The Holy Spirit part 7-The Spirit Leads Peter to the Gentiles

Prayer Prompt: Lord, help me obey You right away; give me faith in Your plan for me.

Read for Context: Acts 10

Introduction:  What would your first thought be if you heard Osama Bin Laden became a Christian?  Or a serial killer?  Those may seem like extreme examples, but it may help us to see that there are just some people who to our limited vision seem unreachable to God.  If the Spirit were to come to you, and ask you to spend time with people who you had grown up avoiding, were taught to never associate with, how would you act?  Would you go?  When we read this chapter we may miss the radical statement Peter was making and the proof of the strength of his faith because we don’t think like a Jew and weren’t raised with the social boundaries God put around His people to keep them holy.  But through the cross, the divide is gone.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28).

Study: Acts 10: 1-7, 14-15, 19-20, 33-48

·         Who is Cornelius and what is he known for?  What was his relationship with God like?

·         The dietary food laws of the Israelites are found in Leviticus 11:2-47.   In the vision God gave Peter, was He talking about food or something else being acceptable for Peter to do?

·         Based on what you’ve read, why would Peter have misgivings about going with the Gentiles?  See verse 28 for more insight.  Who commanded Peter to go?

·         What elements of the gospel are in Peter’s speech?  Compare your list to 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.

·         What same command do you see this week in the response to the gospel as we studied last week?

What Does it Mean to Me:

·         Cornelius was a legionnaire.  This meant he commanded a squad of 100 Roman soldiers (The Message of Acts, John R. Stott).  He wasn’t Jewish but a Gentile who followed their ethical standards, attended synagogue, and even gave charity to widows.  God considered his prayers a memorial.  Have you ever thought of prayer that way?  Read Revelation 8:3-5 and Psalm 114:2.  How will these verses change the way you approach prayer?

·         Read Romans 14:2-12.  How does this passage in Romans relate to the command given to Peter by the Spirit? How was Peter judging Gentiles?  How do you judge other Christians?

·         When the Spirit asks us to obey, do we do it right away without questioning?  If not, what things trip you up?  Do Psalm 32:8-10 or Isaiah 48:15-18 make it easier to trust?

·         Peter understood that God shows no partiality (Romans 2:6-11) through the vision the Spirit gave him.  In verse 45 it says that the Jews who were with him were amazed that the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles too.  This scene is unfolding 8 years after the Holy Spirit was given to the Jews at Pentacost; before Cornelius and his family the only saved people were of Jewish decent.  Who is the least likely person you know to be saved?  After studying this passage, should that be your perception?

Live it Out: Verse 2 describes Cornelius as a man who prays continually.  The Lord honors his persistence in prayer by answering him.  Daniel of the Old Testament was such a man. Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.” Daniel 10:12. Is there a need, a worry, a circumstance beyond your control that you have prayed about that has gone unanswered?  Don’t stop praying.  Read Luke 11:5-8. 

Meditation: Write down a verse or truth God has shown you today through this study.  Put it somewhere you will see it often and remember His personal, life-giving word for you.