Please turn with me to Acts chapter 9. And the verses we are going to read today is from Acts chapter 9 verse 32 into chapter 10 and verse 8. And we read: And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwell at Lydda, or Lydda, or Lod. And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years and was sick of palsy. And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Yeshua, the Messiah, makes thee whole. Arise and make thy bed. And he arose immediately. And all that dwell at Lydda, or Lod, and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

Now there was at Yafo a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and elmed deeds which she did, and it came to pass in those days that she was sick, and died. And when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. And forasmuch as Lydda, or Lod, was nigh to Yafo. And the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. And when he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber.

And all the widows stood by him, weeping and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all forth, and he kneeled down and prayed, and turning him to the body, said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes. And she opened her eyes. And when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. And when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. And it came to pass that he tarried many days in Yafo with one Shimon, a tenor. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always.

And he saw in a vision, evidently, about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming into him and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Yafo, and call for one Shimon, whose surname is Peter, he lodged with one Shimon, a tenor, whose house is by the seaside, he shall tell thee what you ought to do. And when the angels which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier, of them that waited on him continually, and when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Yafo.

And I'm going to stop here with the reading. Now, let me make a few remarks here, in the beginning of the teaching of this message. The theme, really, of the message is the ministry of Peter from Lod, or Lydda, as it says here, all the way to Kessaria. What happened here, brothers and sisters, you notice, after the fact that the apostle Paul, or Shaul, have come to faith in Yeshua, the Messiah, when Shaul had accepted that Yeshua was the Messiah, then all of a sudden there is a break here, and we don't read about Shaul for a while, and the ministry of Peter had been brought to the surface.

You see, if you remember, the whole chapter 9 almost, deal with the fact that Shaul of Tarsus, who came from Jerusalem all the way to Damascus, on the way he received a revelation from the glorified Messiah, and when Yeshua spoke with him from heaven, and he said, Shaul, Shaul, why are you persecuting me? And Shaul said, what do you want me to do, Lord? And you remember that it was there that Shaul had accepted the Messiah, he had gone further to Damascus, went there, and a man by the name of Hananiah came to him, and lay his hands on him, and allowed him now to see after three days without sight.

And ultimately we find out now Shaul, now for a while set aside, or at least his ministry is not being spoken about here, and we find out that Peter is coming to the surface. Now this is very important, because we find, of course, Shaul came to Jerusalem, you remember in chapter 9, verse 26, and Barnabas took him, he brought him to the apostles, and he told them that something happened to Shaul, that he became a believer, and then later on we find out that he was continuing to minister, but all of a sudden there is an abrupt stop, and instead of hearing of Shaul ministry, we read of Petrus, Peter's ministry.

And why? The reason here is very important. Because if you remember, it was Shaul, that the Lord said to Hananiah, I have chosen him to be a vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, before the goyim, the nations of the world, and before kings, and before the children of Israel, and I will show him what great things he must suffer for my name's sake. This is chapter 9, and verses 15 and 16. Now if Shaul was going to be the apostle to the uncircumcision, to the Gentile world, someone had to open the door of the kingdom for the Gentiles to come in. And we find out now that Peter, Shimon Petos, is the one that is used by the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, to open the door to the Gentiles to come in to be part of the assembly of God.

Now please go back with me to Matthew chapter 16 for one moment. Before Yeshua died on the cross, on the tree, he said to him in Matthew chapter 16, verse 13, Yeshua came to the coast of Kessariah Philippi, and he asked the disciples, Whom do men say that I, the son of men, am? And they said, some say that you are John the baptizer, others say that you are Eliyahu, Elijah, others say that you are Yirmiyahu, or Jeremiah, and others say that you are one of the prophets. But Yeshua said, but whom do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered, and he said, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God.

You are the Messiah, the son of the living God. So Yeshua said to him in verse 17, Blessed are thou, Shimon, Bar Yonah, flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And he said, I say unto you that you are Petros, and upon this rock, upon your confession, I will build my assembly, my ecclesia, my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. In other words, Yeshua the Messiah said to Shimon Petros, you are Petros, or a little stone, and upon this rock, the rock was Peter's confession, upon your confession that I am the Messiah, the son of the living God, I am going to build the assembly, the church, the called out one, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

And then in the same chapter, in the next verse, he said to Shimon Petros, I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. You see, Peter received keys. Now, it's not a literal keys like you and I take, and you open the doors in our home, and open the door to our car, and open the door to the gates. The keys of the kingdom of heaven is that the Lord Yeshua the Messiah said to Shimon Petros, you are going to be used by me to introduce men to the kingdom.

