Acts 10: Two Conversions

Join Pastor Steve as he unpacks the breakthrough moment in Acts 10, where two visions, an angel, and a 35-mile journey bring a devout Jewish apostle face to face with a Roman centurion hungry for God. Along the way, we discover that no one is beyond the reach of God, and that following Jesus means following Him not as a co-pilot, but as Lord of our lives.

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello everyone, I'm Dr. Steve Folt. I want to welcome you to the Road Church Podcast. Each week we go into God's Word. We teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse. We are here to build the Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world. So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life. But we're talking about in the book of Acts a very interesting chapter. So if you have your Bibles, turn to Acts chapter 10. And I'm calling this the story of two conversions. There's two conversions that happen in Acts chapter 10. And you guys know that my background, my degree in graduate school at Fuller Theological Seminary was missiology. And that's the study of missions. That's really the story of the expansion of Christ around the world, the expansion of the church, missiology. So this is one of the great missiological paradigm shifts in the Bible. Anyone know y'all know what a paradigm shift is? So a paradigm shift is like a worldview shift, okay? It's happening all the time. And what we tend to do in Christianity, because I've been a part of it in leadership for so long, is to become stagnant when we become a believer. So instead of continuing to grow, we figure we've got it all figured out. That's really dumb. Okay, by the way, that's dumb theology. Because God's spirit's always moving. God's spirit's changing, and he's got stuff for 2026 and 2027 that he's never done before. He's got stuff he's gonna do this year he's never done in the history of Christianity because it's 2026 and 2027. It's a different, um, it's a different world, okay, than 1865 or 1965. And so for us to continually always look back and wish it was like the good old days, and by the way, I like to watch Leave It to Beaver. Okay, I do. You know, I like maybe ARFD and the Andy Griffith Show. I mean, I love all that stuff, but, but God's doing something now that's different than before. And so Peter is gonna have to go through a paradigm shift in Acts chapter 10. He's gonna, he's gonna have to figure out some new stuff. And then we're gonna start with a guy named Cornelius. So the first conversion is going to be a soul conversion, and that's Cornelius. But then Peter has to shift his thinking about everything he's learned in Judaism, everything he's learned in that religion, because God's doing a new thing in the way, T-H-E-W-A-Y, the way that he's never experienced before as a Jew. And so there's two conversions gonna happen here. So um, let's look at uh Acts 10, 1. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion. Underline centurion, he's a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment. So we believe that this man Cornelius was probably from Italy. So if he's the leader of a regiment, a group of men, then he's and it's called the Italian regiment, it would appear that he may be Italian, but he's he's living now in Caesarea. So he's a foreigner living. And here's what's interesting about Acts is it's so many, so many unlikely people that God uses. Now, I don't, you know, you we have different perspectives probably on Donald J. Trump in this room, okay? I'm I'm assuming that based on data in society, I don't know, our church different, but who would have thought that this billionaire playboy from New York was gonna be a part of putting together some Supreme Court justices that turned over Roe v. Wade. I mean, God just does the weirdest stuff, right? Okay, and we've had all these other conservative presidents who couldn't have the guts to do anything. But he did. So God had uniquely wired him for something that he was gonna do. Well, the book of Acts is kind of like that. It's one strange guy after another that God uses. And so if you're kind of weird and you're kind of strange, there's hope for all of us. We want you. Because sometimes the most impossible situations happen through the most impossible people because they get crushed by God. They get crushed by God, they get humbled by God, and suddenly these gifts and talents that have been latent all these years come forth because now they're inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit. So here's Cornelius. He's a soldier. And he's the backbone of the Roman army. History tells us the backbone of the Roman army were the centurions. Centurions were leaders. They were leaders of men. They were known for their bravery, their courage, and their ability to lead others under fire. So these are the best of the best. Some would say a staff sergeant in the army, in the artillery is kind of the backbone of the army. They say this is the staff sergeant, the guy who's in there, actually giving the commands on the