Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
September 2025
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.
11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” 21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”
22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
27 While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”
30 Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.
32 Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
Today, we come to the third conversion story in the Book of Acts. We saw the Ethiopian Eunuch get converted. Philip led this government official from Africa to Christ in the desert.
Saul was the second big conversion story. He was a terrorist dedicated to destroying Christianity. He was converted on the road to Damascus. He got converted without a preacher. Jesus appeared to him.
Now, we have a third conversion story. A man in the Roman army gets saved. His name is Cornelius. This is an absolutely fascinating chapter. It contains visions and trances. It contains angelic appearances.
Charismatic love this chapter. It contains the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit falls on people. They speak in tongues.
God works in a new way in this chapter. He does something He has never done before. In fact, many have said that Acts 10 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible.
Without Acts 10, Christianity would be a hundred percent Jewish. Can you imagine a Christianity that only looked Jewish?
There wouldn’t be Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, or Pentecostals. There would be no Lambs Chapel. There would only be Messianic Congregations all over the place.
You would not be here today in church. Most people in our church are Gentiles. Most Christians all over the world are Gentiles.
When the church began it was almost exclusively Jewish. Now it is almost exclusively Gentile. Most churches are Gentile churches.
In the very first church, there were no Gentiles, not a single one. There were no Gentiles until Acts 10. Cornelius was the first one.
He was not Jewish. He was one hundred percent Italian. He became the first Gentile convert. He got saved as a Gentile. He never got circumcised. Peter told him to get baptized, not circumcised.
It wasn’t easy to get the first Gentile convert. Two men had to meet, and they did not live in the same city. They were about thirty miles away from each other. A divine appointment had to be made for them to meet.
There had to be divine intervention to get them to meet. A few miracles had to take place. Some angels had to show up. Some visions had to take place.
A lot of prejudice had to be dealt with before this could take place. It took a miracle just to get them in the same room together. Both Peter and Cornelius needed a vision.
Case Study of Two Men
We are going to do a case study of two men. God speaks to two men. They both get visions. They both encounter the supernatural. One talked to an angel, and one went into a trance. They both get divine revelation. God speaks to them. Both were given commands.
Both men pray. One prayed in his house, and one prayed on his rooftop. If we did that today, we would fall off, but they had flat roofs in that day. Both were completely changed.
One got saved. He heard the gospel. He accepted Christ. He had his sins forgiven. He received the Holy Spirit and got baptized.
The other was already saved but became completely transformed. He completely changed what he thought about food, what he thought about Gentiles and even what he thought about God.
He said, “I NOW realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” (Acts 10:34-35 NIV)
Chapter SummaryYou can divide this chapter into five parts. There are five scenes. Scene One – Cornelius has a vision Cornelius is praying in his home and sees an angel. He is terrified. The angel says that God has heard his prayers and seen his good works but he needs to go find Peter. He was in Joppa and had a message for him. Cornelius sends three men to find Peter (two servants and a soldier) Scene Two – Peter goes into a trance Peter falls into a trance before lunch. A trance is an altered state of consciousness. It is a semi-conscious state. While Peter is praying, he has a vision of pigs in a blanket. The vision tells him to kill and eat non-kosher animals. He was told to do it three times, but Peter said, “No.” He refused to do it, even though he was hungry at the time. Scene Three – A mysterious knock at the door Right after the vision, knock on the door and ask if Peter is there. Three complete strangers ask Peter go with them thirty miles from to talk to someone he has never met and they are Gentiles. They ask him to come with them. The Spirit told Peter to go, even though he did not know why, so he went. Scene Four – Peter meets Cornelius Peter arrives at Cornelius’ house and asks him why he sent for him. When Peter gets there, he not only finds Cornelius but all of his friends and relatives. When Cornelius sees him, he falls at Peter’s feet. Peter says He says, “Stand up, I am only a man.” The irony here is that the Roman Catholic Church believes that the Pope is the successor to Peter. What do they do when they see him? They get on their knees and kiss his ring. It is not only allowed; it is expected. They would call it respect, not worship but Peter was an apostle of Jesus Christ. He raised the dead and wrote books of Scripture and yet he did not insist anyone get on their knees before him. He was humble. Scene Five – A Gospel Sermon Peter preached the gospel. What did he say? Jesus went about doing good. He went about healing people. He was killed on a cross. Jesus was killed by Roman soldiers. Cornelius was in the Roman army. He rose from the dead. People saw Him. They ate and drank with him. If you believe in Him, you can receive forgiveness of your sins. One day, this same Jesus will be your judge. He said that there has to be a response to this message to get saved. “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43 NIV). That was the message that Cornelius needed to hear. God sees all of your works, but works do not save. You don’t get your sins forgiven by doing good works but by believing in Jesus. Scene Six – An Amazing Response While he was preaching, the Holy Spirit fell on them. Peter hadn’t even finished the sermon. He did not have an altar call, and the Spirit fell, not just on Cornelius but on everyone in the room. The OT talked about God pouring our His Spirit on Jews. Now the Spirit is being poured out on Gentiles, treating them as if they were God’s people[1] and they start speaking in tongues and praising God. Why did they speak in tongues? When the Holy Spirit fell on Jews in Acts 2 at Pentecost, they spoke in tongues. Now, in Acts 10, the Spirit falls on Gentiles at Caesarea, and they speak in tongues. If they didn’t speak in tongues, the Jews might think that these were second class Christians or not Christians at all, so they got the same experience. The only difference was the order. In Acts 2, the order was repent, be baptized and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 10, they believed. They received the Holy Spirit and got baptized afterwards. They already had the real baptism, Holy Spirit baptism. Water baptism was not just outward expression of what took place on the inside. This story completely refutes the idea that you have to be baptized to be saved. Cornelius saved. The Spirit fell on him. He started speaking in tongues. He got baptized afterwards. You don’t have to be baptized to be saved but if you are saved, you should be baptized. It is a command. Peter ordered them to be baptized. |
Case Study One: Cornelius
Let’s talk about Cornelius. He is the first one mentioned in the chapter. He is the picture of a good man who needed to be saved. What do we know about him?
