OPENING COMMENTS
- Today is the sixth Sunday of Easter.
- So next Sunday, the last Sunday of Easter, will be observed as Ascension Sunday to remember Jesus ascending back to the Father.
- The Sunday after that will be observed as Pentecost, when we celebrate the sending down of the Holy Spirit … and the birth of the Church.
- The theme for this week is New in Christ.
- Our keynote passage is John 15:9-17.
OPENING SONGS
FIRST READING
1 John 5:1-6
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — [a]our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is He who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.
From the Enduring Word Commentary on 1 John 5:6 …
He who came by water and blood: Probably the best explanation … is the oldest recorded Christian understanding of this passage (first recorded by the ancient Christian Tertullian). Most likely, John means the water of Jesus’ baptism, and the blood of His crucifixion.
i. When Jesus was baptized, He was not baptized in repentance for His own sin (He had none), but because He wanted to completely identify with sinful humanity. When He came by water, it was His way of saying, “I am one of you.”
ii. When Jesus died on the cross, He did not die because He had to (death could have no power over Him), but He laid down His life to identify with sinful humanity and to save us from our sin. When He came by… blood it was so that He could stand in our place as a guilty sinner, and to take the punishment our sin deserved.
He who came by water and blood: Some taught (and still teach) that Jesus received the “Christ Spirit” at His baptism, and the “Christ Spirit” left Jesus before He died on the cross (for them, it is unthinkable that God could hang on a cross). But John insisted that Jesus did not only come by the water of baptism, but also by the blood of the cross. He was just as much the Son of God on the cross as He was when the Father declared, You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased (Luke 3:22) at the baptism of Jesus.
SERMONETTE
The Divine Irony
Greg Williams
SECOND READING
John 15:9-17
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
SPECIAL MUSIC
SERMON
INTRODUCTION
A. Our text today is John 15:9-17 … BUT I want to begin with a passage that precedes that pericope …
B. John 15:5-7 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[b] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
C. There are a lot of important material in that brief passage … but I want to focus on verse 7 …
D. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
E. He gave two conditions for answered prayer … We must abide in Him …AND… His words must abide in us.
F. How? How does His words abide in us? What does that involve?
G. The keynote passage for today gives us an idea of what Jesus had in mind.
F. Notice John 15:9-17
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
- How did the Father love Jesus?
- How did Jesus loved His disciples?
- What does Jesus want His disciples (including us) to do?
- How do we do that?
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- As we noted last week, the word “receive” can also help us understand a little more of what it means to abide.
- To abide in Jesus’ love is to receive the love he has for us.
10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
- In v.9, Jesus tells us to abibe in His love. How can we abide in His love?
- What is the model Jesus holds up for us to abide in His love?
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- The love we are to abide in — and the fruit of love that we are to bear — is not left up to us to determine.
- It’s a very particular love that has its source in the Father, the very love he has for his Son.
- And that is the same love Jesus says he extends to us.
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11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
- What are the “things” that Jesus had spoken to His disciples?
- Why did Jesus tell his disciples to abide in His love?
- How can a person tell if Christ’s joy is remaining in Him?
- What does joy that is “full” look like?
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- The joy that Jesus is speaking about is NOT what may be understood as happiness or excitement. … or the pleasure that comes from a life of ease.
- It is the exhilaration of being right with God, and consciously walking in His love and care.
12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
- Why is it important for Christians to love one another?
- The commandment Jesus gave in verse 12 is called a “new” commandment (in John 13:34). How is it different from the original commandment about how to love others?
13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
- What, according to verse 13, is the greatest demonstration of love for another?
- Why is that SO great?
14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
- According to verse 14, how does Christ view us (or want to view us)?
- What, according to verse 15, is a key difference between a servant and a friend?
- How can we know we are friends of Jesus?
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
- What, based on verse 16, does God wants us to do?
- What does the word “go” imply? … new persons … new location
- What is God’s desire for the fruit that we bear?
- What does the last part of verse 16 say to you about prayer?
