ACTS 10:1-33 WHEN GOD WANTS TO DO SOMETHING CRAZY2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 10:1-33 When God Wants To Do Something Crazy

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. Acts chapter 10, and we'll be looking at verses 1 through 33 of Acts chapter 10, but we'll begin by reading verses 1 through 8 to kind of set the stage for what the Lord wants to speak to us this evening.

Acts chapter 10 verses 1 through 8, here's what it says. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always.

Verse 5. Verse 6.

Verse 8. Verse 8.

Here as we begin Acts chapter 10, we're continuing to look at the life and the ministry of Peter. We saw that last week as he was doing some ministry in various parts, and God was using him in a variety of ways, and we talked about doing ministry like Peter, and we concluded that with the last point from last week in verse 43, the point was do new things. Now,

because we saw there Peter begin to stay with Simon the Tanner and breaking some of those traditions that had been built up within the Jewish religion. Peter was kind of stretching outside of those traditions and breaking those things in a very good way. Now,

Now, as we go forward into chapter 10, we see that's kind of like some baby steps that God was having him take. And here in chapter 10, he's going to be even more radically breaking traditions that he has grown up with and lived with his whole life.

And so we're going to see Peter go through this process of being transformed, really. I like Dave Guzik. He titled the message that he taught from this passage, The Conversion of Peter. You know, we saw the conversion of Saul in Acts chapter 9, and here we see the conversion of

of Peter. Not that he wasn't a believer, but his heart is being changed, and his eyes are being opened to the full plan of God in reaching the Gentiles. And that's what we see happen here in Acts chapter 10, is the first Gentile believers get saved. And it's a radical new thing for the Jewish believers.

Up to this point, the Christians have all been Jews or those who, although they might have been Gentiles, had converted to Judaism and then became Jews. And the whole idea, the whole concept of Judaism

you know, anybody being able to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved without becoming a Jew first, this is, you know, radical thought as far as the believers at that time were concerned. And so Peter is going to learn this from the Lord through the series of things that God has set up for him.

And so as he goes through and as we walk him through this process, I've titled the message this evening, When God Wants to Do Something Crazy. For Peter, this would have been an appropriate way to express these things, that this is something crazy. You know, if you would have told Peter, you know, the morning before all these things began to take place, that he was going to go and preach the gospel to Gentiles who were not converted to Judaism, and that they were going to be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit,

Peter would have said, that's crazy. That's never going to happen. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to enter into a Gentile's home and preach the gospel. It's just not something he would have considered or thought about, but it is something that God wanted to do. And so traditions are going to be broken. Now, there are some things, of course, that God will never change.

His laws, his ways, and what he has established, it's permanent. It's what he has established. But there are so many things that are our own traditions that build up in our lives, that build up within the church, that build up, you know, in societies over generations. And for the Jews in that day, they had built a huge amount of traditions on top of the law.

And traditions aren't necessarily bad. Many traditions are, in fact, very good. But the problem was that they had these traditions that they held at the same standard as the word of God. And so now these traditions became laws that they had to follow, which were not laws that God had established. And so it kept them from doing all that God wanted, or it kept them out of receiving all that God had for them.

And so in our lives, we develop also those kinds of traditions. We develop, you know, just kind of our routines and rituals and patterns and things that we need to be able to break out of as God leads. But many times when that is beginning, it sounds like something crazy. You know, we've never done it that way before. I've never done that before. I don't know how to do that. And, you know, there's all kinds of those things that go through our mind.

And so as we wrestle with something crazy that is on our hearts, many times we wonder, how can I tell if it's just me going crazy, wanting to do something crazy or having some crazy thoughts?

Or how do I know if it's God doing something crazy? Because I think you would agree, if we know it's God who's doing, it sounds crazy, but if God's in this, then I want to be part of it, even if it sounds crazy. I want to do what God's called me to do. And so that's what we want to look at tonight. From the example of Peter, we'll see five points to better understand when God wants to do something crazy. So for the first point, we're going to be in verses 1 through 8.

And here's one indication, and these aren't necessarily always in the same order, but I believe this is a good pattern for us to know when God is doing something that we would think is crazy, he will usually speak to multiple people as he's doing something that exceeds our traditions or expectations. Now, mostly as we go through this passage this evening, I'm going to be focusing on Peter. Next week, we'll take a little closer look at Cornelius. But

But as God was working in Peter's life, it's significant to note that he is also working in the life of Cornelius. He's speaking to someone else that Peter would have never expected to hear from God and also never expected to be used as far as, you know, God ministering to his own heart. This was, as far as Peter would have been concerned, you know, completely random ministry.