First of all, the Jewish people, your own brethren, the nation of Israel. Secondly, the Samaritan, the Shomronim. And thirdly, the Gentile world. And so Peter became a vessel to introduce the head of the church, the head of the assembly, to the world, first to the Jewish nation, to his own brethren, secondly, to the Samaritan, and now thirdly, to the Goyim, to the nations of the world. That's where many in the nations of the world come in. But the key to open the door, the gates to the kingdom, was given to Peter. You see, if you look at chapter 2, where we have already looked at already in the book of Acts, it was there that Petros, Peter, presented the Messiah to his own brethren, the nation of Israel.

You remember then in Acts chapter 2, we read this already. And there he said more than once, Ye men of Israel, Acts chapter 2 and verse 14, Ye men of Judah. Verse 22, Ye men of Israel. Jesus of Nazareth is a man that is a proof of God. That's to his own brethren, the Jewish people. He introduced the Messiah, Yeshua, the son of the living God, to his own brethren. And then later on, if you remember, Philip went to Shomron, to Samaria. And he preached the message of the gospel, and many got saved, accepted the Messiah. But Peter needed to come down from Jerusalem in order to be the one that introduces them, to open the door, if you will, the gate using the keys to bring them into the assembly of God, to the church of the living God.

And remember, the church is not a building. The church is a company of redeemed people who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God. And if we look at just quickly in chapter 8 of the book of Acts, and I'm going back, if you remember, it says in Acts chapter 8 and verse 14, Now when the apostles which were in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John. Chapter 8 of Acts. Who when they were come down, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Peter was in Jerusalem. Peter was in Samaria. And now Peter is going to be the one that will introduce the Gentile world into the body of Messiah.

To use the key to open the gate for them, if you will, to enter into the body of Messiah. So, Shaul is going to be the apostle to the uncircumcision. But before he can start his ministry, it was Peter who needed to open the gate and open the door. And so now, in an abrupt way, we ended up in chapter 9 and verse 31 that there was a fear of the Lord, the comfort of the Holy Spirit. They were multiplied there when Shaul was in Damascus. And then later on he went to Jerusalem. And now all of a sudden we stopped to read about Saul. And Peter came into the picture and in verses 32 of chapter 9 all the way to chapter 11 and verse 18 there, we see the witness of Peter.

And then Shaul, Paul, come back into the picture and continue the ministry among the Gentile world in which the Lord has called him to serve. And so now, in these verses that we have read today, Acts chapter 9 verse 32 into Acts chapter 10 and verse 8, we can see how the Lord is using Peter in three ways. Number one, to heal the body of a person. Number two, he is using him to raise the dead. And number three, he is using Peter to lead a Gentile unto salvation. Now, brothers and sisters, sometimes people ask and say, you know, there are certain things that are very important in life for a person.

And they say, what is the most important thing in life for the human race? Is it the most important is the healing of the body? Is the most important the resurrection from the dead? Or is the most important thing in life really for a person is to receive a new life, a regeneration? What we find out here in these verses as we move on to chapter 10, that really the most important thing for the whole human race is not to have only a nice body and not only to have a resurrected body like Lazarus was from the dead and others was resurrected from among the dead in the scripture or resurrected from the dead.

But the most important thing in life for every individual today is the regeneration of the soul. Really, if a person will have a perfect life here on earth, the most beautiful body here on earth, a long life here on earth, and even like Lazarus and others who rose from the dead and lived a little bit a little bit longer after resurrection, you will notice in scripture that the most important thing is regeneration because if a person is not saved and his or her sins are not forgiven, this person only live for a certain length of time and no longer with joy and peace in his or her heart.

And that's what we learn here as we move on from chapter 9 to chapter 10. So we are talking about three cities here. The first one is Lord, the second one is Yafo, and the third one is Kessaria. We are also talking about the three ways in which the Lord used Peter. He used him to heal a sick person. He used him to raise a dead person. And he used him to lead a sinner to the knowledge of sins forgiven. The first one is nice. The second one is even nicer. But the third one, the regeneration is the ultimate. What shall profit a man or a woman if he shall gain the whole world but lose his own soul?

