At Caesarea There Was a Man Named Cornelius, a Centurion in What Was Known As the Italian

BOOK OF ACTS

Chapter 10

10:1 Now there was a certain man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. .

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,

10:1 This Caesarea, sometimes called Palestinian Caesarea, was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, 32 miles north of Joppa. The largest and most important port city on the Mediterranean in Palestine, it served as the capital of the Roman province of Judea. This was the first city to have Gentile Christians and a non-Jewish church.

10:1 This Roman officer was a centurion, a commander of 100 soldiers. Although stationed in Caesarea, Cornelius would probably return soon to Rome. Thus his conversion was a major stepping-stone for spreading the gospel to the empire’s capital city.

TODAY IN THE WORD

When God decides to bring two people together for His kingdom, their differences don’t really matter. That was the case with Dwight L. Moody and his successor at Moody Bible Institute, Reuben A. Torrey. Moody was seventeen years older than Torrey. Torrey was a brilliant intellectual, a graduate of Yale University who knew Greek and Hebrew, and was also fluent enough in German to study theology at two of Germany’s top universities. Moody was a grade-school dropout who spelled words the way they sounded.

But Moody had a tremendous spiritual influence on Torrey, and persuaded Torrey to come to his school in Chicago.

Moody and Torrey couldn’t have been more different in background and training. The same could be said for Peter the Jew and Cornelius the Gentile, who was a member of the occupying Roman army on top of that. Given the ordinary course of events in first-century Palestine, these two might have never met.

But according to God’s magnificent plan, Cornelius was saved, and his story is one of the key turning points in the beginning of the church. The doors of the church were about to swing open wide for Gentile converts--and God wanted Peter to be the first Jewish believer to welcome them.

God had already prepared Cornelius for the gospel when Peter had his famous vision the next day. That’s what it took to get Peter’s attention, since God knew that Peter would not likely volunteer for the job of opening the kingdom to the Gentiles. Peter was an observant Jew, as indicated in his three refusals to eat animals that the Law of Moses declared unclean.

This was at least the third time Peter had said no to God’s will. He rebuked Jesus for prophesying His rejection and death in Jerusalem (Matt. 16:22). And at the Last Supper, Peter declared to the Lord, “You shall never wash my feet” (Jn. 13:8).

Peter was reprimanded on each occasion, and here on the roof of Simon’s house in Joppa, Peter was left to wonder what the vision meant. The men sent from Cornelius arrived at that moment, and to his credit Peter obeyed the Holy Spirit. The church would soon be full of Gentile converts, and as leader of the church, Peter needed to see God’s hand behind this growth.

PROFILE: CORNELIUS

The early days of Christianity were exciting as God’s Spirit moved and people’s lives were changed. Converts were pouring in from surprising backgrounds. Even the dreaded Saul (Paul) became a Christian, and non-Jews were responding to the Good News about Jesus. Among the first of these was the Roman centurion, Cornelius.

Because of frequent outbreaks of violence, Roman soldiers had to be stationed to keep peace throughout Israel. But most Romans, hated as conquerors, did not get along well in the nation. As an army officer, Cornelius was in a difficult position. He represented Rome, but his home was in Caesarea. During his years in Israel, he had himself been conquered by the God of Israel. He had a reputation as a godly man who put his faith into action, and he was respected by the Jews.

Four significant aspects of Cornelius’s character are noted in Acts. He actively sought God, he revered God, he was generous in meeting other people’s needs, and he prayed. God told him to send for Peter, because Peter would give him more knowledge about the God he was already seeking to please.

When Peter entered Cornelius’s home, Peter broke a whole list of Jewish rules. Peter confessed he wasn’t comfortable, but here was an eager audience and he couldn’t hold back his message. He had no sooner started sharing the gospel when God gave overwhelming approval by filling that Roman family with his Holy Spirit. Peter saw he had no choice but to baptize them and welcome them as equals in the growing Christian church. Another step had been taken in carrying the gospel to the whole world.

Cornelius is a welcome example of God’s willingness to use extraordinary means to reach those who desire to know him. He does not play favorites, and he does not hide from those who want to find him. God sent his Son because he loves the whole world—and that includes Peter, Cornelius, and you.

Strengths and accomplishments:

· A godly and generous Roman

· Although an officer in the occupying army, he seems to have been well-respected by the Jews

· He responded to God and encouraged his family to do the same

· His conversion helped the young church realize that the Good News was for all people, both Jews and Gentiles

Lessons from his life:

· God reaches those who want to know him

· The gospel is open to all people

· There are people everywhere to believe

· When we are willing to seek the truth and be obedient to the light God gives us, God will reward us richly

Vital statistics:

· Where: Caesarea

· Occupation: Roman centurion

· Contemporaries: Peter, Philip, the apostles

Key verse:

“He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly” (Acts 10:2).

Cornelius’s story is told in Acts 10:1-11:18.

"Am I a Soldier of the Cross?"

Isaac Watts, who wrote this hymn, was the father of hymn-writing in the English language. He was born in England. His father was not a member of the state church, and was twice thrown into jail for opposing it, so that when he was a baby his mother often carried him in her arms to visit his father in prison.

