I. Starts With The Normal (Retracing the steps of Peter…)
A. The Mundane-Waiting
1. Acts 1:4, 5 Wait in Jerusalem for H.S. Not spectacular. Required faith.
2. Acts 2 Filled w/H.S., Peter preaches 1st sermon, 3000 saved. Unimaginable.
B. The Routine
1. Acts 3:1 Peter & John go to temple to pray. Their usual practice.
2. Acts 3:2-10 Peter & John encounter a lame man, God inspires & uses Peter to heal the man of his lameness. Unimaginable.
3. Acts 3:11-26 A large crowd gathers because of the healing.
Peter preaches again. 5000 saved. Unimaginable.
4. Acts 4:1-22 Peter & John arrested by Temple rulers & questioned.
Peter is again is filled with the H.S. & amazes the religious rulers with his preaching. Unplanned & unimaginable.
5. Acts 4:23-31 They are released and return to pray with other Christians.
The room shakes; they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Unimaginable.
C. The Simple
1. Acts 9:32 Peter goes to Lydda to visit the saints. Not spectacular.
2. Acts 9:33-35 Peter encounters a lame man, & God heals him through Peter.
Peter wasn’t looking for a lame man, but the situation happens, & Peter is led by the Holy Spirit. Many come to faith in Jesus.
3. Acts 9:36-38 In Joppa, a girl named Tabitha dies, & people send for Peter. Joppa is near to Lydda, where Peter was. Not a spectacular thing to be called & then travel to Joppa.
4. Acts 9:39-43 Peter used to raise Tabitha from the dead. Unimaginable.
5. Acts 10:1-8 Cornelius, an unsaved Gentile Centurion has a vision & sends for Peter, who is still in Joppa. Cornelius is in Caesarea. Peter is in Joppa through a series of normal trips, which ends supernaturally.
6. Acts 10:9 Peter obediently has a time of prayer. Peter is about to be supernaturally contacted for a ministry assignment he never would have imagined. Preaching to the Gentiles!
D. Other “Normal” Examples
1. Moses saw the burning bush while obediently watching sheep.
a. That led to Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt & thru wilderness.
2. David killed Goliath because of a delivery of food to his brothers.
a. David obeyed his father; he delivered food to his brothers at the battle.
3. Gideon called by God while threshing wheat. Won a great victory.
4. Mary, mother of Jesus. Living a blessed, godly life in obscurity.
5. Me- Janitorial work, ministry classes, just prior to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. I was just trying to provide & lead family. Didn’t imagine a full-time position.
II. God Proposes The Unimaginable 10:9-16
A. Peter’s Objection
1. These foods were unclean for a Jew, according to Levitical law.
2. Peter was sincere in following what he knew about God.
3. God was changing His method of His relating to man. New Covenant.
4. God was expanding His church, as He said He would in Old Testament
B. God’s Stretches Us
1. “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
2. God speaks a second time.
3. “What God has…”; “You must not…”
4. Done three times. Patient insistence of God. He keeps speaking to us.
C. God’s Unimaginable Will
1. Unimaginable to man, but in the heart of God.
2. God is consistent with His Word.
3. Unimaginable because it’s not what we are used to.
a. Personal prejudices
b. Routine; Comfort zone
4. Unimaginable because it seems impossible to accomplish. Too big!
a. A physical situation that seems too extreme
b. A need that seems unreachable; a hurt too deep.
III. God Brings Forth The Unimaginable
A. God Leaves Us Wondering
1. Peter wondered within himself. 10:17
2. While Peter wondered, God was bringing the answer.
3. Peter continued to think about the vision. 10:19
B. God Answers His Way
1. Holy Spirit directed Peter with an apparently unrelated task. 10:19b, 20
2. Peter obeys V. 20, though confused about the vision. 10:21
C. Answers Come Via Obedient Stretching
1. Peter told to doubt nothing. “This is God at work.” 10:20
2. Peter is stretched as he obeys. Jews didn’t mix with Gentiles. 10:22-27
3. In the process, understanding came. 10:28b
4. Partial confirmation came partway through the process 10:29
5. NOTE- Confirmation came from both sides of the equation.
a. God spoke through the vision, & then from the Holy Spirit
b. Peter had enough confirmation to proceed.
c. He listened to the visitors & received more confirmation.
d. Now he had enough confirmation to travel with them.