battlefield. That's a centurion. So you had legions, legions, 6,000 men. You had regiments, 600 men, and then you had the centurion over 100 men, thus the name centurion, 100. So he's over 100 men. But listen to what verse 2 says. This is really fascinating. He's a devout man. Well, what does it mean to be a devout man or a devout woman? He says he's a devout man. And then he he gives us a definition of being a devout man, of being a godly man, of being a whole-hearted man. He's not a believer yet, but he's about to become one. But look, even without Christ, as a foreigner, look what it says about him: a devout man and one who feared God, with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always. Here's four, I mean, talk about four corners of the table. You should write this down. This is really good. It's it's somewhat devout man, a godly man, a godly woman, number one, fears God. Now I find it fascinating here. It doesn't say loves God, it says fears God. Well, what's the difference? We talk a lot, especially even at the road. I do this all the time. I talk about loving God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and so it's the greatest commandment of all. That's why we use the word whole-hearted, whole-hearted men, whole-hearted women. Um because love is preeminent. Now, this is before he has experienced the love of God yet. But he fears God, and it's here, it's written by Luke as a very important point because here's what fearing God means. It means you obey God. It means you obey God. And I know a lot of believers, I we say it all the time, he loves God. I know he loves God. But, and then they give this whole litany of how they screw people all the time and how they, you know, are involved in this or that or that or this in their life. They don't love God. It just means maybe they made a decision for Christ. But here he's gonna actually say he fears God, which when you look up the Greek, means that he obeys God. He's an obedient proselyte. Okay, number two, what does it say? One who feared God with all his household. So it's interesting, I didn't I didn't have any discussion about this with Kyle today, but he had the men sing. He made some comments about that. We're just coming off the wholehearted man. This guy leads his household. He leads his household. And the statistics are true. That when a man comes to know the Lord, there's an 88% chance that the whole family will come to know Christ. Because there's a responsibility there that he feels. Because he's leading his household. So here's Cornelius, he gets it. You know why he gets it? Because he's a leader at work. He figured it out. He's a leader at work, he's a leader at home. And that's important. Next, gave alms generously. This guy would have been following the Old Testament standards. He's a tither. He gives 10% of his income to the Lord. And centurions were fairly wealthy. Remember, there's a every time a centurion is mentioned in the New Testament, it's always positive. It talks about, remember Jesus, remember his headquarters was at Nazareth. And it says that the finances to build the synagogue was given by a centurion. And remember when he hears that there's a servant from a centurion that is very sick, and then he says to him, I'll come and heal your servant. He says, You don't need to come. Because I understand how authority works. When I say something to men, they do what I say. I'm a leader. I understand you don't have to do it. You can just, you can just command it. I'm not worthy for you to be under my roof. You come and you just say the command, he'll be healed. And then what does Jesus say? I haven't seen such great faith in all of Israel. And then remember the cross at the cross, and we do this every time we do Good Friday, we have one of our centurions that's here, you know, shout out at the end, surely he was the Son of God. So centurions are seen very, very positively in the New Testament. And he's like that. So he gives. He gives generously. In other words, fearing God means, this is what it means to me. I'm gonna tell you what it means to me. Fearing God means to me, I fear being out of God's will. I fear being out of God's will in my marriage. I fear being out of God's will financially. So if I'm not giving, if I'm not generously tithing and I'm in trouble financially, I have nothing to stand on. Because I haven't even followed the basic obedience requirements of God. So he gets it, all right? And then he prays to God always. So he's an earnest prayer warrior. So this guy, he gives, he prays, he obeys, and he's a leader. Isn't that a pretty good formula? Like four pegs. Everybody go like this if you understand half of what I said, okay? All right. I think it's really good. About the ninth hour of the day, that's three o'clock, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in. So he sees this angel come in, this is pretty cool, and saying to him, Cornelius. So the angel knows his name, says Cornelius. Okay? So everybody listen up, everybody look at me. Really important point. Don't miss this. If he had