Calvin Synod Herald, 2015 (116. évfolyam, 9-10. szám)
2015-09-01 / 9-10. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 5 soldiers. Cornelius is portrayed as a godly man. We are told that he is “devout” that is that he knows there is a god and he is seeking him. We are also told that he “fears God” that is that he lives his life as if he is answerable to God. We are also told that he is a generous man, one who gives to those in need. And we are told that he is a praying man. Here is a man that is religious, sincere, and prayerful and yet he is not saved. There are still many people today who think that all you need to make it to heaven is to be religious, sincere, to live a good clean moral life. Cornelius’ position points out clearly that one can have all of that and still be lost. The angel who appears to Cornelius tells him to send down to Joppa for a man named Peter who is staying in the house of Simon the tanner. I believe that had God not commanded Cornelius to send for Peter, he would have gone to him, to avoid any problems. But you see, God wanted to force this issue, so that he could correct Peter’s attitudes and long with him all of the other Jewish Christians. Cornelius’ story, I believe answers the question that many ask, “What about the man who has never heard of Jesus Christ? What about the man who has lived up to the light that he has received, but has never heard of Jesus Christ? What happens to him?” Here is an illustration of what happens to a man like that. When he is obedient to the light he has, God will see that he receives more light. I believe that it is safe to say that any person anywhere in the world who sincerely wants to be right with God and who is sincerely searching for the truth, may be saved. God has ways, of which we know nothing, of getting his word to those who truly seek Him. Someone once asked Charles Spurgeon, the famous preacher of the 19th century, if the heathen could be saved if they did not hear the gospel. His wise reply was, “Can we be saved if we don’t deliver the gospel?” II. THE INSPIRATION OF A VISION vv. 9-16 “The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. (10)Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance (11) and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four comers, descending to him and let down to the earth. (12) In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. (13) And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”(14) But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” (15) And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” (16) This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.” The vision was of a sheet lowered from heaven in which are various kinds of animals, some clean and some of which are unclean. Have you ever wondered why if Peter was so horrified, at the thought of killing and eating an “unclean” animal that he did not just pick a “clean” animal from among those presented? Why then did this thought horrify him? Because, to Peter the mixing of the “clean” with the “unclean” animals would have rendered all the animals “unclean” in his mind. Therefore Peter refused to kill and eat any of them. Peter’s response to God’s command to kill and eat was, “Not, so Lord; for I have never eaten anything that was common or unclean” (v. 14). It would appear to us as we read this that it is inconsistent to say, “Not so Lord.” If you say “Lord” then you must not say, “Not so.” And if you are saying, “Not so” then you need not call Him “Lord.” Peter is proud of the fact that he had never done certain things and we today have our own similar form of legalism. We sometimes define ourselves by the things that we do not do. It is not wrong that there are things that we do not do. What is wrong is defining our spirituality based on the things that we refrain from doing. We joke and say, “I don’t drink, I don’t swear. I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t go with girls who do.” But the truth is that the world is not impressed by that. What non- Christians are looking for is Christian who are able to do, that is live life that is beyond the capabilities of the non-Christian. What impresses non-Christians is to find homes that are filled with loving acceptance of one another, a home that is characterized by warmth, joy and peace in the middle of a world where homes are falling apart on every side. The Lord’s response to Peter in this vision is, “What God has cleansed you must not call common” (v. 15). It soon becomes obvious to Peter that these words had a far greater implication than simply what he was and was not allowed to eat. Peter was not to regard certain people as unclean and those to be avoided. God is revealing to him that all forgiven sinners are to be accepted including Gentiles. The four comers of the sheet correspond to the four comers of the earth or to the four points of the compass - north, south, east and west. The sheets contents indicate all the millions of people who make up Peter’s world. Perhaps Peter called to mind the words of the Lord recorded in Mark 7:17-23; “When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. (18) So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, (19) because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” (20) And He said, “What comes out of a man that defiles a man. (21) For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, (22) thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. (23) All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” (NKJVj To God being near pagans was not the problem, but being like pagans defiled them. Later Peter tells Cornelius in verse 28 that it unlawful for him to associate with Gentiles. Actually there is no Old Testament law that prohibited such association. What Peter is referring to is that it was unlawful according to Jewish custom and practice. It was this custom and practice that Jesus and his disciples set aside. Cornelius was ready. All God had to do now was prepare someone to share the gospel with him. It seems that it was harder to get someone prepared to witness than it was to get the man ready to listen. I wonder if that is not true in our own community. Are there more people ready to listen than there are people ready to give it?
