Acts 9:32-10:8
What does it take to get you out of bed in the morning?
Peter and Cornelius
1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion
of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 3 About the ninth
hour of the day he saw
clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is
it, Lord?” And he said
to him, “Your prayers and
your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is lodging
with one Simon, a
tanner, whose house is by
the sea.” 7 When the angel
who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8 and
having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
- God is ... What do we learn about God in this passage?
- We are ... What do we learn about people in this passage?
- What is the purpose of these signs and wonders in Acts 9:35, 41-42; 2:22, 43; 4:30; 5:12-14?
- Give your own definition for the term miracle. What are the essential features for a genuine miracle?
- What is your reaction to this statement? “Saving faith must not rest on the impression the miracle has made but on the truth of the message to which it points.”
- Why did miracles not always generate faith among witnesses?
- Although Peter had healed many people, he had never raised anyone from death. What might he be feeling as he goes to Tabitha's home?
- Which of Jesus' miracles do these two incidents remind you of?
- Why was Dorcas so dearly loved in Joppa?
- How effectively does your church accept the challenge to help the weak and the marginalized? How effectively do you accept the challenge?
- What is Cornelius like according to Acts 10:1-2? Since he is part of an occupying army, what is unusual about him? About his encounter with God?
- Why do you think this event got into the Bible?
- Do you agree that Cornelius’ heart was well-prepared for the gospel? Explain.
- What common situations of life help prepare people to hear the gospel?
- I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to us in this passage? How can I apply it to my life this week?
- Why is it that Tabitha was raised, but Stephen died, even though Pete was there too in Acts 8:2? How would you explain God's ways to Stephen's widow or mother? How does the results of Stephen's death and Tabitha's resurrection help you to understand God's plans?
- Do miracles like these happen in the same way today? Why or why not?
- Are you very "God-fearing" It evaluated by how you treated others this week, what would they say?
- How does Cornelius' life challenge you?
- How can Christians better recognize hearts that are eager to receive the gospel?
- How do you keep your own heart tender and ready to respond to the Word of God?
- You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this? Feel free to share with others by social media links at the bottom of this.
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Cornelius: When Is Being Good Enough Not Good Enough?
By
Mark Moore
In Acts chapter 10 we encounter what we
might call ―a good old boy.‖ He is a Roman centurion (v. 1). Every other time
in the NT we run into a centurion, he is always wearing a white hat (Mat
8:5–13; 27:54; Mark 15:39–45; Luke 7:3–6; 23:47; Acts 22:25–26; 23:18; 27:6,
43). They were leaders of 100 soldiers (as their name suggests). This was the
highest rank an enlisted man could get to. Thus, they tended to be men of
nobility who rose through the ranks. They appreciated and served their
superiors but also had good report with the troops.
This particular centurion was also quit
devout (vv. 2, 22). Somehow he came to know and fear the God of Israel (vv. 2,
22). Somebody must have preached to him, because he apparently became a
proselyte at the gate. That is, he believed in Yahweh and the scriptures, but
did not submit to circumcision. He did just about everything else though. He
practiced Jewish hours of prayer (vv. 2, 4), gave alms to the poor in Israel
(vv. 2, 4, 31) and was obedient (v. 7). He was eager to hear God‘s message (vv.
24, 33) and evangelistic with it when it did come to him (v. 24). He even
revered the messengers of God (v. 25). As a result, the whole nation spoke well
of him (v. 22). You've got to be a pretty good Gentile to win the favor of the
Jewish nation!
