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Lesson 18

Cornelius a Man in Need

Acts 10:1-9

Over a period of years I participated, along with many others, in the FAITH witnessing strategy at Bethany Place. I have often wondered why we did not experience more success as we went out week after week trying to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. As I reflect on it I would be hard pressed to list more than a few people who made a lasting decision. Many of the visits were to those who were guests at church and only needed some encouragement to come to be part of the fellowship. So what went wrong? Was it the busyness of the people? Was it the material studied? Was it a lack of enthusiasm on our part? Looking back I do not believe that it was any of these things. Then what was missing? It was that the hearts of the people had not been prepared by God to be receptive to what we had to say. The conclusion is there can never be a lasting meaningful relationship with the Father unless the heart of stone has been softened by the Holy Spirit into a willing heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 11:19) They must sense a call from God on their lives. Without either of those two things a person can have the greatest presentation and the desire to witness without results.

In order for us as a church to reach the unsaved we must make some preparations ourselves. We are to be prepared to witness to a lost world by knowing what God has to say in his word. Secondly, we need to develop sensitive hearts open to the instructions of the Holy Spirit. God will prepare the hearts of those who He is calling to hear the message. If we allow Him to lead us He will provide the time and place for those who have the message and those who need the message to meet. For the next three weeks we will see how God arranged for two people, Peter and Cornelius, to arrive at the same place where the one with the word met the one who needed to hear the word.

Acts 9:43

This is a pivotal verse in the spiritual journey of Peter as God is preparing him to meet Cornelius. The fact that he was willing to stay with an unclean man set the stage for his defining moment in Acts 10:9-23 and the coming encounter with and acceptance of Cornelius, a Gentile, which will be covered in the rest of Acts 10.

Acts 10:1-2

This verse introduces the pivotal person in the drama to be played out. On the surface as a Gentile, he would be an unlikely candidate to play such an important part in all of history. Cornelius was, first and foremost, a military man who held the rank of centurion (captain) in the Roman army. He was in charge of a battalion of some 6,000 men stationed in Caesarea.

Before continuing with Cornelius we will look at the city of Caesarea. This city located on the Mediterranean had been built by Herod the great to honor Caesar. During the time of Christ and following it was the seat the Roman government in Israel. Pontius Pilate was the first to have his headquarters there. Because of its location it was a commercial center having a man made port from which shipping took place to places like Italy. It was from Caesarea that Paul began his final journey to Rome from Israel.

Now back to Cornelius. In the Bible we have the mention of two men of the Roman army who appear to have the same character qualities. The first is found in Matthew 8:13. Jesus said of the centurion, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.”

In Acts Luke tells us that Cornelius was:

• A devout man
• One who feared God
• A giver of alms to the Jewish people
• A man of continual prayer

1. In what ways would it seem unlikely from man’s perspective that we would be reading of this incident in the first place?
2. What are the qualities that he exhibited that God looks for in a person?
3. Why would a Roman centurion desire to believe in God?
4. What does it mean that Cornelius feared God?
5. How does this differ than being a Jewish proselyte?
6. What would it take for a person like Cornelius to be accepted by the Jews?
7. Would the qualities he possessed be enough to accept him into church?

Acts 10:3-4

God was about to do something in the life of the church. Obviously He was going use Cornelius in some way to bring about this new thing. As was his habit Cornelius was praying at the ninth hour which would have been about 3 PM. God sent and angel to him. His response would be just like any of us. He became frightened by the appearance of one who had come from the presence of God. His question to the angel reflected his acknowledgement of who was before him. He wanted to know why the angel had come to him. Like the appearance before Daniel, the angel commented on the qualities of the man. His prayers and alms had been accepted by God as an offering from a humble man. The Jews would have felt obligated to make burnt offerings to be acceptable to God. Here the only offering required was that which came from the heart of a godly man.

1. What does it show about Cornelius that he would be found praying at 3 PM?
2. What may have been the content of his prayers that would have gotten the attention of God?
3. How did those prayers affect the instructions given by the angel?
4. For whose benefit did the angel appear to Cornelius?
5. Why were his prayers and giving of alms acceptable to God?
6. Why is there no mention of burnt offering needing to be made?

Acts 10:5-9

The angel answered the question above by commanding Cornelius to send for Peter who was staying in Joppa. In all likelihood without this command and what was to take place in the life of Peter which will be studied next week the two men would have never crossed paths. He dispatched three men to bring back Peter. Two personal servants and a devout soldier were sent on this important errand. The trip took them a whole day to reach their destination.

1. Why was he not given specifics about what Peter was to do if he came?
2. Why was Cornelius willing to obey the instructions of the angel and send for Peter?
3. What was missing in Cornelius’ life?
4. How was he to know what he needed? (Look at Romans 10:13-15)
5. Why did Cornelius select the particular men to carry the message to Peter?
6. What does it say about the view he had of the command of the angel?

You have been given the greatest opportunity ever known to man. You have become a follower of Jesus Christ.

1. During the coming days you might reflect on all that means?

• You can pray to your Father anytime and anyplace.
• You have the assurance that He hears you.
• Unlike Cornelius you no longer have to search for your identity, you are his child.

2. You should also use that time to pray about opening the door to witness to someone like Cornelius whose heart God has prepared to hear what you have to say.
3. You by the guidance of the Holy Spirit be on the lookout for the Cornelius’ that just might cross your path.

We need to understand that any activity of God is a process. We have already seen how God had moved Peter from Jerusalem to Joppa. Each step took him closer and closer to Caesarea. We are to be faithful and to accomplish what God has called us to do all along the way. Who knows we will have a God encounter with someone like Cornelius. The last lesson which will be repeated again is that we cannot manufacture such events. They must be God orchestrated for them to have eternal results.