What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? And look at this, how beautiful here we are being led into the next step. So Peter now coming to the front here. In verses 32 to 35 of Acts chapter 9, we see Peter is being used by the Lord to heal the body of a man that is called Aeneas. Look, it says in verse 32, first of all, Peter arrives to the city of Lod. It says it came to pass as Peter passed through all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwell at Lod. I know in the King James it says Lida, but it's actually Lod.

It's the Old Testament city called Lod. We read about Lod in various passages that city is mentioned in 1 Chronicles chapter 8 and Nehemiah chapter 11. It is a city that was built there by the tribe of Benjamin and it's called Lod. If you fly to Israel today and you land in Israel, you are landing at the airport which is called Ben-Gurion airport which is located by the city of Lod. Lod is right on the coast there. It's not too far from Tel Aviv. It's not too far from Jerusalem and so on. It is in the center but it's closer to the coast there and here he is finding himself coming to the city of Lod but notice it says in verse 32 he came down also to the saints which were at Lod.

Saints? Those were believers. Here we find Peter is arriving to the city that is called Lod and he went among the believers. Apparently those were Jewish believers. He had the doors to the Gentile world that was not yet open and he came to the city of Lod and there he is coming to the saints. I think you will find later on in the scripture especially in the epistles that when the apostles writing to the believers in various cities like Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians and Galatians usually the apostles using the word saints rather than disciples. even though the word disciples does interchange here and there but the word saints means set apart.

There were believers who were set apart for God. They were saved, they were forgiven but they were positionally saints. Maybe we don't always behave as saints but we are saints positionally. That means God had set the brothers and sisters in the city of Lod for himself. Set them apart. So he come to Lod and there he found in verse 33 a certain man by the name of Anias which was kept his bed eight years and he was sick of palsy. He was crippled. Here's Peter coming to Lod and to the believers there to the saints and the first thing that he has to be confronted with is with a man that his name is Aeneas and Aeneas apparently was sick for eight years.

He was sick of palsy. He was actually a crippled man and Peter come to this city of Lod among the brothers and sisters. Now you notice that when he come to this place and he see this man by the name of Aeneas most likely dear brothers and sisters they were Jewish believers even though in Lod and also later on in Yaphro there were a lot of Gentiles they were actually Gentile majority but Peter is still dealing with the Jewish believers.

He began in Jerusalem and later on he went elsewhere but it is mainly dealing with Jewish believers and then what happened is that Aeneas there for eight years is sick he cannot walk properly he is crippled it says here in this verse that he kept his bed in other words he was subject to constantly be close to his bed he depended upon his bed he constantly needed to be in bed people needed perhaps to carry him he could not walk properly he was crippled for eight years and you notice what Peter does Peter said unto him Aeneas in verse 34 Yeshua the Messiah makes thee whole arise and make thy bed and he arose amid

no delay here you can see the power that God had given to this man by the name of Shimon Peter with regard to the healing of the body now I want to make a point here not everybody can do that not everybody had been gifted in this area at least even though in the first century the very fact that Peter needed to come to the city of Lord already proved to us that not everyone could do this God had used this man by the name of Petros who was an apostle he used him gave him the gift in the name of the Lord Jesus to heal a person that was sick of palsy for eight

years dear brothers and sisters can you imagine what kind of life to live without the ability to walk properly can you imagine what it meant for this man by the way he was saved he was a child of God for him the salvation was the most important thing he was part of the saints that had been sanctified and yet Peter was used by the Lord Jesus the Messiah in the city of Lord to give healing to the man by the name of Aeneas he doesn't take credit for himself notice he said Yeshua the Messiah make thee whole I don't make you whole it's not me Peter that come and I am the one that make

you healthy make you whole no it's not me it is Yeshua Jesus the Messiah that make thee whole and this is important to realize that if there is healing in the life of anyone it only comes to mankind through the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah it's not man it's not you it's not me it's not Peter if you remember in Acts chapter 3 and verse 6 and in his name through faith in the name he has made this man strong you remember in chapter 3 when Peter and John went out to the temple there was a man that was asking for alms there and Peter said to him silver and gold have I