But this is many times the way that God works. He speaks when he's doing something new and radical. He speaks to multiple people. Again, verse 1 and 2 says, there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always. And so here we're introduced to this man, Cornelius.

He was a Roman soldier, a centurion, which means that he was charged with 100 soldiers, that he was the captain over these men, and he was their leader. And we see a few different centurions in the scriptures, and they all appear to be very honorable men and trustworthy and reliable men. Here, as it describes Cornelius, it describes him as being good and devout and fearing God and

He was not a Jew. He was a Roman, and he hadn't converted to Judaism, but he believed in the God of the Jews, and he contributed. He gave alms. He was...

This is kind of the idea of being a God-fearer is what the Jews would have called him. That he feared God, but not to the extent that he became a Jew, but that he believed in the law, believed in God, and participated where he could in the Jewish faith without being actually a Jew or converting to Judaism.

And so he was a good man, and he believed in God, and he prayed, it says, regularly. He was, you know, consistent in his prayer. And God, in one of those days, meets him in verse 3. About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, Cornelius.

Now, the Jews had three points in the day at which they would pray. One of those points was the ninth hour. So again, you can see Cornelius was engaged in some of the practices of Judaism. And this would have been at three o'clock in the afternoon. He's praying and spending time seeking God. And an angel appears to him and calls his name. Verse four.

And when he observed him, he was afraid and said, what is it, Lord? So he said to him, your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.

So God's been hearing your prayers, Cornelius, this angel declares to him. And he's noticed your alms. He's noticed that you've been giving generously to the poor. That's what the alms were, the donations that would be given to those who were in need. Now, I thought that was interesting because, of course, you know, it's one thing for us to recognize that his prayers have gone up before the Lord.

But God specifically calls out his alms as well, his giving to the needs of others and giving to the poor around him. Remember the parable that Jesus shared in Matthew chapter 25, talking about the need for us to be giving. And he says, you know, it's a parable.

in as much as you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did it unto me. That's when he was, you know, separating the sheep and the goats and such and saying, hey, you guys are, you know, you did such good stuff. You know, you did all these things. And they were confused. When did we do these things? And he says, oh, you did it to the least of the brethren. You did it to those who were poor and needy. You ministered to them. And when you do that, you ministered to me, Jesus said. And we see that really played out here with the life of Cornelius, that

God paid attention. He was, you know, not converted to Judaism. He wasn't part of the Jewish faith in that sense, but he believed in God. He was praying, and he was generous in giving to the poor, and God said, that's a memorial. I'm paying attention to that. That makes a mark as far as I'm concerned. It's important to me. You've done that unto me. Well, verse 5 says,

The angel tells him, send men to Joppa and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do. And so as God appears or sends this angel to appear before Cornelius, it's always important to point out and to note that the angel could have shared the gospel with Cornelius right there, right?

But God didn't choose to use angels to share the gospel. He chose to use us to share the gospel. And so the angel is giving him instruction of how to get a hold of someone who can share the gospel with him. Now, I think it's also interesting that God didn't send angels

or God didn't have the angel say, well, Philip is right here in Caesarea. Remember, we saw Philip in Acts chapter 8, and he ministered in a variety of places, but he ended up in Caesarea, and he stayed there for, it seems, about the next 25 years. So he was in Caesarea, but God didn't go where it was convenient or necessarily efficient. I love efficiency, but God's plans...

Don't always appear efficient as far as I'm concerned. Instead of getting the guy that's like right there, he's going to send for Peter who's like 35 miles away. And, you know, it may not appear efficient, you know, as I look at it, but God is efficient in his ways. His plans are just bigger than I can see. And so he's bringing together, he's doing a work in a lot of people's lives, not just Cornelius. And so he's going to be working in Peter, a significant work in this process as well.

Well, verse 7, So now Cornelius is talking to his household about this vision that he's had.

And I think that's important to take note of because it's going to be a couple of days, you know, as they travel and then Peter comes back. And so there's some time to marinate, you know, on these things. And his household is going to be gathered together when Peter arrives. And they're going to be anticipating and preparing and eager to receive from the Lord the

And it's important to note, and we'll talk about this more next week, but when you're eager to receive from the Lord in that way, God meets you and he speaks to you and he delivers his word to your heart as he did with Cornelius and his family. But so he sends two of his servants and a soldier. He tells them the whole story and says, all right, go to Joppa. Here's where you're going to find this guy. Here's how to get a hold of this guy and bring him back here. God's going to be doing something crazy here.

