Scripture: Acts 10:1-23; Acts 16:6-10
We all have dreams, don’t we. Some are pleasant, and some can be pretty
dark, and there is always someone who thinks that our dreams are portents of some
future event. But the truth is that
dreams have nothing to do with what may be coming to our lives - they are nothing
more than figments of our mind’s imagination.
However, God can speak to us in many different
ways. Sometimes it is as an unknown
voice; sometimes through another person; and sometimes through a vision, which
may act like a dream, but is far more real, and infinitely more divine, than
anything that our own mind can ever devise on its own.
Scripture reports a number of visions that God sent
to His faithful people, and each would reveal a portion of the heavenly plan –
a plan that would be intimate and special for the person receiving it.
Consider Abram’s vision in Genesis 15 – he was promised a son to be his heir, and
a land that would be given to his descendants.
Consider Samuel, who was still a boy when God’s
vision came to him – a vision that he was to share with his mentor, the priest
Eli regarding his sinful sons Hophni and Phinehas. (1 Samuel 3)
Consider Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel 1-2 in which he saw 4 living creatures who moved
with wings and wheels, and when the soon-to-be
prophet realized that he was in the presence of God, he was raised up
and given a divine assignment to take to the “rebellious nation” Israel.
Daniel had visions, as did other prophets; Zechariah
had his vision of his child while ministering in the temple; Ananias received a
vision that he was to go to the Pharisee Saul, to lay hands on him, to heal his
sight, and to prophecy to the plan that Jehovah God had for him.
Do you see the difference between God’s visions and
our dreams? Our dreams seldom, if ever,
call us to do anything, but the LORD’s visions will always require an active
response. The incidents of God’s visions
continue throughout scripture, and they continue in the lives of the LORD’s
faithful. Today, we will consider 3
others who receive God’s word through visions, and what it would mean to them as
well as to many others.
Read Acts 10:1-6
And our first vision for today goes to a Roman
military officer by the name of Cornelius.
The message is a bit cryptic, in that it doesn’t give the man much to
work on. But maybe that’s the
point! He’s a commander in a Roman
legion, and is used to receiving orders that also require some decision making of
his own, as well as the giving orders to accomplish the mission before
him. But for today, he has been given minimal
directions – he is told who to send, where to send them, who they are to meet,
and what they are to ask this person to do – not a word as to why this is to
happen; no hint as to why this man should come; no results that he should
expect to attain; no reason for why this visit is important to his life.
But Cornelius, already a man of faith, knows that
when God speaks to you, it will always be important, regardless of whether you
understand what it is all about or not!
And on this day, during prayer time, at 3:00 in the afternoon, he is set
on course for a life awakening experience.
But then, so was Peter!
Believers in Jesus Christ had yet to branch out on
their own – they were still a sect of Judaism, and they had yet to sort out
what in their Jewish faith should be kept, and what the Spirit was calling them
to do that was new. And associating with
gentiles, especially a high-ranking member of the Roman occupational force was
the last thing that any self-respecting Jew would ever do.
Of course, exclusion was never God’s way – all are
welcome to come to Him in faith – but barriers against those we don’t trust or
understand or agree with seem to come naturally for us – always have, and probably
always will! But for Simon Peter, he was
about to get a new lesson in God’s plan for his life.
Read Acts 10:9:16
It was a good 30-40 miles between Caesarea and Joppa,
so Cornelius hadn’t wasted any time in sending two servants and a military
member of his household. And their
instructions must have included a sense of urgency for their journey, as they
must have made pretty good time if they had traveled 30 miles in only a day.
The centurion knew that if God had told him to
invite Peter to come for a visit, there must have been an excellent reason for
it. But Peter needed to be prepared for
the invitation if he was to receive it in the light of God’s grace. So the LORD gives him a vision,
too! And a rather strange one at that.
The “sheet” contains all kinds of animals and birds
and snakes, all mixed together. Many of
these were considered “unclean” by Jewish law, and even a clean animal that even
touched an unclean one became unclean.