none but such as I have I give it unto you in the name of the Jerusalem and now he is used by the Lord Jesus the Messiah to minister to the need of a single individual by the name of Aeneas Jesus the Messiah makes thee whole arise make your bed he arose immediately and he made his bed now the making of the bed is not necessarily depending on somebody else to make the bed and make himself ready he gets up and he is the one who takes care of this vessel the bed that was carrying him now because of the power through the name of Yeshua the Messiah in the name of Yeshua the Messiah

he led that person healed this person and now this person by the name of Aeneas is the one who makes his own bed and so God Yeshua used Peter in the healing of the body in the city of Lod but that was not where Peter is going to stay because Peter is on his way to the city of Kessarius because Yeshua was going to use him to open the door for the Gentile world to come in to be part of the assembly of the living God and so it says in verse 35 all the dwelled in Lod and Sharon saw him and they turned unto the Lord you know the witness of this man by

the name of longer cripple able to walk healed from his disease of palsy was a testimony to the people in the city of Lod in the area called Sharon the plain of Sharon there and people looked at this they saw him and they turned to the Lord this was a witness of the power of the Lord Jesus the Messiah and many turned to the Lord it's so nice to see that people turn to the Lord and remember here in this text again I would like to suggest that all that dwell in Lida does not mean all the people because the vast majority of the people they were not Jewish they were Gentiles so so so

so all here is in context of the Jewish community in this area who have not yet to come to faith in the Messiah they have turned to the Lord and they became also part of the assembly that existed in the city of Lod remember again the key was not used yet to open the door to the kingdom of heaven to the Gentile world it will be coming he is on the way to Kesariah to open the door so Peter was used by Yeshua the Messiah to heal the body of Aeneas in the city of Lod this is verse 32 33 34 and 35 now the next verses verse 36 on to the end of this

chapter 9 we find out another thing that Peter was used by the Lord this time Peter was used by the Lord in raising a person from the dead in another city the city that is called Yafo you find the word Joppa here in the King James version but it's really the Hebrew city of Yafo look it says in verse 36 and there was at Yafo a certain disciple by the name of Tabitha which by interpretation is called Dorcas this woman was full of good works and arms deeds which she did now Yafo is approximately 15 kilometers from the city of Lod the distance is very short about 15 kilometers from the city of Lod to

the city of Yafo and you remember the city of Yafo very well from the book of Jonah the prophet he went down to Jafo was wide by the coast and you remember he took a ship and he went down into the ship and then he went and sailed away from the location where God wanted him to go God wanted him to preach to Nineveh to the people at Nineveh to tell them that God is going to come in judgment over the city of Nineveh but Jonah instead of going in one direction he went to another direction but he had to go to the city of Yafo there he went into a ship and then he

ended up sailing in a different direction well Yafo about 15 kilometers away from the city of Lod we find out that there was a disciple a woman by the name of Tavita which is by interpretation called Dorcas Tavita is the Aramaic name that she has and actually the Hebrew name is Tzviyah apparently she was a Jewish believer her name is in Aramit is Tavita in Greek is Dorcas in Hebrew is Tzviyah it's really the word gazelle the gazelles that we find usually in the desert but the feminine name Tzvi is the masculine Tzviyah is the feminine the gazelle the feminine and so this woman by the name of Tabita or Tzviyah in Hebrew she was

apparently a godly sister in the local assembly in Yafo and her name was also called Dokas and this woman was full of good works and she did all kind of alms she did all kind of good deeds and here we find out that this woman in verse 37 it says that it came to pass in those days that she was sick and she died whom when they have washed her body they laid her in an upper chamber a godly sister by the name of Tzviyah or Tabita or Dorcas did all kind of good deeds and she ended up dying sometimes we amaze how the Lord sometimes we don't understand why but he removing from the

midst of the saints those that were so useful you know we had a few times in local assemblies here in this country in Canada some servants of the Lord who were so useful they were blessing to the believers they were helping the needs there were encouragement there were pillars in the assembly but for some reason lo and behold something happened and they leave us they die God removed them and we ask the question why you and I might be so puzzled and we say Lord why is it that the person that is so useful in the midst of the assembly you're removing them because we need them so much we are in shortage of those