And Peter is not prepared for this, but God is preparing him. And in doing so, he's speaking to multiple people. He's going to speak to Peter. We'll see that in just a few verses. But he's also speaking to Cornelius and bringing both ends together in order to establish what he wants to do. And this is the way that God will work.

Many times, especially as he's going to break our traditions or do something radically different or new or big changes in our lives, he's going to speak not just to me, but to other people in my life as well, or maybe even random soldiers that I've never met, and use that as a part of his work and preparation for what he wants to do in my heart and in my life.

And so how can you tell when you're just being crazy or God is going to do something crazy?

crazy. I was thinking back, you know, over the years of the crazy things that I've done, or the crazy things that God has done, and one of the craziest things that God ever told me was that I would marry Kim. And so he spoke to me about that, and I was crazy, and I shared it with Pastor Tom, and he said I was crazy. I shared it with Richard, and he said it was crazy, but God definitely spoke that, and then, you know, God did that. Now,

It's not that I told Kim, all right, Kim, God told me we're going to get married. You don't really have a choice in it. So just pick your dress. And I set a date. No, God had to speak to her directly, right? And so that's the point is he spoke to her. He spoke to me. He's not just speaking to one person, but the people that are involved, God is speaking to and preparing for the work that he wants to do.

And that's a good indication for those of you who are married, you and your spouse hearing from the Lord is a really good thing. And it's a really good indication that you're on the same page and doing what the will of God is for your life when you're working together and hearing from the Lord on the things that he is doing, even if they're crazy and radical and sound crazy to the people around you.

I like the way that David Guzik describes this. He says, typically, this is how God operates. He speaks to several people about a matter, not just one. Then confirmation is provided, and out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, a word is established.

So sometimes God wants to do crazy things, but as a precaution, as a little bit of a caution tape, that doesn't mean every crazy idea that you have, that you're going to be a rogue agent and you're going to just go do everything that comes into your mind, everything that you want to do. No, you need to be looking for, okay, is God speaking to other people these kinds of things and bringing along those who are part of that work as well. And so when God wants to do something crazy, He

Well, moving on to verses 9 through 17, now we're looking again at Peter. And here we have point number two, and that is, he speaks to you a mystery.

When God wants to do something crazy, a lot of times what he does is he doesn't flat out tell you, here's the blueprint, here's the whole picture, here's everything that I'm going to do. He gives you a little riddle or a puzzle or a little verse to meditate on or chew on. And it's a thought that you know it's from the Lord, but you don't quite get it yet. You know it's from the Lord, but you don't really understand what exactly he's trying to speak to you about through that.

And many times when he gives you those things that, you know, you're just chewing on, you're praying over, you're trying to figure out, it's because God's going to do something new. He's going to be doing something different in your life. And he's preparing you for that by giving you a mystery to meditate on and to pray over. And we see that happen with Peter here in verse 9. It says, Then the next day,

Verse 10.

But while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. Verse 12. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. So now Peter is going to be prepared for the work that God's going to do.

As these guys that Cornelius has sent out are on their way, they're drawing near the city. They're almost there. And so God says, all right, now's the time to let Peter in on some of the action here. And so Peter goes up to the housetop to pray. And so Peter goes up to the housetop to pray.

Now, in those days, the housetop would be kind of like a patio area. It was a normal hangout place. And so he would go up there probably pretty regularly, and he would spend time in prayer. And it says that it was about the sixth hour. And so that's about noon. Again, it's one of those times where the Jews would set aside the time to pray to God. And so it's one of the regular times of prayer. He went up to the housetop.

He's spending some time with God there. It's lunchtime, and he begins to get hungry. I like verse 10. It says, he became very hungry. I can relate to Peter in that for sure. He became very hungry and wanted to eat. So there's some definite expression. There's definite desire here. It's a real part of this thing that's happening to Peter. It's not just a little random fact. It was lunchtime, so he was hungry. But he wanted to eat.

And it's amazing how God can use some of the natural, basic things of our bodies and our lives and integrate his work in our lives into those things. So he wanted to eat. He's hungry, but the food's not ready yet. I'm sure you can relate to some of the frustration, right? And so he's waiting. He's hungry. He wants to eat, but he can't eat yet. And in that time, in that moment, he's

It says he fell into a trance. In that moment, God begins to speak to his heart. In that moment of waiting, you know, wanting to eat but not being able to eat, being hungry but not being fed yet, in that moment of the in-between where the things that he wants, the things that he's desiring, the things that he's craving are not yet satisfied, it's in that moment that God begins to speak to him and gives him this vision. And what is this vision of? It's food. It's food.