1. He was a military man
He was a centurion. He was not just a soldier. He was a leader of soldiers. He had a hundred soldiers under his command.
If you read it in the KJV, it is rather funny. It says he was in the Italian band, which sounds like he was part of a music group.
The band was military. Cornelius was a Roman centurion. There are seven centurions mentioned in the NT and all of them are seen in a positive light.
For example, the first one asked Jesus to heal his sick servant but told him that he did not need to come to his house. Jesus marveled at this man. The faith of this Roman military man, this Gentile man, was shocking.
“Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:10-12 NIV)
The Roman centurion who oversaw the crucifixion of Jesus on Golgotha and was an eyewitness to that event said, “Surely this man was the Son of God.” (Mark 15:39).
Now, we are told that the Centurion in Acts 10 was moral, religious, devout and God-fearing.
2. He was a family man
Apparently, he was not just a leader in the army; he was a leader in his home as well. He was the spiritual leader in his household. We are told that “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing” (Acts 10:2 NIV)
3. He was a religious man
We are told that he was devout and God-fearing. The Romans were pagans, but this man worshipped the true God. Many soldiers are not known for their spiritual sensitivity. Some are stone-cold atheists, but this man was a seeker. He feared God.
4. He was a praying man
This man didn’t just believe in God; he prayed to Him. He talked to Him. He was unsaved but he still prayed. That is a rebuke to many saved people who don’t pray. Muslims are unsaved and yet they pray five times a day. We are told that Cornelius “prayed to God regularly” (Acts 10:2 NIV)
5. He was a generous man
This man was not only religious; he was generous. He gave his money away to help people. We are told that “he gave generously to those in need.” (Acts 10:2 NIV). He not only gave; he gave generously.
6. He was a respected man
We are told that Cornelius was “a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people” (Acts 10:22 NIV).
That is a shock. Cornelius was not just respected by Romans; he was respected by Jews. The Romans invaded the country. They occupied Judea. The Jews hated the Romans, but they loved Cornelius.
While he was praying, Cornelius an angel appeared to him in his home, and it terrified him. If a supernatural being shows up, you might be frightened as well.
What did the angel tell him? He praised Cornelius for what he had done. He said God sees everything. He saw all of his good works. He heard all of his prayers, but he said that he was missing something.
The angel told him that there was something else he needed to do. The angel said, “I am not going to tell you what it is. Go get Peter and he will tell you.”
The angel could have told him the plan of salvation, but that is the job for people to do, not angels, so he sent him to Peter.
Case Study Two: Peter
This is not the case of a good man lost but a godly man prejudiced. God gave Peter a vision. This vision was about food. Peter sees a sheet with all kinds of animals on it and was told to kill and eat them. Peter got it at a time when he was hungry.
This is proof that God is not a vegetarian. Some Christians are. God is not. God told Peter to kill and eat and some of the animals He told Peter to kill were unclean.
It is not wrong to choose not to eat meat as long as you realize that it is not a sin to do so. There is no religious reason for being a vegetarian.
Peter was a rule follower. He followed all of the rules. He said, “I have never done this before and am not going to do it now. It goes against all of my Jewish training.”
God told Cornelius to do something, and he did it and he was an unbeliever. He told Peter to do something, he didn’t do it. He argued with Jesus and he was a believer. He said, “not so Lord.” Cornelius looked better than Peter.
Cornelius was a military man. He understood authority. He understood the concept of following orders from his superior.
God had to say this three times to Peter. I don’t know if Peter was a slow learner or had ADD but Jesus often has to tell Peter things three times.
He said to him, “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?” He said to him, “Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep” Now, he says “kill and eat, kill and eat, kill and eat.”
If you read the Book of Leviticus, you find that some foods are clean, and some are unclean but now God changes the rules. Jewish dietary laws are no longer binding today. All food is clean.
All food may not be healthy. It may not all taste good, but it is all clean. There is no religious reason for not eating certain foods. It’s okay to eat pork now. You can now have bacon for breakfast.
Three Powerful Lessons
1) You can be religious but lost.
Cornelius was a good guy, but he wasn’t saved. You can have all kinds of good works but not be saved. Works don’t save. All the religions of the world, except Christianity are based on the idea that works save. We see in this story that they don’t. Are you saved?
2) You can be saved but prejudiced
Prejudice can be in the church. Christians can be prejudiced. Some of the apostles were. Saved people aren’t perfect. Leaders are not perfect. Pastors are not perfect. Even apostles were not perfect.
God shows no favoritism. God is color blind. He does not treat people based on race or color. God dealt with Peter’s prejudice. Are you prejudiced? Prejudice is not limited to race. It is simply pre-judging something or someone without all of the facts.
3) You can get cleansed if you are unclean
God can take people that are unclean, and he can cleanse them. He can take dirty Gentiles, like Cornelius, and make them clean. He can also take food that is unclean, and he can cleanse it. That is what he does here. He declares all food is clean.
To this day, there are Christians observe the dietary laws of the OT because they think they have to.[2] They think we are still under these Levitical laws.
Many Messianic Jews still follow these kosher food laws. One of the lessons from this chapter is ““Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
[1] https://www.biblicaltraining.org/learn/institute/nt619-acts/nt619-13-acts-chapters-10-and-11
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFXoxx_DdUM