Rabbits, pigs, camels, snakes, eels, and so on, were banned from the
Jewish table, and here they were all mixed together. Peter was hungry, but even then, he knew what
he could eat and what he shouldn’t. As
far as he was concerned, it was God’s will, and he wasn’t about to go against
it.
But the lesson wasn’t so much about food, but rather
about who God considered worthy of receiving his grace and welcome! And when the three men arrived, the Spirit revealed
the lesson of the sheet – that it was not only God’s will that he should go
with these gentiles, He tells Peter that He is the one who had sent them! (Acts 10:19-23)
Peter would not only go with these men, he would
actually enter Cornelius’ home (a no-no for a Jew!), where he would discover
that the Roman had not only allowed his servants and entire household to join
them, but that he had invited many friends and family to also be a part of this
experience.
Peter was taking steps that he never thought
possible, and it only came to be through the vision and encouragement that the
LORD
brought into his life. (Acts 10:27-48) He
entered the home of a gentile, he freely associated and spoke to all who have gathered
there that day, he shared the gospel message of Jesus and his great sacrifice
for all who believe, and he spoke of the forgiveness that faith can bring to
even gentiles!
And as he was sharing his testimony about Jesus, the
Holy Spirit came to rest on all who were gathered there, and they began
speaking in tongues! On gentiles? Yes - even on those who Israel had always
believed were unworthy!
And he offered baptism to all, and actually stayed in
Cornelius’ home, at his invitation, for several days.
The vision of God was making all things new for both
the gentiles and the Jews, and nothing would ever be the same again.
Read Acts 16:6-10
Our third
vision would redirect Paul’s ministry from Asia into Europe. The first visions that we considered today
brought the most unlikely people together in faith. But then, isn’t the LORD’s
way obviously different from ours? Isn’t
God’s direction always uniquely different than the paths that we would travel? Isn’t the Spirit’s purpose to show us the
opportunities that we may be missing, and how the divine purpose is so amazing
that we just don’t want to miss it?
Paul was planning to go into the province of Asia to
spread the word of Jesus. Now we all
might think that wherever we go is the right place to share the promise and word
of eternity, but apparently God has bigger plans for us than we could ever
imagine! And just so Paul didn’t miss
the LORD’s
desire, we read that the Holy Spirit kept him from preaching the word anywhere
in Asia!
Imagine – Paul, one of the greatest evangelists of
all time, raised up specifically to carry the message of Jesus to the gentiles
(Acts 9:15-16), was kept from preaching
the word in an area where he truly felt called to go. The point is that it is always right to share
the word of God with those who have yet to come to a relationship with Christ. But when God has a different place, a different
time, a different people in His heart, and when He has you in His heart
to be the one who speaks to them, that is how it must be.
And when He kept Paul from preaching the word to the
Asia nations, I believe that it became obvious to the apostle that the LORD had
a different idea for his life. The door
to Asia was closed to Paul, but a new door to Mesopotamia was being opened through
a vision.
But this vision was a little different than the
others we talked about today. This one
wasn’t God speaking directly, but it appeared to be a man pleading for Paul’s help. The Spirit was showing the evangelist the
human need that was waiting for him, and he was to know that it was divine will
that he was the chosen one to carry Jesus’ message of hope to the lost of
Mesopotamia.
And note that Paul began preparing immediately to
follow the Spirit wherever he was needed.
Have you ever felt that God wanted you to be His messenger in a place
that you had never thought about?
Probably! After all, if we were
always where the LORD wanted us to be, would we ever need to hear from Him?
The truth is that we are seldom where we need to be in
the great plan of servanthood, but when we open our hearts to God’s will, we
will know when the door is closing, and when a new one is opening for us;
we will know when the right person is the very one who we would never
choose on our own; we will know when the LORD is giving us the
opportunity to not only be a blessing, but to be blessed beyond all
measure.
Open your servant heart and know the will and
blessing that God has planned for your life!
Rejoice, and know that the LORD wants and needs you - today!
