The Acts of the Apostles
“Acts 10:1-22 “Peter with Cornelius & the Great Sheet”
• Acts 10:1-8: Cornelius and His Vision
– Cornelius was a Roman and centurion
• A non-commissioned officer who commanded a division in the Roman
army, consisting of a 100 men.
• A regiment (band) was 600 men, 10% of a Roman legion of 6000 soldiers.
– Five centurions mentioned in the NT
• Cornelius and others in Matt 8:5-13; Luke 23:46,47; Acts 22:24-26; Acts
27:1
– Caesarea was on the Mediterranean ~30 miles north of Joppa.
– Was Cornelius a believer?
• He was described as devout (pious), one who feared God and gave alms
generously and prayed continually (presumably to the Jews’ God).
– More about Cornelius - Acts 10:28,34,44; 11:1,8; 15:7
– The vision occurred at the 9th hour - ~3:00 PM, the hour of
prayer.
• See also Ps 55:17; Dan 6:10
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June 8, 2014 Bob Eckel
The Acts of the Apostles
“Acts 10:1-22 “Peter with Cornelius & the Great Sheet”
– Notice the gender of the angel (v4) – masculine
– Why were Cornelius’ alms and prayer called a memorial before
God?
• See the prayers of the saints in Rev 8:4
– If Cornelius is unsaved, doesn’t this experience remind you of
Paul?
• What’s similar?
• What’s different?
• Why didn’t the Lord bring Peter to Cornelius rather than the opposite?
– Notice the command was to send men not himself.
• Acts 10:9-16: Peter’s Vision
– The men are on their way and ~12:00 Peter is up on the (flat)
roof praying.
• And Peter got hungry and proceeded into a trance (ecstasy)
(hypoglycemia?) and then had a vision of clean and unclean animals
coming down on a white sheet.
June 8, 2014 Bob Eckel
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The Acts of the Apostles
“Acts 10:1-22 “Peter with Cornelius & the Great Sheet”
– Like similar states described in II Cor 12:2; Rev 1:10
– Seems like a reasonable vision for a hungry man doesn't’ it.
• And he saw heaven open up (v11)
– Like Steven in Acts 7:55,56
• And there are other visions in the book of Acts
– Acts 7:31; 9:10-12, 12:9, 16:9,10, 18:9
• What do make of the sheet being bound at the four corners?
– And this was difficult for Peter because these animals were not
all Kosher (Lev 2:11-45).
• Who was speaking to Peter?
• What was the message – repeated 3 times?
– An important turning point - let’s leave the Law behind Peter!
» Constable – ‘He had either not understood or not remembered Jesus' teaching in
which He had declared all foods clean (Mark 7:14-19, Rom. 14:14). Peter's "No,
Lord," is, of course, an inconsistent contradiction. Nevertheless Peter's response
was very consistent with his impulsive personality and former conduct. He had
said, "No," to the Lord before (Matt. 16:22; John 13:8).’
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June 8, 2014 Bob Eckel
The Acts of the Apostles
“Acts 10:1-22 “Peter with Cornelius & the Great Sheet”
– And calling someone ‘common’ should have become invalid – Acts 10:28
– Can you think of ways in which our response to legality continues today?
• Acts 10:17-22 Peter’s Response to the Vision and
Men Sent by Cornelius
– Peter’s response of wondering or doubting about the white sheet
phenomenon was in the imperfect tense – continual and repeated
wondering and doubting
– Notice how the Holy Spirit leads (v19)
• The timing of the visit – related to Peter’s roofly experience
• That Peter was to come down and greet the men sent by Cornelius and
realize the Lord had brought them to him.
• In addition to being called by angels of the Lord (vv.3,22) and the
ascended Lord Jesus Christ (vv.4,14).
– How unexpected this all must have seemed to Peter
• Gentile men being sent to him from another town.
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June 8, 2014 Bob Eckel
The Acts of the Apostles
“Acts 10:1-22 “Peter with Cornelius & the Great Sheet”
• Summoning him to the house of Cornelius and sharing words with him.
– Presumably the gospel.
» The heart of Cornelius had been prepared.
» Is this the way God works today?
– How important do think it was for them to describe the attributes of
Cornelius?
I Pet 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to
every man that asketh you a reason of the hope
that is in you with meekness and fear:”
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June 8, 2014 Bob Eckel