehem, lived in Nazaret. He died outside of the city of Jerusalem. He bore the sin of this world. The angel could have used the message of the gospel to present it to Cornelius. But you can see, brothers and sisters, that angels are messengers, but the message of the gospel were given to men and not angels. Angels could not fathom, could not experience, or they could not understand to the depth that you and I can understand because of what the Lord has done for us. They are not saved.

Angels don't share the gospel. God uses men. God uses people to share the message of the gospel. And that's why when the angel met Cornelius and spoke to Cornelius, he didn't continue to tell him the message of the gospel. He said to him, you send to another by the name of Simon. He is going to tell you what you are to do. He is going to give you the words of the Lord. Secondly, in those verses also, in verse 31, you notice that God will respond to a seeking sinner. You see, notice in verse 31, we read here in our chapter where it says, Cornelius, your prayer is heard.

Your arms are head in remembrance in the sight of God. You know what? There is a sincere desire by one to hear the word of God. God will respond to him. You remember what we read in the prophets? Call unto me in the day of trouble. And I will answer thee. God delights to respond to the call of man. Yeshua said in Luke chapter 19 that he came to seek and to save those that were lost. That's the reason that Yeshua came. So if a person is sincerely and honestly saying, God, I want to know your will. Help me. God will respond to a call of a sincere individual.

And thirdly here in those verses, we learn that good works and elms do not save. You notice that he says again in verse 31, he said to him, Cornelius, thy prayer had been heard and your elms remembered in the sight of God. But he doesn't tell him that your alms and your prayers gave you forgiveness of sins. It doesn't matter how much we give and even how much we pray. But forgiveness of sins only come on the basis of the finished work of Yeshua, the Messiah. Because all the good deeds that we can do and are good to do cannot make my sins be set aside and put away.

Only the blood of the lamb, the blood of Yeshua, the Messiah can deal with the question of sin. And that's why Cornelius prayers, though, were very important. And Cornelius good alms that he did giving and helping were very nice, but not sufficient for salvation. And that's why when we share the message of the Gospel, we cannot emphasize on good works. We must emphasize on what Yeshua had suffered for us on the tree when he shed his precious blood. And that God had been satisfied with the work of Yeshua, the Messiah. That after he died, he raised him from among the dead and placed him in the pinnacle of the universe.

And finally, in verses 32 and 33, shows us how God is able to prepare his vessel for preaching the message. And also prepare those that will be willing to listen to the message. When Peter had arrived there to the house, look, verse 33. Now, Cornelius said, therefore are we all here present before God. Here we are, Peter. What do you have to say for us? We don't need to force anybody. We don't need to turn blue for someone to come to know the Lord and to hear the message. We'll share as the door is being opened. And if the door is shut, we'll wait on the Lord until he opens the door for us.

That's what happened to Peter. He didn't have to arrange all sorts of arrangements and news and radio broadcasts and television. I know there was no television and radio at that time, but he didn't need to do all these gimmicks. God prepares those that are willing to hear the word of God. We don't need to force anybody. And if somebody rejects it, it is their loss. God is gracious to reach the hearts of people, but they have to be willing to listen to the message. It's a beautiful lesson for us to learn from those verses now. The rest of the chapter deals now with the key that Peter used now to open the door to the Gentiles.

And from here on now, we have the Jewish people came to faith in the Messiah, some of them. Some Samaritan came to faith in the Messiah. And from Cornelius on, some Gentiles came to faith in the Messiah. And together, we are forming the body of Messiah, the body of Christ. That is the heavenly company, the church that we know today, waiting for the day that Yeshua will come to take us home.