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- Notice what William Barclay said in his commentary …
- (vii) Jesus chose us to be privileged members of the family of God. He chose us so that whatever we ask in his name the Father will give to us. Here again we are face to face with one of those great sayings about prayer which we must understand aright. If we come to it thoughtlessly, it sounds as if the Christian will receive everything for which he prays. We have already thought about this, but we may well think about it again. The New Testament lays down certain definite laws about prayer. (a) Prayer must be the prayer of faith (Jas.5:15). When it is a formality, merely the routine and conventional repetition of a form of words, it cannot be answered. When prayer is hopeless it cannot be effective. There is little use in a man praying to be changed, if he does not believe it possible that he can be changed. To pray with power a man must have an invincible belief in the all-sufficient love of God. (b) Prayer must be in the name of Christ. We cannot pray for things of which we know that Jesus would disapprove. We cannot pray that we should be given possession of some forbidden person or some forbidden thing; we cannot pray that some personal ambition should be realized, if that ambition means that someone else must be hurt to fulfil it. We cannot pray in the name of him who is love for vengeance on our enemies. Whenever we try to turn prayer into something to enable us to realize our own ambitions and to satisfy our own desires, it must be ineffective, for it is not real prayer at all.(c) Prayer must say: “Thy will be done.” When we pray we must first realize that we never know better than God. The essence of prayer is not that we say to God: “Thy will be changed,” but that we say to him: “Thy will be done.” So often real prayer must be, not that God would send us the things we wish, but that he would make us able to accept the things he wills. (d) Prayer must never be selfish. Almost in the passing Jesus said a very illuminating thing. He said that, if two people agreed in asking anything in his name, it would be granted (Matt.18:19). We are not to take that with a crude literalism, because it would simply mean that if you can mobilize enough people to pray for anything you will get it. What it does mean is this — no man when he prays should think entirely of his own needs. To take the simplest example, the holiday-maker might be praying for sunshine while the farmer is praying for rain. When we pray, we must ask, not only: “Is this for my good?” but: “Is this for the good of all men?” The greatest temptation of all in prayer is to pray as if nobody but ourselves mattered. Jesus chose us to be privileged members of the family of God. We can and must take everything to God in prayer; but when we have done so we must accept the answer which God in his perfect wisdom and perfect love sends to us. And the more we love God, the easier it will be to do that.
- Notice what William Barclay said in his commentary …
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17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
- What was the commandment that Jesus wanted His disciples to focus on most of all?
- Why do you think that is?
Jesus reorients our relationship to him from the concept of being a servant to that of being a friend. He doesn’t mean that we do not serve him or others. But he does not relate to us as “hired hands” who do not know the master personally. Serving God and keeping his commandments are put on a whole new basis. We are serving and obeying one whom we trust with our very lives. It’s not a drudgery or a drag to serve the one who has served us by giving us his very life. It is not an obligation to perform to obey the Lord’s commands when we know they all add up to what is best for us and the entire creation.
In short, Jesus can be trusted. He is our friend, and he has called us to be his. Notice how Jesus references how he called the disciples. He chose them, not the other way round. Typically, someone who wanted to be discipled would go searching for a rabbi that they hoped would accept them. But Jesus doesn’t it leave it up to us to find the one we should follow. He comes to us, calls us to himself, and then grows our trust in following him.
Today, as we wrap up our Easter celebration, may we hear him calling to us once again. He calls us to abide in his love in such a way that we keep his commandment of loving others in the same way he loves us. This is the True Vine, who serves as the source of the branches’ love and joy, who enables us to abide more and more in him as he grows our trust to receive from him daily. That amounts to a resurrected life to live out who the Father called and chose us to be.
CLOSING SONG
CLOSING PRAYER
BENEDICTION
- May the LORD bless you and keep you.
- May the LORD have reason to smile because of you … and be gracious unto you.
- May the LORD look favourably towards you … and give you peace.
SHARING TIME
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- MONDAY REVERB will be on a break … has been replaced by WEDNESDAY PREVERB , which will be very similar to the Monday Bible study, but the main Bible passage will be the one for the coming weekend (instead of the one for the previous weekend).