not been praying, if he had not been at the hour of prayer, would he have been chosen by God for the unique leadership adventure he's about to go on? I don't think so. So he's praying, and because he's praying, the angel is sent by God on a mission. That's what angels do. They're sent on a mission. That's literally what angel means, sent on a mission, to come to Cornelius because he's a man of prayer. Now, you think, well, okay, that's kind of cool, Steve. That's a really good point. I like that. But look at verse 4. And when he observed him, he was afraid. And by the way, Cornelius? A centurion, a professional soldier, probably been in battle, he's afraid. That's what angels do to you. I hear. I've never met one like this. What is it, Lord? So he said to him, listen to this, you should underline this, star it, check it, highlight it, whatever you like to do. Your prayers and your alms have come up as a memorial before God. All right. I'm telling you, I don't want to get legalistic on you, but I'm gonna tell you the honest to goodness truth, because this is scripture. A lot of you in this room aren't seeing your prayers answered because you aren't praying. And you're not giving. You say, well, now that sounds so religious and so legalistic. Take it for what it's worth. I'm just telling you what the scriptures say. That somehow, because of his generous giving to people, to the church, to the synagogue, probably. More, I mean, almost 99% chance, that's what we're talking about, giving to the synagogue. And he's a man of prayer. God comes and he's gonna answer his prayers because here's a man who is uniquely successful. Uniquely successful. To be a centurion meant it took years of training to get to that position. He's probably gonna become a general or something higher even later over a legion or a reg, probably the regiment, the Italian regiment, and then maybe a legion. And it's because he's faithful in these little things. You say, well, that's not very little. No, this is little compared to what God has planned for him. God says it's a memorial to me. I've been looking for you. You're my man. This is what I want to do in your life. Church, listen. This is exciting stuff. Some of you are going, this is not exciting stuff, Steve. No, it is. Take it from me. Testing this out for 42 years. You follow God, you fear Him, you get things lined up in the kingdom, and God does explosively great miracles in your life. Just one amen. All right, okay. Now, look at verse 5. Now, send men to Joppa and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter. He doesn't know who Simon Peter is. I don't think he knows anything about him. He has to, he has to so, the the the uh angel has to so explain who he is. This is how we can trust scripture with the literal details that Luke gives us, is he's staying at a tanner named Simon's house. That's not what you do if you're making this stuff up. You don't say Simon is at Simon's house. That's how you study and uh understand true archaeological discoveries. So whenever you see anything online with AI, and everything seems so perfect. Well, there was this, and it's you know, it's it comes from the Democratic Party, or it comes from the Republican Party, or it comes from whatever. And it's like in seven years ago, you know, there was this prophecy, and then it gives this perfect, absolutely perfect prophecy about this person. You might want to question it. Because it doesn't it doesn't work that way. So here he's going, it's Simon at Simon's house. We can pretty much count on it being Simon at Simon's house because it seems confusing. All right? Now send men to Joppa and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter. He's lodging with Simon. If you're making this stuff up, you make it Ralph or you make it Larry or something like that. Okay, it's easier to remember. A tanner whose house is by the sea, he will tell you what you must do. And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, sees a leader, from among those who waited on him continually. So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa. The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour. Okay, so 3 p.m. is when Cornelius is praying, six hour, which is noon. Peter's praying. Now, this is typical of us guys. Listen to the rest of this because this is what we do when we go pray. He became very hungry. Have you noticed that sometimes when you've decided I'm gonna pray at 12 o'clock or I'm gonna get in there and pray, and then it starts happening, right? And you go in the kitchen and you forget you're supposed to pray. He wanted to eat, but while they made ready, he fell into a trance. And he saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. So these are gonna be unclean objects. There's probably a crow in there, there's a pig in there, there's other four-footed animals that you wouldn't eat normally unless you're me, and I hunt them, and then we learn how to cook them up. But this is a Jew, so this is really important. This is an Orthodox Jew. He's been taught, see, here's what's