that are blessing to the people of God here's a sister oh she was not a preacher in the public place of the head of her home but nevertheless she was so useful in the midst of the assembly and so she died the Lord removed her from this scene from the assembly in the city of Yaffo but notice in verse 38 and 39 there was a call from the brothers and sisters in the city of Yaffo to Peter who is found at this time in the city of Lord so in so in so in verse 38 and 39 for as much as Lord was nigh unto Yaffo and the disciples had heard that Peter was there

they sent unto him two men desiring him that he would not delay to come unto them then then Peter arose and he went with them and when he was come they brought him unto the upper chamber and all the widows stood by him weeping and showing the coats and the garments which Dorcas made while she was yet with them now again I would like to tell you that this is in contact with the Jewish believers in the city of Yaffo even though the vast majority of the people were not Jewish but it is within the context of the Jewish community usually when a Jewish person dies that person should be immediately put in a grave

before the sundown if you notice a person dies in Israel they don't wait for one week or so for burial they immediately as soon as possible they're putting that person in the grave they feel that it's a dishonoring to the body to keep the body for such a long time unburied but in the case of the lady by the name of Tavita here apparently they have kept her for a while in the upper chamber and why because she was not from the city of Jerusalem she was outside of Jerusalem and there there was allowing to those who passed away not in the city of Jerusalem to be buried a little bit later and so they

kept her as it says in verse 37 you know they washed her and they laid her in the upper chamber and quickly they sent to Peter in verse 38 to the city of Lord come to Yafo don't delay and so Peter without delay he rose and he went and they brought him to the upper chamber where they have laid her and what we find there happening two things we find the widows the ladies doing there number one they were weeping they were sad because this one servant of the Lord in the midst of the assembly was removed from them they were very sad and the second thing that they have done they showed to Peter

the garments and the coats which Dorcas made while she was with them I could just imagine the widows there had a need they didn't have many means they didn't have unemployment insurance they didn't have the government to take care of them it is the local assembly who took care of their own people so Dorcas what did she do she said oh you need a coat I'll knit you a coat oh you need a hat I'll make for your head whatever the need that existed the garments the coat she made you can just imagine the ladies are saying they weeping wow this sister have been such a blessing to us and look at us she's gone

right now look she did this for me they talk highly about this sister by the name of Dorcas brothers and sisters how we need those sisters in our midst we don't only need the brothers who may serve publicly and do some other things but we need the sisters in the local assembly in the local fellowship to be part to help and to build and sometimes it costs it's not easy to serve when people don't appreciate you all the time but that's the attitude that we all need to develop in our lives as believers that's a real ministry you know we talk about the ministry a ministry is not standing and preaching a ministry is serving

is ministering to the people of God is helping meet the need of the people that's what she did and so these ladies were weeping and these ladies were showing to Petros to Shimon what this woman did for them and so it says in the next verses in verses 40 and 41 look how the Lord using Peter not only to heal a body that's happening Lord now also to raise the dead in the city of Jaffo it says in verse 40 Peter put them all forth and he kneeled down and he prayed and turning him to the body said Tabitha kumi rise and she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter she set up it's

so nice to see how Peter is functioning again remember in the earlier verses he said to Aeneas Yeshua the Messiah make you whole not me here he's turning in prayer and he's praying to God it's so beautiful to see and not only that he knelt down he was on his knees a confession of dependence upon God dependence upon the Lord Yeshua the Messiah he kneeled down and he prayed and he turned to the body of this woman and he said to her Tabitha rise you know he did exactly the same what our Lord Yeshua the Messiah have done in the Gospel of Mark in chapter 5 to another young lady by the name of Talita

not Tabitha but Talita in Mark chapter 5 if you remember verses 34 to 43 especially remember that it says about Yeshua the Messiah in verse 39 when he was come this is Mark 5 39 he saith unto them why make ye also adore and weep the damsel is not dead but she is sleeping this is Yeshua when he went there to the house of the men by the name of Jairus and then they were laughing at him to scorn but when he had put them all out he talked to the father and the mother of the damsel he took them with them and they were with him and he entereth in where the damsel was

laying and he took the damsel by the hand and he said unto her Talita kumi Talita arise little lamb arise which is being interpreted a damsel I say unto you arise Mark 5 and verse 41 and straightly the damsel arose and walked and she was of the age of 12 years old see Peter did exactly what his master his Messiah his Lord have done in Mark chapter 5 to the woman by the name of Talita Peter is being used by the Lord now to raise a woman that is called Tabita and he is saying Tabita arise this is verse 40 of Acts 9 and she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter she set