6. Further revelation came as Peter obeyed & heard Cornelius. 10:30-34
7. “A vision in the heart will receive a knocking at the door”.
8. Peter’s obedience opened the door of faith to the Gentile world.
D. What Not To Do
1. We don’t create something unimaginable and then force it to happen.
2. God’s will must be revealed to us.
3. God’s will often is contrary to man’s ways.
4. God’s will is always in accordance to His word. General revelation.
5. First time gospel is preached to the Gentiles.
6. Very significant act.
7. Changed the face of the early church from being exclusively Jewish.
8. Changed the course of history.
9. It was forever in the mind of God that Gentiles would be part of the church.
10. But it still had to happen with people in the right place, at the right time.
2. Acts 2 Filled w/H.S., Peter preaches 1st sermon, 3000 saved. Unimaginable.
2. Acts 3:2-10 Peter & John encounter a lame man, God inspires & uses Peter to heal the man of his lameness. Unimaginable.
3. Acts 3:11-26 A large crowd gathers because of the healing.
Peter preaches again. 5000 saved. Unimaginable.
4. Acts 4:1-22 Peter & John arrested by Temple rulers & questioned.
Peter is again is filled with the H.S. & amazes the religious rulers with his preaching. Unplanned & unimaginable.
5. Acts 4:23-31 They are released and return to pray with other Christians.
The room shakes; they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Unimaginable.
2. Acts 9:33-35 Peter encounters a lame man, & God heals him through Peter.
Peter wasn’t looking for a lame man, but the situation happens, & Peter is led by the Holy Spirit. Many come to faith in Jesus.
3. Acts 9:36-38 In Joppa, a girl named Tabitha dies, & people send for Peter. Joppa is near to Lydda, where Peter was. Not a spectacular thing to be called & then travel to Joppa.
4. Acts 9:39-43 Peter used to raise Tabitha from the dead. Unimaginable.
5. Acts 10:1-8 Cornelius, an unsaved Gentile Centurion has a vision & sends for Peter, who is still in Joppa. Cornelius is in Caesarea. Peter is in Joppa through a series of normal trips, which ends supernaturally.
6. Acts 10:9 Peter obediently has a time of prayer. Peter is about to be supernaturally contacted for a ministry assignment he never would have imagined. Preaching to the Gentiles!
4. Mary, mother of Jesus. Living a blessed, godly life in obscurity.
5. Me- Janitorial work, ministry classes, just prior to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. I was just trying to provide & lead family. Didn’t imagine a full-time position.
2. Peter was sincere in following what he knew about God.
3. God was changing His method of His relating to man. New Covenant.
4. God was expanding His church, as He said He would in Old Testament
2. God speaks a second time.
3. “What God has…”; “You must not…”
4. Done three times. Patient insistence of God. He keeps speaking to us.
2. God is consistent with His Word.
3. Unimaginable because it’s not what we are used to.
b. Routine; Comfort zone
b. A need that seems unreachable; a hurt too deep.
2. While Peter wondered, God was bringing the answer.
3. Peter continued to think about the vision. 10:19
2. Peter obeys V. 20, though confused about the vision. 10:21
2. Peter is stretched as he obeys. Jews didn’t mix with Gentiles. 10:22-27
3. In the process, understanding came. 10:28b
4. Partial confirmation came partway through the process 10:29
5. NOTE- Confirmation came from both sides of the equation.
b. Peter had enough confirmation to proceed.
c. He listened to the visitors & received more confirmation.
d. Now he had enough confirmation to travel with them.
7. “A vision in the heart will receive a knocking at the door”.
8. Peter’s obedience opened the door of faith to the Gentile world.
2. God’s will must be revealed to us.
3. God’s will often is contrary to man’s ways.
4. God’s will is always in accordance to His word. General revelation.
5. First time gospel is preached to the Gentiles.
6. Very significant act.
7. Changed the face of the early church from being exclusively Jewish.
8. Changed the course of history.
9. It was forever in the mind of God that Gentiles would be part of the church.
10. But it still had to happen with people in the right place, at the right time.