Notes from a sermon heard on Sunday 3 August 2014
Acts 10 verses 1 – 23
In Acts chapter 10 we find a man
who is longing for God. As we look at
Cornelius we see a man whose soul is longing after something he hasn’t got,
something is missing in his heart. He
was a man full of religion, full of good works, looked upon well by the
community, revered, thought highly of. If
there was a Christian in Caesarea it was him.
Can you see how closely a person can get to salvation and yet not have
it? There is a big difference in being
religious and being saved. Cornelius was
like the young man in the scriptures who came to the feet of Christ one day and
asked the question “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He could say “I have kept the commandments
from my youth.” Many today would say “I
was brought up in such and such a church, sent to Sunday School, never missed a
Sunday at church, brought up under a good minister, never did a thing contrary
to the word of God on a Sabbath.” This
young rich man had been brought up under an environment where he respected the
word of God, respected the person of Christ yet lacked something and didn’t
know what it was. He was so full of good
things yet not saved. The challenge to
me was that God heard this young man’s prayers.
God took an angel from his presence to go to that man’s house and tell
him “I have heard your prayers, send for Peter, he will come and show you how
to be saved.” Peter knew nothing about
it. He didn’t know that 40 miles away
there was a man sitting on his knees praying and pleading. Here’s the challenge – could God send for you
today to step into a similar situation?
The place of prayer. Think
of Peter here and the man God uses. Will
you be that Peter in the coming days?
Peter is searching for the way of God here. He was before God searching for the way God
would lead him into. Verse 9 “On the morrow,
as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon
the housetop to pray about the sixth hour.”
Where do we find Peter? He was in
the way of prayer, seeking God to find the way to go. I’m sure the words of the Psalmist rang in
his head “Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud and he
shall hear my voice.” (Psalm 55 verse 17)
He lifted up his voice to God in prayer.
The sixth house was at midday.
Peter remembered the words of the psalmist. It is good to set aside time to pray, to seek
God. Look at the place Peter comes
to. Peter went up unto the housetop to
pray. He knew he had to get alone with
God. It was somewhere to get a clear
vision of the Lord. It was a place of separation. It was a place of seclusion. It was a place of serenity. He didn’t want any interruptions. He was rising above everything and everyone
else. He was getting alone with
God. “Who shall ascend into the hill of
the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his
soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” (Psalm 24 verses 3 and 4) Remember Daniel when the government officials
turned their backs on him. He knew if he
was to go to the place of prayer he would be cast into the den of lions so he
went into his house, opened up his windows and faced towards Jerusalem and
began to pray. Have we a place where we
can go to and pray? We have to rise
above all the problems and difficulties.
“What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a
privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.” Remember the man who brought his son to Jesus
who was possessed of a demon. The
disciples could do nothing for him.
Jesus told his disciples that “this kind goeth not out but by prayer and
fasting.” (Matthew 17 verse 21) If it is
a prayerless effort it will fail. We
have to be in the place of prayer.
The persistency of prayer.
It is not just something quick, a flash in the pan but he will persist –
verse 10 “”And he became very hungry and would have eaten but while they made
ready, he fell into a trance.” There
will also be the temptation to take us away from the place of prayer. There will always be something to come in and
separate us from prayer. Maybe it is the
call of work. Maybe something in life
that is unseen until you get up and do it.
We need to persist in prayer to see souls saved. There were 4 men in Kells who came night
after night to meet together and continue in prayer. They prevailed until revival came. In Luke 18 Jesus gave the parable of the
widow woman who kept coming to the unfair judge. She persisted until he folded
and granted her request. We need to be
pleading and praying.
The power that Peter experienced.
Peter wanted to know the way God wanted him to go. Has the church got into a state where we no
longer need the God of heaven to guide us?
The power only came when he persisted – verse 11 “And saw heaven opened
and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at
the four corners and let down to the earth.”
Verse 13 “And there came a voice to him, Rise Peter, kill and eat”. It all happened when he was persisting in
prayer. Alone with God Peter sought
clarity and leading in his prayer. In
chapter 9 we find Peter was called to visit a man called Aeneas who was sick of
the palsy. Peter said unto him “Jesus
Christ maketh thee whole arise and make thy bed.” Peter was stepping from that great miracle. Peter had taken the man’s hand and he
walked. He had never walked until that
day. Next we find Peter in Joppa. A woman named Dorcas had died and Peter is
called to visit. Again he takes her by
the hand and lifts her up. She is raised
to life again. Now in this chapter we
find Peter searching for God in prayer.
He could easily have looked back and felt such pride in the way God had
used him. Peter has come back into the presence
of God to seek God’s will. Once more we
see the power that came down. We don’t
see him living in the past blessings. He
is now living afresh, he has to seek God for the day he is living in. Moses went down into Egypt time and again to
see Pharaoh and asked him to let God’s people leave Egypt but each time Pharaoh
told him no. Each time Moses stepped
back out into the presence of God.
Remember when the battle was going on in the valley – Moses was praying
on the mountain top. His hands were
raised in prayer to God but they got tired.
Aaron and Hur had to hold up Moses’ hands. While those hands were raised Joshua
prevailed in battle in the valley but when they were lowered the enemy
prevailed. There is nothing as tiring as
prayer. Here was Peter in the place of
prayer. He was surrendered to the will
of God. He had to learn that a sacrifice
was called for in the work of God. Later
he had to learn to spread the word of God.
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