Kind of. Peter wouldn't have considered most of it food because this sheet comes down from heaven and it's filled with animals. All kinds of different animals and wild beasts and creeping things and birds of the air. And the Lord tells Peter in verse 13, a voice came to him, rise, Peter, kill and eat. So here's Peter hungry. They're taking a long time cooking lunch. So he can't eat yet. He's sitting there waiting, praying,

waiting for lunch, and God gives him a vision of lunch. But the lunch that God is giving him a vision of is things that Peter would not eat. On this sheet that comes down are some things that are clean or unclean. Common or unclean is the way that God will refer to it in verse 14, or Peter refers to it, rather. And the idea here is that, you know, the Jews, they had very specific dietary laws that God gave them in the Old Testament.

And so Peter is saying here, look, I'm kosher. I don't eat bacon. I don't eat ham. I don't, you know, I don't partake of those things that were forbidden in the old covenant. I don't partake of those things. And so in verse 14, Peter says, not so Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean. And then verse 15, and a voice spoke to him again the second time, what God has cleansed, you must not call common.

And so Peter's hungry. He has a vision of, you know, this great buffet that comes down, but he's having some trouble with it because there are things on there that were forbidden in the Old Testament. Were forbidden in the law of God, the dietary laws that God gave to his people. And Peter says, no, no, I can't, I can't eat that. I've never eaten anything common or unclean. I've never partaken of that kind of food, but he's hungry. And so Peter's hungry.

And God allows this hunger to be part of the work that he wants to do in his heart. He says, no, it's unclean. It's common. And God says, what is cleansed, you must not call common. In other words, Peter, don't hold on to your traditions over my word. What I say is cleansed is cleansed. Let me be the final authority. Don't hold on to your traditions. What God has cleansed, you must not call clean.

Now, verse 16 says, this was done three times and the object was taken up into heaven again. So God wanted to make sure this stood out. This wasn't a random dream. You know, sometimes we joke about the dreams that we have because we ate too late or whatever, you know. So if you go to bed hungry and you have a weird dream about food coming out of heaven, you know, you can understand, well, that's probably not a vision from the Lord, right? But God gave him this dream, this vision over and over three times and

So that he would know, God really wants to call his attention to this. This is a word from the Lord. I think you could understand here, it's not a very clear word from the Lord, right? I mean, God could have, if he wanted to, sent an angel to Peter and gave him very clear instructions like he gave Cornelius. An angel could have showed up and said, hey, Peter, so I already let Cornelius in on what's happening and he's sending guys and you're about to hear from those guys and then you're gonna go there. That could have happened, but God didn't do that.

because he's doing a work in Peter's heart. And you know, when God does a work in our hearts, he's wonderfully gentle with us. Although we may not feel that way sometimes, but he knows what we need. And so many times, especially when God's gonna do something new or something that we would call crazy sometimes,

He's gentle with us, and he shows us a little bit at a time. And so wrapping it in a mystery helps Peter process it and receive it over the time that it takes for him to be able to digest and understand and receive what God has for him. It's kind of like the parables, how Jesus would teach in parables how

So that those who wanted to hear from God and wanted to know what it meant would dig in and over the process of meditating and seeking the Lord that God would reveal more and more from those parables to the people. In the same way, God gives him this parable, this vision. It's a mystery and he doesn't quite understand it. In verse 17, it says, now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant,

Behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate. So Peter, after he sees this three times, he's wondering within himself, what does this mean? I don't get it. Now, probably you and I, we read through this and we already know kind of the objective that God has in giving him this vision. We've read through this before. We've seen this before, but this is Peter's first time and he's

He's perplexed. It's not obvious to him. He doesn't go, oh, Gentiles are going to be saved. That's what that vision means. Yeah, no problem. He's wondering, is God changing my diet? Do I have to eat the bacon? I mean, I don't know if I really want to. What does this mean? What is God trying to tell me through this? For Peter, it's a mystery. It's a mystery because God wasn't speaking directly and clearly. God was speaking. That part was clear. But what God was saying was not clear.

And God will work that way in our lives many times. And don't be frustrated when you know God's speaking, but you don't know what it means. That often is an indication that God's doing a deeper work in your heart, that he wants to work, but you're not quite ready to receive everything he has. So he's given you a mystery so you can chew on it, you can process it, you can over time absorb the message that God wants to bring to you.

