A Diamond in the Rough – Acts 10:1-8

Most of us have seen a diamond – at least a small and relatively inexpensive diamond.

Many of you ladies wear a diamond on the ring finger of your left hand.

Of course that is not the way that diamonds are found in nature.

After the jeweler has cleaned the rough diamond and forced it into some nice geometric design

With lots of different faces and facets, so that it reflects light in three dozen different directions,

Most of us could recognize a diamond or something designed to imitate a diamond.

But what about recognizing the original natural diamond?

Diamonds are found all over the world.

Most people think that South Africa must be the largest diamond producing country in the world,

But actually it is third behind Botswana and Russia.

Canada has the 6^th largest diamond deposits in the world and Australia has the 7^th.

The Arkansas state flag is a blue and white diamond on a red background because there are a few diamond mines interspersed between the Wal-Marts, chicken farms and hill-billy cabins of that state.

If you were visiting relatives in Arkansas could you recognize a raw, uncut diamond if you found one?

I’m not sure that I could.

We have, here in this scripture, a spiritual diamond in the rough.

Later in the chapter we find him all cleaned up and sparkling for the Lord.

But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t potentially beautiful even in the first verse.

And if you’d like to stretch my analogy, the Lord, the true expert in diamonds, saw his value long before the jeweler ever used his chisel to make the first slice.

The Book of Acts is filled with important and key spiritual conversions.

There was the Ethiopian Eunuch, and of course Saul of Tarsus.

Lydia, of Philippi, was important as the first convert in Europe.

Some were extremely important on a local level, like Aenaeus and Tabitha.

But none were more important than Cornelius, for several different reasons.

And part of that importance is acknowledged in the fact that he fills the entire chapter.

Not even the conversion of Saul can boast of that.

Furthermore, this man’s salvation is the theme of part of chapter 11,

And it comes up again in chapter 15 and elsewhere.

Tonight I hope to paint the background colors before we get to the most important details of this man’s life.

There are several mysteries and anomalies about the conversion of Cornelius.

Let’s start by thinking about CAESAREA.

A few weeks ago I mentioned this city.

It was the capital of the Roman province of Judea.

There had been a community at that site for centuries,

But in 22 AD, Herod, who was called “king” only by the permission of Caesar Augustus,

poured millions of dollars into the site, and built a beautiful city, renaming it in honour of his patron.

I have read that engineers moved tons and tons of rock to improve the harbor to accommodate the largest ships of the old world.

A magnificent temple was constructed to honour Augustus, and in it was a huge statue of Zeus.

The city quickly became the economic, political and religious capital of Roman Judea.

And for these three reasons you can imagine that most of the Jews detested the place.

But that didn’t keep many of them from migrating there for money, jobs and influence.

Caesarea was also the military center of the nation and from there solders were deployed in every direction.

Several different branches of the Roman military were stationed there.

There were local militias,

mercenary divisions gathered from various nations now under the yoke of Rome,

And there were some elite troops from Rome itself.

To this Italian band was probably given the direct responsibility of protecting the Roman government.

And since the Jews had shown several centuries of contempt for the Greeks and then the Romans, you can be sure that this Italian division was extremely important.

These were not conscripts or draftees; they weren’t slaves or mercenaries.

These were all highly trained and supervised Italian volunteers with proven records of loyalty, valor and obedience.

Isn’t it interesting that the Lord chose this secular city from which to take His first Gentile convert?

The Pharisees, and even those who had become Christians, probably hated the thought of Caesarea.

The Herodian Jews, the Hellenists and Grecians probably didn’t care that much either way.

But the unofficial position towards Caesarea of the Sanhedrin was probably very negative.

It would be like the building of a brand new city called “Baghdad” in north-east Virginia, paying for it with American tax dollars but permitting it to be governed by and for immigrant, Muslim Iraqis.

And yet it was from this foreign and hated city that the Lord took His first truly Gentile convert and added him to the church in Caesarea.

It wasn’t that there weren’t lots of Romans in Jerusalem or other Jewish communities.

He had plenty of Gentiles from which to choose.

Indeed there are some mysteries and anomalies in this chapter.

Not the least of which was CORNELIUS HIMSELF.

This man’s name was Latin – not Greek – he really was a Roman.

And it appears that he came from an influential family.

I don’t know how much credence can be put on the quote,

But “Julian the Apostate” in his arguments against the Christians

Said that Cornelius was one of the very few Romans “of distinction” who embraced Christ.

