We're looking at Acts chapter 10, and there are three main characters in this chapter. All right, the first is the Holy Spirit. In fact, the book of Acts is really, I would say it's a shortened title for the book. The full name of the book should be the Acts of the Holy Spirit through the apostles. Okay, that is the book of Acts. That is the story that's being told here. 

And so the first character is the Holy Spirit. And Luke, the author who wrote this, it's all about what the Holy Spirit has done. If you read through the book of Acts, it's all about the workings of the Holy Spirit, establishing and growing the early church. 

The second one is, of course, Simon Peter, who we're familiar with. And Peter was, he was a fisherman. He was one of the first disciples to be called by Jesus. 

And third is Cornelius the Centurion. Now, Cornelius, he was stationed in Caesarea. And this was the capital for the Romans of this province of Judea. This was the government seat. Most of the places in the region were probably mostly Jewish. And yet in this place, there was many foreigners and it was very Hellenist. It was very Greek in its culture. And so in this place, Cornelius was a Centurion. 

This was a military officer. This was a position in the military. And he was in charge of about 80 soldiers underneath him. And these were subdivided into groups and they would live probably in groups of eight altogether, sharing their food and their accommodation. And so normally to attain this rank, this military rank that Cornelius had, he would have had to have started off as, you know, just a general soldier. And he probably would have had to have been already in the military for 15 to 20 years. 

This was the pathway to become a Centurion. If you survive those 15 or 20 years, that would be the rank that you could advance to. And he wouldn't be able to advance past that rank unless there was some special political favour. And so Cornelius, he had almost certainly been in battle many times, hand-to-hand combat. He'd probably killed people as part of his duties as a soldier. So this was not a soft person. This was not an inexperienced person. And so for him, he was probably, it says he was leading this Italian cohort. 

And so this was a group of soldiers that I think they were more archery focused. But Cornelius as a military officer, we know what he would have carried. And so first he would have carried two, they're called pilum, they're these spears. And so when the enemy was 50 feet away, they would all throw this first spear. And as they came close to about 20 feet away, they would go ahead and they would throw their second spear. These spears were set to try and pierce through armour and shields. And so if it was a time for battle, you'd have these two spears with him. He'd also have his sword called a gladius. The gladius was about 60 centimetres long. And this would have been his primary weapon. And then also every Roman soldier, they'd also have a short dagger called a pugio. 

So these are the things that they all carried around. If you think if he was walking around, probably he didn't walk around with these two spears all the time, but this was a military officer. He always had to be ready. This was an important position. So this is our third character. 

The first is the Holy Spirit, the second is Peter, and the third is Cornelius, this centurion. 

Now the big idea for Acts chapter 10 is the gospel and the empowering of the spirit is for everyone, okay? If you get nothing else, get this. The gospel and the empowering of the spirit is for everyone. Can you, would you repeat it with me? The gospel and the empowering of the spirit is for everyone. Turn to your neighbour, tell them. The gospel and the empowering of the spirit is for everyone. This is the big idea for chapter 10. So if you miss this, I'm sorry, you've missed the whole chapter. You've missed the point of the whole thing. 

And right from the beginning of scripture, God's chosen people were meant to be a blessing and a witness to the nations around them. That's why God rose up Israel long ago in the Old Testament. They were supposed to be a blessing and a witness to the nations around them of God. It was never meant to be the favour of God just for this one ethnicity, this one group of people. It was meant for everyone. And so in a sense, scriptures all been leading up to this, Acts chapter 10, because this is where we find out that the gospel and the empowering of the spirit is for everyone. 

Let’s first to travel back with me to the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two.

The disciples, they'd been praying in the upper room altogether, and they'd been praying again and again. And suddenly this time, there was this strong wind. It was as if this incredible storm had blown through. They could hear it. They could hear this wind. And so we have to imagine when they heard this, they didn't stay in the upper room. They went down out onto the street to see what was going on.

And then at this point, there was, we know the flames of fire that didn't burn them, began to rest upon them. And so this sound and this fire must not just have been something that the ones who were praying, the disciples knew about, but somehow the people all around, they heard this. Perhaps the sky was crystal clear, we don't know, but they heard this sound, this strong storm wind, and they saw fire on top of people, and they weren't being burnt. And so they gathered until there was this big crowd there. And so everyone was amazed because by the Holy Spirit, the disciples began to speak in other tongues, and everyone began to understand it. 

And everyone was from many different nations. They weren't all just from one place. They weren't all from Jerusalem. They were from all over. And so we have this thing where God was bringing the nations to Jerusalem first. But then in Acts 10, it's like the reverse takes place. Instead of all the different nationalities coming into Jerusalem, now it is time for the gospel to go forward.

Up till now, the gospel had been just slowly spreading a little bit, a little bit, a little bit from Jerusalem, but ethnically, it was still limited to the Jewish people, more or less. It was just them. And so now in Acts 10, it gets going beyond that. It had spread a little bit Jerusalem into the greater Judea region and even into Samaria, but now there's the big change. And Cornelius, Cornelius is among the first Gentile convert to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is a big deal. Up until now, not so much. 

