A Vision Was Shown to Peter <Ac 10:9-23>

Introduction:

* A person can do great things because he received a great vision before that.

* Peter could preach the gospel to Gentiles because his God first gave him the conviction, and because of God’s preparatory work in his life.

* God takes the initiative in the entire gospel ministry from beginning to the end (from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth).

* But sometimes, because we humans may not be ready yet, the Lord will use many convictions and evidences to call us.

* We must be especially careful not to let our fixed ideas, traditions and methods be the stumbling block to the Lord’s work.

* In particular, new convictions and visions come to us not out of our own imagination or without any foundation.

* When we faithfully serve the Lord and constantly seek grace, the Lord will tell us great and unsearchable things.

* As Peter kept walking out of Jerusalem to preach the gospel, the vision concerning the salvation of Cornelius came to him.

Read <Ac 10:9-23>

1）<v9>: Like Cornelius, Peter was a man of prayer.

2）<v10>: God showed His vision to Peter when he was hungry.

* The spiritual person’s needs itself is a channel by which God appears to him.

* Sometimes when the needs of physical body arise, we are even more satisfied to receive spiritual visions <Jn 4:32-34>.

3）<v11-13>: Peter saw many food which were forbidden by Judaism.

* In Old Testament dietary laws, God instructed that His holy people could only eat consecrated food, so as to be set apart as holy.

* But in the New Testament, the cleansing by the precious blood of Christ already substituted the holiness demanded by the dietary laws.

4）<v14>: Peter still retained deep-seated ideas about Jewish dietary laws.

5）<v15>: What God wants to cleanse will be made clean.

6）<v16>: God’s emphasis to Peter made him change his views.

7）<v17-18>: God gives inward vision, as well as outward evidences.

8）<v19>: Holy Spirit’s clear guidance.

9）<v20>: Do not hesitate (can also be translated as: make no distinction).

* Do not make any unnecessary distinction between Jews and Gentiles.

* Human distinction and discrimination are obstacles to evangelism.

* <Ro 1:14>: I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.

* <1 Co 9:22>: … I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.

10）<v21-23>: Peter became open and received the three Gentiles as his guests.

Conclusion:

1）Spreading the gospel to the Gentiles is something God Himself wants to fulfil on His own initiative.

2）God first put in His servant’s (Peter’s) heart the conviction about what He was about to do, and made him understand.

3）When we put down our preconceived mindset, we will surely see God’s practical guidance step by step.