We continue our series on ‘Bringing your friends and family to Jesus’ by looking at how God moved in an unexpected way in one man’s home. When God works, he works fast (Isaiah 60:22).
Acts 10 is where the life changing and world changing good news of Jesus moves from the world of Jewish believers to Gentile or non-Jewish believers, when Christianity broke out from being a sub-culture of Judaism to becoming a world faith. Acts 10 is the tipping point where everything changed in the growth and momentum of the church. And it all starts because of one man and takes place in his home.
This chapter begins by detailing the spiritual hunger of a wealthy military man called Cornelius. He was a Roman centurion, whose responsibilities were more like those of a modern army captain. It ends with him and all his network of family and friends transformed totally by the Holy Spirit and the disciples somewhat shell-shocked by all that had taken place so quickly.
The apostle Peter, who was used so decisively in all that transpired, was at first in ignorance of the spiritual search of Cornelius, in much the same way many Christians today fail to realise what spiritual hunger exists in millions of people outside of church contact, including those closest to us – our neighbours, family and friends. We see from this story how we too can see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit with your family and friends.
1. Live right (Acts 10:1-2; Job 1:8; Genesis 6:9).
2. Listen to God (Acts 10:2,4-6,9,19-20; James 5:16 AMP; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 4:2)
3. Follow the Leading of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:1-23,34-35; Mark 7:19; Acts 16:9)
4. Let the Holy Spirit work (Acts 10:19-23,27,44-48; 2 Corinthians 6:2)
Apply
1. Live right (Acts 10:1-2). It says that Cornelius was a God-fearing man who gave generously to the poor and was doing his best to raise his family in the same righteous ways. Instead of making excuses or hiding behind Roman culture or his military career, Cornelius chose to live right and to live a God-centred lifestyle. God always sees and honours when you live right (Job 1:8; Genesis 6:9). Your faithfulness, your devotion to Him, your generous giving all please Him and are seen by Him and prepare an atmosphere where the Holy Spirit can work. However, living right alone is not enough.
2. Listen to God. Both the Roman centurion Cornelius and the apostle Peter were men of prayer. They did not just pray occasionally. They lived a prayer lifestyle (Acts 10:2,9). And that is significant. For when righteous - or right-living - people pray, then great things happen (James 5:16 AMP). It is no use just praying if you are not living right. But when righteous people get serious about prayer, great things happen. The teaching on prayer in the Bible is not on haphazard prayer but continual prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 4:2). To Cornelius, God not only told him his prayers had been answered and his faithful lifestyle noted. He also told him specifically that Peter was the man he needed to meet, who he was staying with, and how to find the house (Acts 10:4-6)! He told Peter three men were looking for him and he had better go and meet them (Acts 10:19-20). Both men had a vision from God, and both had to listen to it. If you are serious about seeing an outpouring of the Holy Spirit with your family and friends, will you give yourself to prayer and to praying specifically for each of them? Make no mistake. God always listens when righteous people pray. But God also speaks, and we must listen to Him. Prayer is a two-way conversation, and we can miss so much if we simply download what we want to say and then go off in a rush. If you will take time to pray and really listen to God, in one way or another through a vision, the Holy Spirit within you, and of course always the Scriptures, He will stir you to move out of your comfort zone into new territory.
3. Follow the Leading of the Holy Spirit. At every age and stage of life and ministry we each must decide whether or not to take a step of faith to see what lies on the other side of a door that God may be opening up to you. In this story, God was up to something, and both Peter and Cornelius had to pay attention and respond. God was working supernaturally: He spoke to both Cornelius and Peter through visions (Acts 10:1-16). The visions were specific and detailed. God was at work. God was working simultaneously (Acts 10:17-23). Without either of them knowing it, God was putting people together from very different backgrounds who had never even heard of each other. And you may not see what God is doing and all the ways He is at work in your life and in the lives of your friends and family, but you can be sure that God is working in them for your good. Just go where the Holy Spirit is leading you. It was the apostle Peter, the committed disciple, who needed to change rather than Cornelius. Peter was locked into his own tradition and upbringing more than he realised. And he needed unlocking pretty quickly. When Peter was told to kill and eat the animals he saw in the vision, he resisted (Acts 10:14-15). As a good Jewish boy Peter would have been steeped in Old Testament teaching that certain foods were unfit for eating and prohibited. But Jesus had declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19). Jesus abolished distinction between clean and unclean food and clean and unclean people. Peter knew in his head that the kingdom of God was not about special rules and religious practices, yet he instinctively responded in a traditional way. To follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, he had to quickly lose his old ideas and prejudices, which thankfully he did (Acts 10:34-35). When Peter changed, everything changed and it opened a way for many to come to know Jesus personally. Change starts in the church, not in the world. In each one of us. Like Peter you must really follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, which means you may need to think and act differently towards others if you’re going to reach people you haven’t reached before and see things you haven’t seen before. The big question that we all face, and which Peter faced, is whether we are going to be fixed and stuck in our old ways or flexible and obedient in following the leading of the Holy Spirit. We must be sensitive to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit so that you know His leading and direction. Maybe He’s been leading you to share encouragement with someone or to invite them into your home or life group - don’t miss the opportunity. God is setting us up more than we know, but we must be spiritually awake to step in and share our faith with them. God wants us to be quick to respond to what He is saying and doing. The responsiveness of Paul was key to the gospel coming to mainland Europe (Acts 16:9). We too must go where God is leading us, whether it is down the street, across the corridor in the office, 30 miles like Peter to Cornelius, or across the world. God has gone ahead of you.
4. Let the Holy Spirit work. Cornelius decided to send a group to meet a man that he had never met before who was staying at an address he had only just learned of. And Peter decided to welcome this group and go with them to the home of Cornelius (Acts 10:19-23). Neither Cornelius nor Peter knew all that was about to unfold but from the moment that they decided to act in faith and obedience and to let the Holy Spirit work, they opened a greater door for change than they could have ever imagined. And the same thing will happen for you when you decide to let the Holy Spirit work. Stop playing safe. Launch out into the new. When Cornelius took the risk of contacting Peter and Peter stepped out to go where he had never gone before, everything moved to another level. There was a new group of people to minister to, family and friends of Cornelius, who were hungry for God (Acts 10:27). Today so many people groups, so many families, so many in your neighbourhood and circle of influence are far more open to the good news of the gospel than you may know. And they will be more willing to listen to you than you may imagine. And in our story there was also a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Peter’s sermon on the good news of Jesus was cut short for the Holy Spirit moved (Acts 10:44-48). It says that all of Cornelius’s family and friends gathered at his house experienced an outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit. From this moment the Christian church accelerated in new ways. Today great things can happen in your personal life, in your family life and ministry when you live right and listen to God, following the leading of the Holy Spirit and let Him work. As you get out of your comfort zone to obey His call, you can be confident you will see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit with your family and friends (2 Corinthians 6:2).
