The Conversion of a Soldier (Acts 10 & 11)

The Conversion of a Soldier
Acts 10 & 11
As Americans, we honor our war veterans on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. As Christians, we usually have a special prayer for them and for the safety of our current men and women in uniform.
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan visited an American cemetery from World War II in Point du Hoc, France. I remember hearing that speech because I was 13 years old at the time. In that speech, President Reagan spoke to the veterans, “You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief. It was loyalty and love.”
Faith. Belief. Loyalty. Love. Qualities that make a good soldier and qualities that make a good Christian. In the story of Cornelius, we have the two combined. A soldier obeys the gospel.
The Bible recognizes the importance of such a force, implicitly by honoring such military personnel as Joshua and the judges. “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8). That provision surely includes defense as much as food and water.
The conversion of a soldier, recorded in Acts 10 & 11, is also instructive. Cornelius was a member of an Italian cohort. The Roman military was very much spiritual, but immersed in paganism. The Greco-Roman society and culture is well-known for their many gods and military service was often intertwined with pagan rituals. For Cornelius to see that New Testament Christianity was something better was a testimony to his character and honesty.
CAESAREA:
“A” Caesarea is mentioned seventeen times in the NT. There is a “Caesarea Philippi” and another Caesarea, called Caesarea Maritima which was built on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Caesarea Philippi was the place where Jesus famously asked His apostles whom men think Jesus is and Peter responded, the “Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matt. 16:13; Mark 8:27; only two times in the Bible). The Caesarea we’re studying now is a different city.

The other fifteen references are to Caesarea Maritima. This city is mentioned throughout Acts from 8:40 where Philip is said to have gone there after baptizing the Ethiopian, until 25:13 where we have the last reference to the apostle Paul spending time in jail in Caesarea, before he gets transferred to Rome. So, fifteen references means there’s a lot that goes on in the church of Christ at Caesarea in the book of Acts. I wonder if their logo was something like C3?

At the time Peter goes to Caesarea, the population was about 45,000, making it a large city by ancient standards. It lay 60 miles north of Jerusalem and was built by King Herod the Great in honor of, and named for, Caesar Augustus. So, this city was built from the ground up, beginning in 22 BC and completed twelve years later. Early on, it covered about 164 acres.

Herod used white marble throughout the city and on the hill in the center of the city stood a temple dedicated to the Imperial Cult, dedicated to the worship of the emperors. Augustus had two statues in the temple.

But the city’s most remarkable feature was a harbor on the sea, the first artificial harbor in the ancient world. The workmen used the first hydraulic concrete, which was capable of hardening underwater. One block that was found was 39’ x 49’ x 5’. Because of this harbor, Caesarea became the center of extensive trade between the East and West. On the harbor were about 100 huge vaults for storage (see the schematic in McRay, pg 141). One harbor that has been unearthed was 96’ L x 16.5’ W x 15’ H.

Caesarea also had a major N-S street that ran through it, 18’ W, paved with stone in a herringbone pattern. Herod also built an aqueduct, one of the best-known landmarks along the entire coast of Israel. The streets were equal distance apart. There were also mosaic sidewalks 18’ W. The street was lined with 700 columns. Another major street ran from twin towers to the northern Herodian wall. Caesarea had an amphitheater, a theater, and a stadium. The cavea theater at Caesarea was about 300 feet in diameter so it would seat about 4,000 citizens. In A. D. 44, Herod Agrippa I was receiving the adoration of his people, as if he were a god, when Jehovah God struck him dead (Acts 12:19ff). Josephus records Herod’s death as well, in a similar style.

With Caesarea being a seaport, trade guilds were strong in the area. Lydia, the “seller of purple” whom we meet in Acts 16:14, was a business woman. The best purple dye was obtained from murex shellfish, along the coast of the Mediterranean. They are found frequently near Caesarea. It was the Phoenicians who developed the industry for harvesting shellfish for dye and the dye was expensive.

Pontius Pilate kept his headquarters at Caesarea and Herod stayed there at times. In the book of Acts, we have seen that Philip goes to Caesarea when he leaves the Eunuch in Acts 8:40. Last week, we saw that when Saul of Tarsus needed to leave Damascus, he went to Caesarea and took a ship back home to Tarsus (9:30).

The important role played by the city of Caesarea is in our story this evening, with Cornelius, the centurion. Caesarea is mentioned three times in this event (10:1, 24; 11:11). I’ve mentioned that Herod was in Caesarea when God struck him dead (12:19). At the conclusion of Paul’s second missionary journey, he landed in a ship at Caesarea and then traveled by foot to the city of Antioch of Syria (18:22).

On the third missionary journey, Paul’s mission team passes through the area and comes to Caesarea and they stayed there some time, visiting with the church. One prominent member fo the church of Christ in Caesarea was the aforementioned Philip, the deacon from Jerusalem, who is now married and has four daughters who prophesied, leaders in the church among women (21:8-9). When the mission team leaves, some Christians from Caesarea went with Paul and Luke and their mission team (21:16).

When Paul is arrested under false pretenses in Jerusalem (21:27ff), he is ultimately taken to Caesarea (23:23) where he stays two years, appearing before governors Felix (23:33) and Festus (25:1, 4, 6). Eventually Paul will appear before King Agrippa (25:13) and make his appeal to be heard by Nero in Rome…

Before we get deep into the text itself, I want to give some background information about Cornelius, the centurion. The Roman military was composed of large legions of soldiers. A legion was led by a legate who had six tribunes serving as staff officers. A legion was composed of ten cohorts of six centuries each. A centurion was over each century.