If you're a foreigner, if you really wanted to take on the complete Jewish identity, you could be sort of brought in, but that was very limited. And so it's from this point in Acts 10, this is the dividing line when the gospel begins to spread far and wide geographically and ethnically as well. And as a result, the church sees exponential growth. Until now today, some, I don't know how they do the counting, but they say over 25% of the world's population identifies as Christian. 

If you were to think, if Singapore was the same way that'd mean when you walk out onto the street, for every four people you see, one would say, "Yes, I'm a Christian." So this explosion of the gospel is very key. So I think we look a bit closer at Cornelius first. 

It says in verses one and two, at Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. So we understand he was a devout man. That means he was very strict and he was very diligent in his religious practices, all right? He feared God with all his household. 

And his household, we don't know, all who were there could have been family members. For sure it was servants, it was different ones who he would give orders to perhaps, and they'd run and give messages. It was his whole household all together. 

And so during his time in Judea, Cornelius, he had somehow learned of the God of Israel, and he recognized his power and authority. We looked at him, right? This is not a soft man easily swayed. This was someone who had been in the military already 15 to 20 years at least. He had 80 people under him. But here he had learned about the God of Israel. 

And so it would not be a surprise as well if these 80 men under him, he probably told them, all right, this is what we're going to do. And he expected them to fear God as well, and to be devout in the religious practices. He gave alms generously to the people. It says generously. He didn't just give to the poor, but he really, without thinking just about himself, he gave generously. 

And so he recognized there was a moral obligation before God to give to the poor. He didn't just give the token amount. He didn't just give a bare minimum that he felt would fulfil his duties, but he gave generously. He gave generously. And it said as well that he prayed continually to God. And I believe at that time, the practices for the Jews is that they would pray three times a day. 

And so we can expect for Cornelius, he was diligent, he was devout, he was doing this three times a day, he would be taking time to pray. If we were to jump ahead to verse 22, it says, and they said, "Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man who is well-spoken of by the whole Jewish nation." He was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say. 

So verse 22, it sings high praise of Cornelius. It says he's upright and God-fearing and spoken well of by the whole Jewish nation. No, that's a good thing. No need to cry. No, it's okay. He was a prominent public figure in a city that was known for hostility and violence between the Romans and the Jews. And this was a place where later on in AD 66, there was a revolt that took place, there was war between the Romans and the Jews. 

And so this was a hotbed. This was a place where there's a lot of animosity between the two sides. And yet, somehow, Cornelius had a great reputation with everyone. So in some ways, he was exceptional. He was devout, he was God-fearing. He seems to have been very fair and even-handed to gain the respect of all who were there. Now, I wonder, what do you think? From the little bit of description we have so far, would you consider Cornelius saved at this point? What do you think? 

It's a bit hard to say, and there's different opinions. We all know that no amount of good works can save us from our sins. There's no way to sort of balance out scales by works. There's no way that by attending church enough that somehow thou just balanced things out. It needs more because we can't get rid of the sins on our own. 

And so, on the one hand, we see Cornelius. He was devout. As much as he knew, he seemed to be seeking God and honouring God. It says that he was God-fearing. But on the other hand, something more was perhaps needed. 

And so, to me, I see it as I see the Old Testament. Jesus had not come yet in the Old Testament to save people from their sins. And yet, God gave them practices where there were sacrifices, there was different things they were meant to do. And we believe that as they did that, it held them. It held them in promise till Jesus would be revealed to them and they would be forgiven. 

And so, I see Cornelius was like this. He, as much as he had understood and recognized God, he was obedient to that. And yet, he still needed to have his eyes open to Christ, to have Christ fully revealed to him. 

That’s why God brought Peter. So that the work of God might be completed in Cornelius life. Now Peter, Peter seems to be quite an extrovert, right? We know about Peter, we've heard many stories about Peter. In his earlier years, he seemed to be very impulsive, I would say. He was the one who saw Jesus walking on the water. And he was the one, "Lord, just call me, I will come." And he started going out and then he saw the waves and he started to sink. If he had stopped to think ahead of time, I don't know if he would have had the courage to have even tried going out to Jesus in the first place. 

With the transfiguration there's this cloud of glory, and it seems like Moses and Elijah are appearing, and Peter, he doesn't take time to think what's going on. He just, "Lord, wow, it's good for us to be here. "Well, let me set up some tents for you all." Peter seems to have been very impulsive, I would say. 

When Jesus went to wash the feet of the disciples, Peter said, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, "you shouldn't do that." And Jesus, it has to be done. And then Peter, "Well, give me a full bath." Peter, he's very impulsive early on. And when Jesus was arrested, Peter, "Oh, he took the sword and he cut off the ear "of the high priest's servant." 