- PRAYER LINKUP has been moved FROM Wenesday night TO Thursday night.
- FRIDAY DIVE will continue to be on Fridays.
- Some REASONS for the change … 1) give members/leaders more time to consider the THEME for the week … 2) give speakers more ideas, via shared insights, as they prepare for their sermons … 3) to help me manage my time more efficiently, as I work on my online ministry (which involves helping and equipping those who meet for our online meetings).
- A word about SUNDAY SCHOOL … Our Sunday meeting is now more like a Sunday School with music and less like a church service (kinda like an Adult Sunday School) … So I’m trying to see how we can incorporate the Free Reading Classes program into a Sunday School for Children.
- Remember our theme for this week … NEW IN CHRIST.
PRAYER UPDATES
- I had requested prayer to be able to sell a car … Well, I finally got it sold.
PRAYER REQUESTS
- I ask that you pray with me … for wisdom in spending the proceeds from the sale.
From Home Office …
As the Father Has Loved
John 15:9-17 – ESV
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant[b] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
As we anticipate both Ascension and Pentecost, we can also observe in our text today an anticipation on Jesus’ part of these two movements that still lay on the horizon. Our text in John, will be a continuation from our text last week where Jesus uses the image of the vine and branches to help his disciples prepare for Jesus’ imminent departure. Both of these passages are part of John’s section, spanning from chapter 14 to 17, that records Jesus’ final words to his disciples before he goes to the cross. In this extended discourse Jesus is trying to comfort and encourage his disciples to face what was coming. He knew they would be stricken and scattered as a result of his death and crucifixion. However, he also knew that would not be the end of the story. There would be a resurrection and subsequent ascension. Jesus would be returning to his Father. For the disciples, this would appear to be another departure just as his death was. But Jesus tells them he is going to send them the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Both the Ascension of Jesus, and the sending of the Spirit, will amount to a permanent presence of the Lord with his disciples which will culminate at his return. Jesus is not going away, he is just going to be present in a different way, a deeper and more abiding way. But that leaves the disciples, including us today, a new way to live in the present while we wait for our Lord to return.
Last week, we discovered that this new way of living in the present was summed up in the word “abide.” This is our call from Jesus in our everyday lives as we wait for his return. We are called to abide in him. That theme of abiding will kick off our passage today and lead us to discover the ultimate fruit that comes from such abiding: love.
We will encounter a few more themes, as well, such as joy, commandment, and friendship. These themes will be interwoven in our text today, comprising some of Jesus last words to his disciples before his departure. So, we will deal with the text today by addressing these themes as they appear.
Just like last week, we can divide today’s reading into two parts. Let’s start with the first part that continues last week’s theme on abiding:
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:9-11)
Abide
The first theme we can address is the same theme set out in last week’s text. But this time that theme is attached to the word “love.” Abiding in the vine has now been given the equivalent of abiding in Jesus’ love. Jesus is filling out the metaphor for us to clarify more directly what he is saying. As we discussed last week, bringing in the word “receive” can also help us understand a little more of what it means to abide. To abide in Jesus’ love is to receive the love he has for us. In this way, we also must acknowledge that abiding involves a relationship characterized by trust. We do not receive well from those we do not trust. If we are going to abide in Jesus’ love, meaning, if we are going to receive his love in such a way that it flows out of us as a way of life, then we will have to first come to trust this one who is giving us his love. And that will serve as a good segway into our next theme. And it’s a big one.
Love
Oddly enough, in our passage last week on Jesus as the true vine, the word “love” is never mentioned. It’s almost like Jesus is holding it in his pocket to be unleashed later. This is where he wants to go with the metaphor. It becomes clear that the fruit that comes from abiding in the vine is love. However, what we are abiding in is in some way the very fruit we are to bear. In our passage today we have the word love repeated 11 times in these 9 verses. Now we must look back at last week’s text with an interpretive lens of love to sort out the whole passage involving vine and branches.