interesting about Judaism at this time, and it is still true with Orthodox Jews today, is that it's not just that you're the chosen people from your perspective, but you're the chosen people in contrast to everybody else. So it's not just that I follow Yahweh, I follow God, but it's also they don't. They're heathen. Very, very much a Muslim style as far as how we look at how the legalism was at that time. So the thought that he would eat unclean objects as an Orthodox Jew is, I'm talking about now we're we're getting into worldview, a paradigm shift. Because up to now, everybody who's getting saved, except for a few exceptions, are people who are Jewish. So God's about to break, this is the conversion of Peter as well as it's about to be the conversion of Cornelius. So by the way, Cornelius is called a proselyte, meaning that he's a Gentile, grew up probably in Italy, because he's part of the Italian regiment, who has decided to follow the ways of Judaism, wants to follow the Torah and the Ten Commandments, and he's a follower, but he's probably what we would call a proselyte at the gate, which means that he was not circumcised. I don't know why this is, but a lot of men, as they got older who became proselytes, they didn't want to get circumcised. I don't really understand that. But anyway, they didn't get circumcised. But if you did, then you could worship at the temple and you're called a proselyte of righteousness. So we believe probably he was a proselyte at the gate, not circumcised, but he's following all the laws of Judaism. So here's a guy named Peter, Simon Peter, who has followed the Jewish law his whole life. He has this vision, and these creatures come down that you would never ever think of eating. Verse 13, and a voice came to rise, Peter, kill and eat. Now look at verse 14. I want you to underline something because it's a big contradiction. Verse 14. Peter said, not so, Lord. Underline that. Not so, Lord. You can't do that. You can't say not so to something God said and then tag on it, Lord. He's not Lord. If you're saying not so or no way, Lord, like if you even heard me say today something about giving and you're hoarding everything you've got, and I say giving, and I'm saying the scripture says you should be giving, and you don't, and you say, not so, Lord, he's not Lord. It's okay. Just admit it. He's not Lord in your finances. You might want to grow up before you grow old. Because if you do, exciting things can happen. Big adventure. So this is Peter. So Cornelius gets it. I'm going to show you in a second. Cornelius is obeying God more than Peter, and he's not even a believer in Jesus yet. He's fearing God. He's giving generously. He's leading his family. He's in a position of obedience that Peter doesn't get. Guess what? Some of you are coconuts. I'm a coconut. You know what a coconut is? It's somebody who has to take, you got to take a hammer to break open the stupid thing. Okay? And so Peter is the guy that's in the boat. He says, I'll come to you, Lord. And he walks in the water and then he gets fearful and he starts to sink. This is Peter. I love Peter. Because I'm like Peter. Right? Aren't a lot of you like Peter? I mean, we're coconuts, man. You have to take he we have to have a hammer from God to break open our heart to say, when are you going to decide to follow me? Because I really know a lot better about your future than you do. I really know how to fix a marriage better than you do. I really know how to set you in a place where God can use you in your job better than you do. Will you let me? And you say, not so, Lord. You know what seeking first the kingdom of heaven means? It means Lordship of Christ. He wants to be. And he wants to satisfy you. It's really exciting. It's fun. Not always. But most of the time. Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean. Wow, Peter's a big expert now. He's like, I'm your man on this rock. You will build your church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I don't eat unclean stuff, even though you just told me to. And a voice spoke to him again. Coconut, man. Break open the coconut, hit him again. What God has cleansed, you must not call common. This was done circled three times. It always takes three times with Peter. It always takes three times with Peter. It takes ten times with Steve Holt. So if you say, well, it takes it takes a lot for me, at least ten or twenty times for me. I'm a coconut. I just think Luke went, I gotta put this in three times. Because he knew the story of Peter. Three times he denies him. Three times he has to run. Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Now, while Peter wondered within himself what this vision, which he had seen, meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate. And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there. While Peter thought about the vision, now this is this is really, really important. The Spirit says to Peter, Behold, three men are seeking you. Now listen to this, verse 20. Arise, therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. Can you get any more clear than that, gang? Can you get any more clearer than that? Look what Peter does. Great man of God. Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius and said, Yes, I am the one whom you seek. For what reason have you come? Hello? He just got told by God, by the Holy Spirit, don't doubt, don't question. And there's three guys that are gonna come, and at the doors, three guys, his wife, you come. Okay, here's the moral of the story. If you're kind of dumb about things that the Holy Spirit's told you to do and you keep forgetting, welcome to the party. It's okay. God still works. God's in a process in all of our lives of showing us stuff we need to work on. Nobody here's got it together. Nobody here's perfect. And by the way, your imperfection is my job security. So this is what I do, okay? So if everybody's perfect, you don't need me. All right? So anyway, we're in this together. Verse 22. And they said, Cornelius, a centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you. Then he invited them in, lodged them on the next day. Peter went away with them and some brethren from Joppa to accompany him. Now here's what's interesting. So this is in Caesarea. He's in Joppa, 35 miles away. He sent back to Caesarea, right? That whole thing is happening? And so guess who's already in Caesarea? Philip. We already know that Philip's in Caesarea because of the other passages we have about him. He's the evangelist. Why didn't the angel come to Philip and have Philip do his bidding? All he has to do is walk outside, walk down the street, and man, he's in there, it's done. But he calls Peter 35 miles away. Now this is weird. Because here's, I think, the economy of God is that God had a work to do in Peter's life. He needed Peter to get it. Maybe Philip already had it. I don't know. But he calls this man all the way. And you might say, well, what about an angel? Why don't the angel's already doing all the talking here? Maybe it's the same angel, maybe it's a different. Why didn't he just lead him to the Lord? Because angels are not called to do that. God calls you to do that. You and I get the privilege of leading others to the Lord. God uses us, not angels, to lead people to the Lord. And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped him. Peter lifted him up, saying, Stand up, I myself am also a man. And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. And then he said to them, You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation? But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or inclined. See, Peter really got this. He understood that the unclean animals that he could eat was a new paradigm, a new worldview. All people are common. All people are common and yet they're special before God. Yes, Gentiles, common. But I'm not going to call them common anymore. It's what Galatians, Paul later writes in Galatians, neither look at a man, whether he's a slave or he's free. Or whether he's a male or a female, whether he's a Jew or a Gentile, no prejudice. We're done with that stuff. Everybody's special before God. Everybody's created in the image of God. Everybody's loved by God. It's said of Mahatma Gandhi, the great leader in India in the 1940s, who led India in freedom from the colony of England. That he read, he read the Gospels, and he said, that's the answer. Jesus is the answer to the caste system in the Hindu religion. And so he went to a church and they wouldn't let him come in. And they said, You go to your people. You're not allowed in our church. And he wrote later, I guess Christians have a caste system too. I guess I'll just stay a Hindu. So God's always breaking our worldview and our paradigm shift to be open and loving to others. On issues of man and woman and gender, in issues of whether one grew up in a Christian home or didn't grow up in a Christian home. Some of us here, we came out of really, really hard backgrounds. Some of you come with things you regret, you're so ashamed of. That's what wholehearted men was about. We do every Tuesday morning. We deal with our shame. And we say, there's forgiveness in Christ. You're a new creation in Christ. The old has passed away, and behold, new things have come. That's what Peter's learning here. Verse 27, as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. And then he said to them, You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I asked then, for what reason have you sent for me? So Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this very hour, and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He's lodging in the house of Simon at Tanner by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you. And so I went to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now, therefore, we're all present before God to hear all the things commanded to you by God.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast. We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world. For more information about the Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org. That's theroad.org.