And so it's a mystery because Peter's traditions veiled the true meaning of what the Lord was saying. And his traditions, what he'd been brought up to know and practice his whole life is being challenged. He's kind of being shaken to the core in many ways as God is preparing him for the real work that he wants to do.

And so Peter needed time to process what the Lord was saying. And so God spoke to him in a mystery. And many times when God wants to do something crazy, when he wants to shake things up in your life, he'll give you a little puzzle. And maybe it will be a weird vision that you have when you're hungry or when you ate too much one night.

Or it might be a scripture that stands out, you know, and it's a verse and it just resonates and you don't exactly know why. You don't know, I mean, you know what the verse means in the sense of, well, I can interpret it, but why is God highlighting this verse for me? Why does this stand out? Why do I hear this passage every time I turn on the radio? Or, you know what I mean? And God gives you those things and I would encourage you to hold on to those things. Don't let them go. And sometimes we do that, you know, we kind of,

let them fade out of the picture because we don't understand them and we start tuning it out. But no, hold on to those things. Meditate on those things because that's probably an indication there's something more there. When you have that sense that God is speaking but you don't know what he's saying, don't give up on hearing from him because he's doing a deeper work and allowing that to kind of fall down deep into the soil of your heart to be able to bear the fruit that he wants to bear.

Well, another indication that God wants to do something crazy as we go on to verse 17 through 20, here we have point number three, God works out perfect timing. Here's another indication. Now, again, this is not an exact science or formula. You know, it has to, everything that happens in your life has to match this or in this order. But these are, it's a good pattern. It's a good, you know, baseline for us to consider. Many times when God's going to do something radical or new or different in our lives,

There's also going to be some divine appointments. There's going to be some really amazing coincidences. You know, they're indications that, wow, God is really at work in this situation. And he works out perfect timing here in this passage. In verse 17, it tells us, now, while Peter wondered within himself...

Notice the timing. Verse 17 tells us, So God coordinated the timing perfectly. In fact, you could look at that even a little bit earlier in verse 9.

It says, the next day after the angel appeared to Cornelius, they went on their journey and drew near the city. And that's when Peter is entering into his time of prayer. So you can kind of picture, you know, if you're kind of picturing that in your mind, you know, you have the guys on the road. They're making their way. And then God, you know, cues Peter. Okay, Peter, now go up onto the roof. And he's like orchestrating this. He's bringing this together. So Peter's on the roof. They're getting closer and closer. He has the vision. And he's like,

Immediately after he's done having these visions, these guys are at the gate saying, hey, is there a guy named Peter here? God's worked out the timing just perfectly. It's like incredible sync that they're working together to accomplish, well, the things that God has set forth to accomplish. Verse 19, while Peter thought about the vision, the spirit said to him, behold, three men are seeking you. Arise, therefore, and go down to the city

Go down and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. Notice again, verse 19, it says, while Peter thought about the vision. So while he's still meditating, he's still wrestling with what does this mean and what is God trying to say? Then the Holy Spirit adds a little bit of clarity, a little bit of clarity. We'll talk more about that in just a moment. He says, these guys are seeking you. Three guys are seeking you. They're knocking at the door right now.

The timing, Peter, is inescapable. You have to recognize this is from me. This is my work because look at how I've put this together and how I've timed this perfectly so that while you're working on these things, these guys have shown up and this is part of my work. I've sent them, Peter. I'm doing something new. So go with them and don't doubt anything. Don't wrestle over this. You don't have to stress over it.

Just go with the flow because this is part of what I am doing. I've worked out the timing perfectly. The commentator Alexander McLaren says, the three men down at the door poured light on the vision on the housetop, but the explanation was not left to circumstances. The spirit directed Peter to go with the messengers and thus taught him the meaning of the words which he had heard from heaven. This is all part of God's revelation to Peter.

But it's not just circumstances. And that's a word of caution I would throw out there as we talk about God working out perfect timing. I think that's something we've all seen and we can all relate to in our lives. But there's also a danger for us of basing our lives and our decisions and coming to the conclusion that something must have been from God because of the circumstances.