Tradition says that this man belonged to one of the families of the Roman patricians or aristocracy.

With this heritage, education and probably with his military training, he learned the ability to think.

Even though he was probably loyal to his homeland & probably had proven himself a dedicated soldier,

He was not so foolish as to join the thousands of brain-dead souls who worshiped the Emperor as god.

Cornelius very likely had served in various places throughout the Roman Empire, and been exposed to all kinds of heathen religion,

But, by the grace of God, he had become convinced that Jehovah was the one true and living God.

Cornelius is described as being “devout.”

Is that a good thing? Are YOU devout?

To be devout is to be serious about what you believe; it is to be truly religious.

A “devout Catholic” is one who would rather die than be converted to Christ.

A “devout Communist” is not a nominal Communist, but one dedicated in his fight against Capitalism.

The fact that Cornelius “feared God” indicates that he was devout about the Lord.

Here was a man who had little fear of another soldier or even an army of soldiers.

He was obviously not afraid of what his superiors thought about how he worshiped God.

But he did fear Jehovah in sense that he feared to offend Him.

Be not mistaken, he wasn’t terrified of God, or afraid of walking outside in a thunderstorm; or afraid of the Lord’s priests.

He was a man who didn’t want to disobey and bring shame to the name of the Lord.

This means that he applied himself to the Old Testament scriptures, and as far as he could, he obeyed the things that he found there.

But was he actually a Jewish proselyte?

There is actually quite a bit of debate about that subject.

As we’ve said before there were two kinds of proselytes:

There was the proselyte of righteousness, who accepted circumcision and who became for all intents and purposes a Israelite.

And then there was the proselyte of the gate, who could never get farther than the gate of the temple.

This person forsook all the heathen gods and religious customs,

He worshiped Jehovah alone, and practiced as much of the moral law as he could,

But he stopped short of the ceremonial law – including circumcision.

Among the Biblical scholars and commentaries there are men who say that Cornelius was either one of these proselytes or not a proselyte at all.

And after listening to their arguments I’m not sure that he WAS a proselyte – at least openly.

And I think that is the whole point and problem with Peter.

If Cornelius had been a convert to Judaism, a proselyte, then Peter wouldn’t have had to be convinced to point the man to Christ.

He would have had little or no qualms about visiting the man’s house or eating his food.

But in verse 28 Peter said, “Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.”

If this soldier had been a proselyte, the church in Jerusalem wouldn’t have had problems with his conversion.

If he had been a proselyte, he would have been much like the Samaritan converts.

No, I think that Cornelius was a still outwardly a heathen, but inwardly – that was a different matter.

Cornelius was a man of prayer: “he prayed to the Lord God of Heaven, continually.”

And it appears that he followed the Jewish custom of praying three times a day.

It was at the nineth hour when he was visited by an angel of the Lord.

And the nineth hour, or 3:00 p.m. was also one of the standard hours of prayer.

Notice what he said in verse 30: “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing.”

What do you suppose was the subject of his prayers?

Among all the standard things like food, protection, health, family and friends,

Among all the standard things, I think that he was probably praying for wisdom & more spiritual light.

“Lord, show me what I should do? Should I become a proselyte and perhaps loose my job?

Should I openly submit to the customs of your nation and perhaps loose the love of my family back home. Lord, teach me more.

And what about this talk about the Messiah having already come?”

I’m sure that it was forbidden for Cornelius to influence his soldiers against the religion of Rome.

It may have been considered treasonous to turn his men against the religion of Rome.

But this man was living his life in such a manner that the people of his household saw his faith and the good heart that he seemed to display and that they followed him.

There were even some of the men of his detachment who followed their leader spiritually.

This tells me that he was truly serious about his faith and that his day-to-day life was exemplary.

This is way that it should be with us.

We should be above reproach, but not in a sterile, clinical fashion.

Our spiritual lives should be so warm, genuine and compassionate that people are drawn to worship God with us.

And a part of that kind of life was the generosity which this man displayed.

He gave much alms to “the people,” that is to the Jews.

This man had money, and he spread that money around.

He was probably well-paid, but he may have had family money as well.

By the way, you probably remember that there are three Centurions in the New Testament, and they are all well-spoken of

There was the one who was overseeing the crucifixion, who said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

And there was another mentioned in Matthew 8 and Luke 7 – turn to Luke.

“Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.

And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.

Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.

For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.”

There are probably lots of reasons for it, but I didn’t read of a single commentary which suggested that the man of Luke 7 might have been the same as the man of Acts 10.