The centurion was the most important tactical officer in the Roman army. Centurions were soldiers who had worked their way up the ranks and it could take as much as twenty years to do that. Centurions were known as the best of the army, chosen not because they were eager to fight but that they would rather die than retreat. A century originally had 100 soldiers but by NT times, the number had dropped to 60-80.

To join the army, you had to be a Roman citizen, 19-35 years old, physically strong and 5’ tall or taller. Roman military training was harsh, requiring 25-mile-a-day hikes carrying full supplies. In villages, not in Caesarea, where there might not be another Roman government official, the centurion could exercise governmental authority. Cornelius could have been a retired centurion for all we know.

The Roman soldier had a short sword and a lance, called a pilum (cf. John 19:34). The lance was 3 1/2’ long with an iron point. Their shield was wooden and oval, covered with leather.

Centurions came from the equestrian order. Roman society had levels but it was not a closed system. You could move up. Military service was a good way to move up. Land ownership was the best way to move higher in social standing. Education and social respect could also move you to a higher standing. The highest order was the senatorial order, set by Augustus at 600. You had to have a combined wealth of 250,000 denarii to be submitted to the senate. Senators wore a purple stripe on their toga. Senators normally did not serve in the imperial government but they did hold important civilian and administrator roles.

The equestrian order were the knights, with the need for a property value of only 100,000 denarii. The name equestrian came from earlier times when men could provide for their own horses in combat. The knights were educated, wealthy, and usually related to senatorial families. Cornelius was probably of the equestrian order.

One more point… Cornelius could have worshiped any deity he chose. But, the Roman military was saturated with symbols of gods and the emperor in divine images. Rome’s symbol was an eagle clutching the bolt of Jupiter in its talons. This saturation of emperor worship could explain why Cornelius bows down to Peter in 10:25.

THE NATURE OF THE SOLDIER
 In verses 1-8, we see what type of character or nature Cornelius had. Luke, the historian, writes that Cornelius was devout, feared God, gave alms to help the Jewish nation, prayed and was humble. There’s an old saying, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Cornelius was no atheist. He also contributed to the good of those people – the Jews – who were a perpetual thorn in the side of the Romans. Cornelius was also humble in the sense that he knew his place. When an angel told him to send for Simon Peter to tell him what to do to be saved, Cornelius did it.
THE TEACHER OF THE SOLDIER
 Thank God for those men and women in uniform who take their Bible and their convictions with them to the battlefield! Larry Herrington, who preached at one time for the Ratcliff church of Christ close to the Ft. Knox army base told me there are many new Christians who come, wanting to learn more. They were converted by someone on the field. Only God knows who that missionary is. But He will bless him.
Peter, in Acts 10:9-23, shows us what type of nature is necessary to teach a soldier. He was #1.) prayerful; #2.) faithful to God’s laws; #3.) perplexed about how to proceed; #4.) hospitable to his visitors but also, #5.) prejudiced. This final point shows that even faithful Christians have to wrestle with their own weaknesses and idiosyncrasies in carrying out God’s commands.
THE PREACHING TO THE SOLDIER
 Peter’s sermon in Acts 10:34-43 includes the highlights of any faithful Gospel sermon.
God is #1.) impartial; #2.) everyone should fear Him; #3.) everyone must do right; #4.) Peace with God is through Jesus Christ; #5.) Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit; #6.) Jesus lived His life doing good; #7.) He was put to death but #8.) He was also Raised.
Thus, forgiveness of sins is only found in Jesus Christ.
THE CONVERSION OF THE SOLDIER
Cornelius’s conversion from a false religion to the true religion is found in Acts 10:44-48. Peter told him to believe in Jesus Christ for He is where forgiveness is found. But in the process of Peter’s preaching, the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his household. Seeing that, Peter asked rhetorically, “Who can forbid these men to be baptized?” And then commanded them to be baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).
Why did the Holy Spirit come upon Cornelius? First, let’s establish the fact that it was not to forgive Cornelius of sins. The baptism that forgave him of sins is the immersion in water. Paul writes in Ephesians 5:25-27: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
The Holy Spirit came upon Cornelius and his household, allowing them to speak in tongues, as a sign to the Jewish Christians! Peter did not go to Cornelius’s house alone (10:23). Rather, six Jewish Christians (11:12) went as eye-witnesses of the events. When the circumcised believers (10:45) saw the Holy Spirit come upon Cornelius and heard the speaking in tongues, they were “amazed.” Consequently, Peter realized that salvation was open to the Gentiles and subsequently immersed Cornelius and his household for the forgiveness of sins (11:15-18).
CONCLUSION:
Cornelius was the first non-Jew to obey the gospel and be saved. From that point, the church of Christ began to grow more and more among the non-Jewish world. Cornelius emphasizes to us a few things: 1.) We do not know who might be interested in learning and obeying the gospel; 2.) God wants us to preach to all men; 3.) God needed to perform a miracle - the sending of the Holy Spirit and His miraculous gifts, in order to convince Peter, through his prejudices, to preach to the Gentiles. So, 4.) God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Take home message: May each of us have the heart of Cornelius to pursue the truth, always and may each of us have the heart of Peter to be prepared to share the truth with others.