And circumstances alone aren't really a good indication if something is from God. But circumstances in conjunction with God speaking to various people and God giving you a mystery and a riddle that you're working out and then the timing and the circumstances that go along with that, well, then there's a great more confidence that you can have in the work that God is doing. And so like Peter, you can go doubting nothing.

there's a lot of times we should be doubting when it's only circumstances and we haven't heard from the Lord, but we're concluding, well, look at all these circumstances. You know, this happened and that happened and this happened and that happened. And so it must be from God because of all these circumstances. I would caution you and I would say that it's a word of caution that needs to be heard by believers because we've seen believers many times base decisions based on circumstances and not hearing from God. And it's

It's not a good way. It's not wise to do that because God will speak along with the circumstances that he's allowing and orchestrating in your life. Circumstances can be an indication of God's work and his will, but are not necessarily the case. I remember Tom and Jean Hallman when they were still here and they were considering the possibility of moving to Virginia and starting a new church out there.

And it was a good example for us, for those of you who were around at that time. I remember they kept a running list of all the ways that God had indicated they were to move to Virginia. And there was a lot of circumstances. There was a lot of, you know, things like, oh, we happened to pick up a newspaper and the first word was Virginia, you know, that kind of thing. Now, if the whole plan was based on those kinds of things, then, you know, I think other people would have stepped in and said, hey, you know,

That's maybe not the best source, you know, for making these kinds of decisions. But along with all those circumstances that they had, they had, you know, the Lord speaking through multiple people and God doing a work in their hearts. And there was, you know, many ways that God was confirming and bringing this kind of confirmation that they could go forward without doubting, like Peter, uh,

knowing that this was from God. And so that's the way that it should be in our lives, especially as we're talking about, you know, crazy things or big things, big changes, big works that God wants to do in our lives. I mean, if you think about it, if you want to

argue it this way. You could probably say, you know, Judas had some circumstantial evidence, you know, right when I needed the money, the priests were willing to pay. And so, you know, that's why I did, that's how I knew God wanted me to do that. And of course, that's not what he was thinking. But I'm just saying, you know, we can twist the circumstances to make us say whatever we want many times.

And so we want to have the various sources. The timing is working out. God's working out, you know, the different details in our lives along with speaking to us and speaking through others. All right, moving on to verse 19 through 23. Now here we have point number four. When God wants to do something crazy, he will often give you a small first step.

A small first step. So many times the first thing you do is not, you know, the crazy thing. The first thing is just kind of getting your feet wet. And I like that phrase, getting your feet wet. It reminds me of Joshua chapter 3. When they were going to cross the Jordan, the children of Israel are crossing the Jordan into the promised land. And God was going to part the Jordan River, but he was going to do it different than he did with the Red Sea.

Remember with the Red Sea, Moses held up the staff and then the Red Sea parted and they walked across on dry ground. But God said, this time the priests are going to bear the Ark of the Covenant and as soon as their feet touch the water, when their ankles get wet, so their feet are in the waters of the Jordan, then I will part the river and you'll walk across on dry land. And they had to get their feet wet.

They had to obey God and put their feet in the water, even when it wasn't parted yet, in order to see the miracle, to see the work of the river being parted. And in a similar way, God works in our lives. He calls us to take little steps first. Little steps when often we don't see the completed work. We don't see the whole picture yet. We don't see it all coming together yet.

But it's really a step and a test of our obedience and our faith in the Lord, trusting in God and taking the steps that he puts before us. Again, in verse 19, it says, So here Peter's still wrestling with the mystery. What does this mean? What is God saying? And God has a big plan here. It's going to be crazy here.

But he doesn't give Peter something crazy to do. He gives him one step. Very clear, very precise instruction. Three guys are seeking you. Go with them. And don't doubt this is my work. I've sent them. So step number one, go with them. Now, if I was Peter, I would be like, okay, well, hold on a minute before you go, Lord. So where are we going exactly? How long is it going to take to get there?

What are we going to do when we get there? And how long are we going to be there? And who else is going? And, you know, I would, I like to have all that information. It can frustrate Kim sometimes because we'll be doing a family function. We'll be going. I'll be like, now what's this about? And who's going? And how long are we staying? And how are we getting there? And what freeways are we taking on the way home? And what traffic? You know, I like to know all those details. And if I was Peter, I would have been, you know, trying to get that from the Lord. But

But God's saying, just go, Peter. This is my doing. Just take this step. Go with them. Don't doubt anything. Just go and do this one step that I've given to you. And that's what Peter does in verse 21. It says,

And they said, Now, as the Lord told Peter, three guys are looking for you, you know, go with them. The Lord did not tell Peter, these are three Gentiles.