up and so in verse 41 he gave her his hand and lifted her up and when he had called the saints and widows he presented her alive what a joy it must have been in this local assembly in the city of Yaffo when Tabita was now alive they were weeping they were crying because they have lost a dear sister from their midst and yet now the Lord used Peter to raise Tabita and to bring her alive to the brothers and sisters he called them saints and widows there were many widows apparently there who Tabita took care of them when she was alive and so in the last two verses of chapter 9 in verse 42

look at the result of the resurrection of Tabita the result was it was known throughout all Yaffo and many believed in the Lord in Lord we also read that many turned to the Lord in Yaffo we read many believed on the Lord and you can see that the Lord have used Peter in that way in the last verse of chapter 9 in verse 43 Peter remained there in the city of Yaffo for a little while it says in verse 43 and it came to pass that he tarried many days in Yaffo with one by the name of Shimon the tenor Simon the tenor every time when we take groups to Israel I love to take

our groups to the house of Simon the tenor right on the coast of the city of Yaffo right by the water and you can see that the sign says the house of Simon the tenor and you can just imagine how there is a preparation of the Lord using Peter to bring him from Lord to Yaffo from Yaffo to Kessiah which we're going to and you can see with a man by the name of Simon the tenor if you will look carefully in your Bible and you will be wondering why did God why did the Lord Yeshua led Simon Peter to the house of a man by the name of Simon who was a tenor a

tenor is a person who handled dead animals dead bodies and why would he lead Peter to come to the house of Simon the tenor and to remain with him a certain days because a person that handled dead bodies is considered to be unclean this job is an unclean job if you remember in Leviticus chapter 11 God gave instruction to our people Israel of old what animals are clean and what animals are unclean and how those that handle those animals are to be treated and what they are to do but especially in verse 28 it says Leviticus 11 28 he that bears the carcasses of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening

they are unclean unto you look if you just go a little bit further verse 35 everything where upon any part of their carcasses falleth shall be unclean whether it be oven or ranges or pots they shall be broken down for they are unclean and shall be unclean unto you nevertheless a fountain or pit wherein there is plenty of water shall be clean but that which is touching their carcasses shall be unclean and if any part of their carcass fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown it shall be clean but any water be put upon the seed and any part of the carcass fall thereon it shall be unclean unto you notice verse

39 and 40 and if any beast of which ye may eat die he that touches that carcass thereof shall be unclean until even and then verse 40 again it's the person and he that eateth of the carcass of it shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening he also that bearers the carcass of it shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening now it is interesting because in the next chapter you will find out that Peter is there in the house of Simon the tenor the one who handles dead animals and dead bodies if you will and he's seen a vision of animals it is not coincident why the Lord bringing

Peter who was Jewish man from Galilee from the Galil to a person by the name of Simon the tenor and apparently this man by the name of Shimon the tenor became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah so Peter could stay with him at his house and I want another thing to mention because the book of Acts is a transitional book that leads us from the law to grace from the commandments to liberty in the Messiah and so it leads us from only the nation of Israel to including the Gentile world so the book of Acts is a transitional book Peter needed to learn what he have now through Yeshua the Messiah and that's why the

Lord in his wisdom bring him from Lod to Yafo and from Yafo to Kessaria because because there in Kessaria there is a man that need to come to be part of the assembly of God a Gentile man and so now quickly let's go to the next verses in chapter 10 now all these chapter 10 verses 1 to 48 really we see how Peter is used by the Lord to open the door to the Gentiles to become part of the assembly of God to be led unto salvation now the first eight verses we see the vision that Cornelius have received in the city of Kessaria now you notice in verse 32 of chapter 9 we have