Even so, he was not saved. All his
righteousness could not atone for his sins. None of his goodness made him good
enough. Don‘t be deceived. Being good enough is not good enough. People need to
hear about Jesus for there is no other name under heaven given among men by
which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Our goodness does have this advantage: Good
men are eager to listen when God eagerly sends the messenger of good news. If
one refuses to hear the preaching of the gospel, they can hardly be considered ―a good
old boy.‖
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Angels in Luke/Acts
By
Mark Moore
They keep popping up all over the
place in Acts. They are on mountain tops, desert roads, roofs, theaters, jails
and ships. In fact, Acts mentions angels 23 times. Remember, though, that‘s
just volume 2. In his first book, we find them another 25 times, for a grand
total of 48. That represents about 27% of the 184 times angels appear in the NT
[Considering that Revelation hogs the heavenly hosts, with no less than 77
uses, that leaves Luke/Acts as the secondary source on angels. Matthew and
Hebrews come in a distant 3rd and 4th with 19 and 13
angelic citations respectively; no one else is even close.] Since it seems to
be a strong theme for Luke, we might want to take a closer look at these
beatific beauties.
There appears to be four main
functions for angels in Luke/Acts. Most obvious is their role as errand boys.[1] In
other words, they announce stuff. This is most pronounced in the birth and
resurrection narratives. Gabriel announces John‘s birth to Zechariah (Luke
1:11, 13, 18–19), as well as Jesus‘ to Mary (Luke 1:26, 18, 30, 34, 35, 38;
2:21). And some unnamed cherub got to lead the heavenly hosts to the shepherds
(Luke 2:9, 10, 13, 15). Likewise angels were sent to announce the resurrection
of Jesus (Luke 24:23). They were first identified simply as two men dressed in
white (Luke 24:4), which matches the description of the two who promised Jesus‘
return on the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:10).
Second, they minister to Jesus and his people. Oddly enough, Satan was the first
to introduce this function of angels. He tempted Jesus to jump off the pinnacle
of the temple, reminding him of Psa 91:11–12, that the angels would bear him
up. Jesus didn‘t take the bait, but the angels did, in fact, fulfill their
role. They comforted Jesus in Gethsemane (Luke 22:43), carried Lazarus to
Abraham‘s bosom (Luke 16:22), released the Apostles from prison (Acts 5:19),
and did a repeat performance for Peter (Acts 12:7–11, 15).[2] An
angel led Philip to the Ethiopian Eunuch with impeccable timing (Acts 8:26),
another assassinated Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:23), still another predicted Paul‘s
safe arrival in Rome (Acts 27:23). In fact Hebrews 1:14 says, ―Are not
all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?‖
Third, they appear to be legal witnesses, particularly to
validate Jesus. They will accompany him when he returns in his Father‘s glory
(Luke 9:26). They rejoice in heaven when a sinner repents (Luke 15:10). And
when Jesus wants to endorse or deny a particular disciple, the angels are the
ones who hear the case (Luke 12:8–9). This function seems to be isolated to
Luke. But it spills over into Acts with the fourth function of angels.
They validate God’s men by mere association. In other words, you stand
an angel next to a guy, and he suddenly wears a white hat. You can see this
with Moses in Acts 7:30, 35, 38, 53. The fact that he was in cahoots with
angels clearly marks him as God‘s man. This also explains why Luke painted
Stephen with the ace of an angel (Acts 6:15). Yes, all the religious leaders
were against him but his angelic face showed God to be on his side. This is a
critically important literary device for Luke when he writes Acts 10. Here we
find the first Gentile convert. No less than five times he is associated with
an angel (Acts 10:3–4, 7, 22; 11:13). For Luke, the angelic connection
functions as does tongues. It is God‘s stamp of approval on an unlikely
candidate. For wherever there is an angel, there also is God‘s will and word.
[1]
My apologies to the more gender sensitive, but angels are, in fact, portrayed
in the Scriptures as men.
[2]
The Christians praying for Peter mistook his release for his actual death. They
thought the voice Rhoda heard was Peter‘s guardian angel, now released from his
supervision. It was a common Jewish belief that one‘s guardian angel looked and
sounded like the person they protected. There is no definitive Scriptural proof
for guardians angels but texts such as Psa 91:11; Mt 18:10; Heb 1:14; Tobit
5:4-16, seem to suggest such and idea.
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