I think he wanted to kind of just give a little surprise to Peter. He would have never expected to see Gentiles waiting for him. And this is a part where I think sometimes we don't grasp the full weight of what was happening here in this passage because we don't live in that culture. But the reality for Peter, and he'll express it in a few verses later on, we'll get to that. The reality for Peter is we as Jews do not associate with Gentiles. We don't hang out with them.

We don't have long conversations with them. We don't go to their house. They don't come to our house. We are disconnected from the Gentiles as much as we can possibly help it. That was their interpretation of the law of God. Now again, that was their traditions that they held to as the law of God, but it was their tradition. They would not associate with

with Gentiles. And so for Peter to come down and have this instruction, all right, I'm going to go with these guys, okay, and then open the door. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You know, this is challenging Peter to the core. This is way different than what Peter has ever known his whole life. Now there's these three Gentiles who are standing before him. And now he has the opportunity. He has the decision to make. Is he going to obey God? Because it's contrary to his traditions.

Or is he going to hold to his traditions and disregard what God has said? Well, Peter, of course, we know, obeys God. In verse 23, it says, So Peter does something radical here. Now, again, it doesn't appear radical as we read the verse, but he invites them in and he lodged them. That idea there is that he entertained them. He showed them hospitality.

He didn't just, you know, go down the hall, you know, there's a room there, you can stay there, don't talk to any of us, you know, we'll try to scoot some food under the door for you. No, like he entertained them. He kept them as a guest in the home. Dave Guzik puts it this way, by entertaining these Gentile guests, Peter went against the customs and traditions of Israel, but not against God's word.

So Peter here is beginning to expand his boundaries. We already saw that with him spending time with Simon the Tanner, but Simon the Tanner was a Jew, but now expanding it yet further to Gentiles. And again, I see God doing a gentle work with Peter here. He's radically changing him from the inside out, but easing him into this crazy work, easing him into this radical transformation that

First with Simon the Tanner, now hosting Gentiles. Next, another big deal that's going to happen is he's going to enter into the house of Gentiles, which he'll comment about that he doesn't do that.

And then preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. I mean, these are radical things that would have challenged Peter to the core, but God's kind of gently just giving him one thing at a time. Just, okay, now stretch a little bit more, Peter. Okay, you got that? Okay, good. Now stretch a little bit more. Okay, you got that? Okay, good. And God's just easing him into this plan that he has in reaching not just the Jews, but all Gentiles with the gospel. And so when God wants to do something crazy, he's going to do it.

Many times he's going to give you a first step that's small. Not some radical, you know, jump off the cliff thing. That's not usually the first thing. The first thing is, here's a little test of your faith. Here's a little step in the right direction. And God kind of breaks you in. And, you know, then there is going to be the step of faith, the leap of faith many times. But he'll give you that initial opportunity to test the waters, to get your feet wet, and understand that God really is in this work.

Don't miss out on the journey because you don't know the destination. Don't miss out on the journey that God wants to do in your life just because you don't know the whole picture. But take that first step, whatever it is that God puts upon your heart, take that first step and let the Lord lead you from there on out. Well, finally, we'll finish up in verses 24 through 33 and we'll hit these verses real quick. But the point is he brings clarity when you need it.

So the whole picture becomes clear when Peter needs to have clarity for what work God is doing. In verse 24, and the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up saying, stand up.

Verse 28. Notice this. Verse 28.

Therefore, I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I asked then, for what reason have you sent me? Now here, Peter makes it clear. He says, you know that it's unlawful for me as a Jewish man to be here in your house. Here was Cornelius. He was a Roman, but he lived there in Caesarea. He knew the customs. He knew this was unusual. He knew this was out of the ordinary. And Peter says, you know, this isn't normal. And I would not normally come here. I would never be here except for

Notice he says, God has shown me. So that vision, that mystery that the Lord spoke to him about, that he was wondering about and couldn't figure out, between the rooftop and now Cornelius's house, he's received the meaning of the vision. Peter said, I'm not going to eat those things. Those are common. Those are unclean. And God says, don't call common what I have cleansed.

And here Peter says, God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Peter here has accepted God is going to be reaching all people, not just Jews. And so I have to let go of my prejudices. I have to let go of my traditions. I have to let go of the things I've been taught since I was a youth and grasp hold to what God says and hold that to the highest standard. And so he

says, hey, I'm here. This is unusual, but I'm here because God has declared I'm not to call any man common or unclean. So I came without objection. It was unlawful, but only according to the rabbinical law, only according to their traditions. It wasn't God's law that forbade them.