Lod in verse 36 of chapter 9 we have Yafo now in verse 1 of chapter 10 we have Caesarea Caesarea and so we read in verse 1 there was a certain man in Caesarea by the name Cornelius a centurion of the band that is called the Italian band now here's a man by the name of Cornelius he was living in a city called Caesarea and Caesarea used to be the Roman capital of Judea there in Caesarea there was the powerful man the leaders there Caesarea was known as the capital area of the Judea area for the Romans all they worshipped the Caesars they worshipped their gods they worshipped their idols but there there was a

man by the name of Cornelius he was a centurion a centurion is a man who is a commander over 100 individuals he was of the band this band is a company of 600 soldiers and this 600 soldiers had 6 centurion for every 100 soldiers that the band was and so it says here in verse 1 that Cornelius was a centurion of the band that is called the Italian band this is the band that is uniquely Roman Italian there were other bands but he was one of the commanders of the Italian bands and so we read of him very interesting that he was in verse 2 we have some of the characteristics of this man he

was a godly man look at this he was a devout man he feared God with all his house and he gave much arms unto the people and he prayed to God always you see that is also very interesting about this man by the name of Cornelius there are four things that mention about he was a devout man he filled God with all his house and he gave much arms to the people and he prayed to God always he was not Jewish he was a god fearer he was a gentile who believed in the God of Israel but he was not saved you know many religious people think that if they give arms if they even

pray and if they are doing good deeds they think that that will get them away to heaven but not him he feared God he knew the truth concerning the God of Israel but he needed to be introduced to the Messiahship of Yeshua to introduce to the truth in the gospel that right now just began to be reaching out the Gentile world and so look at this in verse 3 Cornelius sees a vision through an angel he saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the dead an angel of God coming unto him and saying unto him Cornelius and he looked on him and he was afraid and said what is it Lord and

he said unto him your prayers and your alms are come up for a memorial before God you see God is not going to neglect responding to the heart of a person who really seek him sometimes people ask the question how can a person in Africa will ever hear about Jesus about Yeshua the Messiah well here's the lesson if a person is sincere in his or her desire to know the truth of God God is going to send that person a messenger to proclaim to them the message of the gospel so we don't need to worry about the people in Africa they will only get saved through Yeshua the Messiah but if they are sincere like

Cornelius wanting to know the truth of God God will send them a messenger to present before them the gospel that what he does here the angel come to Cornelius in the ninth hour by the way about 3pm apparently this man was praying Lord I believe in the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob I believe in the God of Israel I am God fear I am not Jewish but I believe in the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob but I know that something is missing though I do the good deeds and I give elms and I help the people and I'm praying God but I want you to show me the way of salvation so God

did he says in verse 3 he said an angel to him in verse 4 your prayers and your arms have come up as a memorial before God this is so beautiful brothers and sisters the thought of the fact that he prayed and it rose up to God when a person is sincere desiring the word of God the prayers of these individuals rising to God and God if you will smell it you remember the first thing that Noah when he came out of the ark the sacrifice that he offered it was like a burnt offering that rose up to God and God smell it and it speaks to him of the Messiah of Yeshua we read

earlier in Psalm 141 David says in verse 2 let my prayer be set forth before you as an incense and the lifting up of my hand as the evening sacrifice you see a man might not know all the truth yet but when there is a sincere desire to please God it's rising up your prayers and your arms have come up for a memorial before God and so God remembered that and God knows it even though he was not yet saved in a sense of knowing what Yeshua have done for him he loved God the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the God of Israel and he prayed to him consistently and his prayer rose like

the sacrifice and so we read he said to him now in verses 5 and 6 he says you know what he says I want you to send someone to Yafo for a person by the name of Shimon whose surname is Peter and he lodges in the house of another one by the name of Shimon also who is the tenor whose house is by the seaside who he will show you what you have to do see God prepared the heart of Cornelius for another man to come to give him the clear message of the gospel and so he said to him you send to Simon Petros who is in the house of Simon the tenor by

the Caesar and Simon Petros is going to tell you what you need to do so no delay brothers and sisters when the angels we speak unto Cornelius was departing he called two of his household servant devout soldiers of them that waited on him continually and when he had all these things unto them he sent them to the city of Yafo beautiful to see the preparation in the heart of a man by the name of Cornelius by the Lord by the Spirit of God in order to bring to him the message of the gospel and to close Peter was used by Yeshua the Messiah in Lord to heal a sick man in Yafo to raise the

dead and in Kesaria to lead a soul to the knowledge of the Savior and in Kesaria Peter is going to use the key in order to allow the Gentiles to enter into the kingdom of heaven wonderful truth we can praise God can you say amen for that amen