This is Peter. And yet somehow, later on, through experiences, through time, he became one of the pillars of the early church in Jerusalem. And he became much more mature, and much more spiritually mature as well. From the lowest of lows when he denied Jesus three times. And yet church history tells us that he was faithful to the end, that he was a martyr, that he died for his faith. And when they were going to crucify him, he asked to be crucified upside down because he was not worthy to be crucified in the same way as his master. 

This is Peter. He was a Jew, he was very Jewish in his thinking. And so the idea of interacting with this Roman centurion, whether he had devout practices or not, was not something that Peter would have entertained. But our story is not being driven by Peter. It is not being driven by Cornelius. This story is being driven by God. 

And so we didn't have time to read through the whole passage, but there's an angel that first appeared in a dream to Cornelius. And he says, and he directed Cornelius to send men to Joppa. Okay, and to bring Peter back. And you can read through the chapter for yourself for that. And next, Peter receives a vision on his side, and receives this vision of unclean animals, animals that Jews should not be touching, should not be eating, should not have anything to do with. And they're lowered down in a sheet, and it happens three times. 

And God tells Peter, kill them and eat them. What I've said is clean is clean. And Peter, this is the interesting thing to me. He never once considers that God is talking about food. God's not talking about Peter, it's time to expand your diet. I've made all these creatures. They're wonderful, they're tasty. Peter knows it's not about the animals. 

And then he realizes when these servants from Cornelius come, oh, this is about a Gentile. This is about someone who normally I wouldn't have anything to do with. But because God has given me this vision, I'll go. When God speaks, I will answer. 

And so Cornelius is there waiting for Peter, along with Cornelius, his close friends and his relatives. And they were all gathered together and they were waiting. This was not a short trip, this was about 56 kilometers on foot. Okay, so they had to make their way up, and the tension is building. And then we see that God had taken note of the open heart of Cornelius. And so it was time at long last for the gospel to be extended to the Gentiles, not just the Jewish people. 

And so Peter, he shared a very short version of the gospel story, concluding with these words. "Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." And Cornelius, he received these words with that open heart, that God-fearing heart. And now something wonderful took place. And we're moving up to verse 44 now, we're still in chapter 10. It says, "While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on Gentiles. 

For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 'Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?' And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days." God did something powerful here. They didn't even wait for baptism. The Holy Spirit came first. And then when it was seen, it was time to be baptized. And this is, like I said, this is the time, all the history, all what we read throughout the Bible, this was God's plan for the beginning. That his blessing and his favor should be extended out to all the world. 

And so the Holy Spirit came upon them and on Cornelius, on these clothes were there, Peter and the ones who had accompanied him received afresh, this indwelling of the Holy Spirit. There was the empowering of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. And this is what God had desired to have happen all along in the time it had last come. 

And Peter and his Jewish companions, they couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe God would pour out his spirit on those who weren't Jewish. It was mind-blowing stuff to him. But this is God's story and this is the main story of the book of Acts. As Christians, as believers in Christ, we take on a new identity. Galatians chapter three, verse 28, it says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek. "There is neither slave nor free. "There is no male and female, "for you are all one in Christ." In Christ, we don't worry about if someone is Malay or Chinese or Indian or Filipino or Indonesian or even American. In Christ, we are brothers and sisters. We are part of a new family that is not built upon different ethnicities, but it's built upon our relationship with Christ. 

And as we consider the book of Acts in our passage today, I just want to leave you with two important truths. These are the two truths we have. 

Number one, a devout life does not mean you will be saved. Coming to church regularly and faithfully, tithing, whatever it may be, these are not the things that save us. It is Jesus Christ alone that saves us. And when we have a heart and we're seeking after God, God will reveal himself to us. He knows when we fear Him. And He is generous and He is full of grace. And we see that Cornelius and all those with Him, his close friends and his relatives, God brought salvation to all of them together. 

The second important truth, and again, it's the big idea is the gospel and the empowering of the Holy Spirit is for everyone. And that's important for us to remember. The gospel and the empowering of the Holy Spirit is for you. It's for each one of you. For all of us who are in Christ, the empowering of the Spirit is there for us. It's not for a select few.

We see that the Spirit was poured out even to the Gentiles, even to us, even to all who would call on the name of Jesus. And it doesn't matter what kind of life you've had, it doesn't matter what kind of education, what kind of upbringing, it doesn't matter if you believe in Christ, the empowering of the Holy Spirit is for you. 

The empowering of the Holy Spirit to be a blessing to one another, to be brothers and sisters together, and to be a light to the nations, to bring out that gospel through our lives and through our words, through our actions, that there is a God in Yishun, there is a God in Singapore, that he is alive, that he is powerful, that he cares for us, that we are his creation, and that we may be saved from our sins by Jesus Christ. These are our two important truths. 

Matthew 28, from verse 18 it says, "Jesus came and said to them, "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, "baptizing them in the name of the Father, "and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, "teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you, "and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. "Go, make disciples, and teach them." And it's this plan and command of God that we continue in today. 

That is his plan and command for each one of us. "Go, teach, make disciples, baptize." And this is clearly the message and the desire of the Holy Spirit here in Acts as well.