He became a minister in London. He was a little man, only about five feet tall. His health was very poor all his life, but his church took loving care of him, for he was greatly liked.

Early in life he became wearied with the versified Psalms which the churches used and set out to compose hymns of his own. This was a new departure and met with persistent opposition, but his hymns soon became widely popular in nearly all the churches.

This hymn was written by Dr. Watts in 1709, to follow a sermon on 1Cor. 16:13, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like me, be strong."

Am I a soldier of the cross,

A follower of the Lamb

And shall I fear to own His cause

Or blush to speak His name?

Must I be carried to the skies

On flowery beds of ease?

While others fought to win the prize,

And sailed through bloody seas?

TODAY IN THE WORD

In 1861, revivalist William Booth started the Hallelujah Band, a group of believers who had a questionable reputation in society’s eyes. Said Booth, “We invited a converted poacher, a couple of prize fighters, a jailbird.” This formed the basis for the eventual founding of the Salvation Army, famed worldwide as an organization dedicated to reaching the poor in practical ways.

Working mostly in London, William and his wife, Catherine, preached the gospel and campaigned for social reform. Their military uniforms and radical philosophy attracted both ridicule and admiration. Volunteers pledged, “For Christ’s sake, to feed the poor, clothe the naked, love the unlovable, and befriend the friendless.”

The Booths reached out to those regarded as “impure” by society. They knew that God sees with different eyes, a truth reinforced in today’s reading.

Cornelius was a good man. He feared God, prayed regularly, and gave generously to the poor. But being a moral person is not enough, so God made a way for Cornelius to hear the gospel. First, though, God had to change His messenger’s thinking. As a good Jew, Peter would never have entered a Gentile’s home, not even that of a godly Gentile. Once again, God was working to broaden the church’s concept of missions!

That’s the purpose of Peter’s vision. A sheet full of animals considered unclean under the Law was lowered from the sky and Peter was invited to eat. He refused, but was admonished, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (v. 15). After he saw the vision three times, Peter puzzled over its meaning.

Thanks to Cornelius’s prompt obedience in sending messengers, the interpretation of Peter’s dream was soon at the door. After a little extra nudge from the Spirit (vv. 19-20), Peter took the revolutionary step of inviting Cornelius’s men into the house as his guests, and later entered Cornelius’s house as a guest himself (vv. 23-25). In faith, Cornelius had gathered family and friends to hear Peter, and many were saved that day (vv. 34-48).

10:2 a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people, and prayed to God continually.

He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.

10:2 “What will happen to the heathen who have never heard about Christ?” This question is often asked about God’s justice. Cornelius wasn’t a believer in Christ, but he was seeking God, and he was reverent and generous. Therefore God sent Peter to tell Cornelius about Christ. Cornelius is an example that God “rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Those who sincerely seek God will find him! God made Cornelius’s knowledge complete.

ALMS

· Enjoined.

· To be given without ostentation.

· To be given freely.

· Withholding, not of love.

· Solicited by the unfortunate.

A Man "Under" Authority

The centurion told Jesus that he was "a man under authority" (Matthew 8:9). That seems an odd way of putting it.

Why did he not say a man with authority, or a man invested with authority? The reason was:

·  Above the centurion was the senior centurion;

·  Above the senior centurion, the sixty centurions of the Roman legion;

·  Above the sixty centurions were the six tribunes;

·  Above the six tribunes, the two consuls;

·  And—in the imperial system—above the two consuls, the Emperor himself.

It was because he stood—although the last and the lowest—in this long line of delegated authority that the Roman centurion was able to give orders and have them obeyed. He could give orders because he received orders. He had authority because he was under authority himself.

10:3 About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in to him, and said to him, "Cornelius!"

One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!"

He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.

See The Invisible

In 1845, in the First Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia, the Southern Baptist Convention was organized. As a tribute to the faith of the founding fathers, the church placed this inscription in the building: "Men who see the invisible, hear the inaudible, believe the incredible, and think the unthinkable!"

Conversion Involves Heaven And Earth

In his expositions of the Bible, I. M. Haldeman said, “The conversion and the salvation of Cornelius involves heaven, earth, angels, and men. Its movement is from the city of God on high to Caesarea, to Joppa and back to Caesarea.”

10:4 And fixing his gaze upon him and being much alarmed, he said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked.

The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.

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.

10:4 God saw Cornelius’s sincere faith. His prayers and generous giving were a “memorial offering before God,” a sacrificial offering to the Lord. God answers the sincere prayers of those who seek him by sending the right person or the right information at the right time.

Before God:

·  Righteousness

·  Favor

·  Memorial

·  Present

·  Truth

·  Acceptable

·  Charged

Explaining God's Answers To Prayers

During the reign of Abdullah the Third, there was a great drought in Baghdad. The Muslim doctors issued a decree that the prayers of the faithful should be offered up for rain; the drought continued.

The Jews were then permitted to add their prayers; the supplications of both were ineffectual. As famine stared them in the face, those dogs, the Christians, were finally asked to pray. It so happened that immediately torrents of rain followed.