And so God is causing Peter to lay aside those traditions. And notice the clarity that Peter has at this point. God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Those riddles and those mysteries over the process of time, God reveals and brings out the clarity, brings out the truth. And Peter's saying, now I get it. The vision was not about food, but the vision was about God reaching other nations with the gospel.

Peter has clarity, but he still doesn't understand the whole picture that God is, you know, bringing together here because he asked in verse 29, so what reason have you sent me? What am I doing here? I mean, I came, I know God, I don't, okay, I can't call you common or unclean, but what am I doing here? It's not yet obvious to Peter, preach the gospel. Seems like it would be, right? But again, he's being challenged. His traditions and everything he's ever known is being challenged here.

And so Cornelius tells him what happened in verses 30 through 33. I'm not going to get into those verses, but he tells him how God called him to send for Peter. And Peter at that point understands. And then we'll see next week as he begins to preach the gospel to these groups or to this group of Gentiles. It's a crazy work. If you would have asked Peter the day before, he would have said, no way. Not going to be preaching to Gentiles. That's not what God wants to do.

They were still caught up with this idea that in order to be saved, you had to become a Jew. And then salvation was brought to the Jews. But God's work was much bigger than that. And so he was going to do something that they would think is crazy. And many times God wants to do that in our lives.

He wants to challenge our traditions. He wants to change our routines. He wants to send us out to people we would have never expected to connect with, to meet with, to minister to. He wants to do radical new works in our life. Now, I'm not saying this is going to happen every day, but there should be those seasons, I would say regularly, regularly.

At the very least, occasionally, that you can look and say, yeah, God's doing some stretching and giving me some mysteries and speaking through other people, that God's working and doing new things in my life. God wants to do something crazy in your life. And I want to encourage you to be open to that. Be willing to lay aside your traditions. Be willing to lay aside your expectations and embrace whatever it is that God wants to do.

The thing that I kind of want to leave off with as we finish up this evening, I think kind of the most important thing in all of this is for you and I to be seeking the Lord. God was able to do this and do something radical, do something crazy, because here was Cornelius seeking God. It was his practice. It was his habit. It was his lifestyle. Again, in verse 2, it tells us that he prayed to God always.

His whole life was bent towards seeking God and praying and desiring to know God and walk with God. And then on the other side, you had Peter and his practice, his habit, his lifestyle was to be seeking God. And so at the normal time of prayer, he went up to the housetop to pray because that was what he did. He was seeking God. And when you have that attitude, that habit, that lifestyle of seeking God, you're going

God is able to lead you, even through challenging things that will challenge you to the core. But as you're seeking God, he will be able to lead you because you're seeking him. Remember that God said, don't be like the horse or the mule, which won't come to you without the bit. Don't make me bridle you, God says. Be open, be seeking, be inviting God to speak and lead you. Be willing to take those steps of faith. And when God begins to do something crazy, and when God, you get the kind of the impression or the hint that,

This is really stretching the, oh, I'm kind of getting fearful of what God wants to do. Then you can look at these as indications to give you that confidence, that trust to be able to go forward. When God's speaking to multiple people, maybe now your spouse is on board or maybe there's someone else that God is speaking through in your note. Yeah, wow. God is showing them the same thing he's showing me.

And when he gives you those mysteries that he wants you to chew on because, well, there's deep truth there, but you can't receive it all at once. And so you got to chew on it a bit and receive a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more until you get the whole picture. When you see those circumstances and those timings just laid out that God is orchestrating and designing the things that are happening in your life.

Take the first step. Whatever it is, that first step that God gives you, get your feet wet. Start being obedient. Start doing what it is that God has put upon your heart. And God will bring you the clarity when you need it so that you can do the work that God wants you to do and he can do the work that he wants to do and you'll be walking and living in the center of his will. God wants to do something crazy. So let's hear from him and go forward. Amen? Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word. And we thank you, God, that you love us so much that you don't let us sit in our old, sour, crusty traditions.

But Lord, that you stretch us beyond those things. And Lord, even when that's scary and hard and difficult, Lord, you know there's so much more, Lord, for us and beneficial to us and beneficial for the world around us as we seek you and obey you. And so I pray, God, that you would help us to trust you and to allow you to do crazy things in our lives.

in us and through us. Lord, may we trust you in a radical way and go forward as you orchestrate our lives and lead us by your will. Help us, Lord, to trust you like Peter did and to allow our convictions, our traditions to be challenged by the truth of your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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