But since these two bear so many similarities, could it be that they were one and the same? Nah.

Why was it that the Lord chose to make this man the first Gentile convert?

I suppose that the question is similar to: “Why did God choose to save the chiefest of sinners?”

Again, if the Lord can save Saul of Tarsus and Cornelius the Roman Centurion, doesn’t this remind us that there is no one beyond the reach of the Saviour?

Doesn’t this tell us to keep praying, even when we think that there is no hope?

Saul was a murderer and persecutor of the church of God, but the Lord saved him.

This man was a soldier, a man of blood as well, and besides that a heathen, but God saved him.

The Ethiopian was at the very least a proselyte and a seeker of truth.

But were these other two seekers?

To summarize the rest of the chapter, God saved this man.

And it’s important to notice that it was not before Acts 10:2.

The man’s piety didn’t make him a Christian, it only made him religious.

To be religious is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s certainly not the best thing.

And his alms-giving didn’t make him a Christian, it make him generous.

That his friends and co-workers respected him and even followed his religion didn’t prove that he was a man of God.

As a student of the Old Testament, and one that feared God, he was no more than a lost Jew.

Some might argue that he was more and better than the average Jew.

Others would argue that since he wasn’t a proselyte of righteousness that he was far less.

But in either case he was still an unsaved sinner and bound for the lake of fire.

“Whosoever abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.”

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Like Nicodemus, this man needed to be born again.

So the Lord sent to him an evangelist to teach him about Jesus.

And here is another one of the mysteries of this chapter:

There was probably a man living in Caesarea, who loved the Lord and loved evangelism.

There was a man in Caesarea who didn’t mind talking to heathens or to those who appeared to be heathen.

There was a man in Caesarea who had led Samaritans to Christ and even an Ethiopian or two.

But God told Cornelius to send messengers 30 miles down the road to the house of Simon the Tanner.

Why didn’t God use Philip to bring this man to the foot of the cross.

Well, it wasn’t because Philip was unfit or unable, because later we still find him in Caesarea and we still find him doing the work of an evangelist.

If I had to guess what was in the heart of God, I’d say that the Lord chose to use Peter, because he was an apostle.

Peter was one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, the first church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Peter was a Jew, with Pharisaical tendencies.

Peter who was with Paul in Antioch worshiping with the non-Jewish Christians until some of his friends came up from Jerusalem.

To put it bluntly, Peter appears to have been a Jewish bigot, who had a hard time accepting anyone outside of his own race and nationality.

He was a weakling in some ways, and even when he knew what was right he quivered and wavered.

If there was any man in the church who needed to be taught of God to accept these gentiles, it was Peter.

And if there was anyone in the church who should take this message of universal evangelism back to the church in Jerusalem and the rest of the Apostles it was this man.

Philip would have been delighted to talk to Cornelius about Christ, but the Lord Jesus wanted it to be Peter and a lesson and example to all of the rest of the saints of God.

And this reminds us that the work of the Lord should always be considered to be “the work of the Lord.”

As human beings we all have our wants and wishes; we have our ideas on how things should be done.

We may even have our opinions on who should be saved, and how they should be saved.

But our will must always be deferred to the Lord’s will.

Another lesson here needs some serious attention, because it can be misconstrued:

Cornelius didn’t know very much about the Lord, but he obeyed what he DID know.

We need to follow the light that the Lord gives us, but we should be constantly asking the Lord for more light.

Cornelius possessed the Old Testament and he apparently learned to love God’s moral law.

I would say that he probably tried to live his life according to the principles of the Ten Commandments.

As much as he could, within the confines of his duty to the Roman military, he tried to live in a fashion that pleased the Lord.

I’m not saying that this is a perfect plan.

Actually, within the confines of our duty to God, we should live our lives in the world.

But what makes Cornelius so exemplary is the fact that while he did what he could he sincerely sought the Lord.

He prayed to God continually, seeking more light, more information, and more grace.

And if I had to guess, I would say that he was praying about the Messiah when the Messiah sent His angel to instruct him about the way of salvation more perfectly.

And this may be one of the reasons why so many Christians don’t grow and prosper in the things of God.

So many think that they have arrived; that they know what there is to know; that they are doing all that they should do to serve the Lord.

They are living according to the light that they have received, but they don’t realize how dim that light really is.

The fact is that there is much more that we can learn, and that we can implement and that we do.

I’m not sure that unless we have the same humble attitude as Cornelius, that we’ll ever be visited by the Lord’s angel with information that can truly bless us.