Before we walk away thinking, “ah yes, it’s all about love. Very well,” it would be good to remember Jesus’ other image of him being the Good Shepherd which we covered on the fourth Sunday of Easter. There we find that we must first know what love is before we move out to be “loving.” And more to the point, we must know who Jesus is and who his Father is.
Jesus does not let the word “love” just float out there for any interpretation we would like to apply to it. It is conditioned with the reference “as the Father has loved me.” So, the love we are to abide in and the fruit of love that we are to bear, is not left up to us to determine. It’s a very particular love that has its source in the Father, the very love he has for his Son. And that is the same love Jesus says he extends to us. The word love in the passage is agape, which is the word chosen by John to distinguish God’s love from all the other popular “loves” so often expressed in the Greco-Roman world. It’s really no different in our times today, except we do not have different words for love to choose from. “Love” is more often used as an expression of intense emotion or some general sentimentality. We do not often celebrate or encourage a love “as the Father” loves, but rather a “love” as Hallmark and Hollywood loves. Agape love on the other hand is not primarily about feelings or some equivalent for “like.” The love being pointed to in agape is a love that is for another in acts that may even be costly to the lover. The feelings of love are immaterial to the actions and purpose of love. This is the love with which Jesus has loved us. And the disciples will soon see that love in full display on the cross. Jesus going to the cross was not some ecstatic “feeling” or sentimental gesture to us. He was doing the one thing that was most needed for our good, even though we rejected and resisted him for doing it. His love for us was not determined by our love for him. This love comes from a source of love that could not be conditioned by any outside factors. The source of love is the Father, the truth of which John later pens with the proclamation of “God is love.” (Note: this passage of Scripture contains the highest concentration of the word agape than in any of the Gospels.)
So, we must not miss Jesus’ emphasis when he introduces this theme of Love. Love is to be understood first and foremost as the love of the Father displayed forth in the love of the Son. John has our thoughts directed back to the statement, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). The love given to us in Jesus, is the same love which has its origin in the very relationship of the Father and the Son. That is the love Jesus gives us to receive, or abide in.
Joy
It will be good here to follow up on what we have said about agape love being a determined love for another that is not deterred even at great cost to oneself. When citing the cross as the display of God’s love for us, we may shrink back from wanting to abide in such love. Love sounds painful. However, to be called into the love of the Father and the Son, even though it may not be accompanied by the sentimental or passionate feelings displayed by Hallmark and Hollywood, that does not mean it is a call into drudgery. The love that moves one to lay down their life for another is powered by a deeper joy that belongs to this vine of love in which we abide. Jesus has come to bring us into the very life and relationship he has with his Father. This is a life and love that has existed for all eternity. Father, Son, and Spirit have never lived in a state of drudgery, boredom, or some flat and static existence, but live as the overflowing and dynamic relationship shared mutually between them that sparked the creation of the cosmos. And that is the abiding power given to us that renews and transforms us and the entire creation. Yes, some pain may be involved as we participate in this love in a fallen world, but it will be accompanied by a joy that we know will grow into the fullness of joy shared in the Triune God.
You will also notice in this first part a reference to commandments. That will introduce our next theme. But we will now look at the second part of this passage to help us fill that theme out more fully:
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (John 15:12-17 ESV)
Commandment
We often associate commandments as something that is against us. We typically resist being commanded because we associate that with some dictatorial or tyrannical relationship. However, this section starts and ends with Jesus giving us a commandment. And maybe that’s the first thing we should note about a commandment. It is something given. To obey a commandment is a form of receiving. This goes back to what was said about abiding being another way of receiving. To abide in God’s love is to receive the love he has for us. And that requires trust. Let’s be honest, we don’t actually resist all commandments, now do we. If a wife tells a husband to kiss her for example, he typically will not have any problem obeying that command. Or if you set out ice cream for your kids and tell them to eat, I suspect you will not see many folded arms in protest. Let’s face it, the commands we resist are the ones that we feel are not in our best interest. But, if we know a command is for our good, we usually don’t even see that as a command. So, it may help to take all that baggage from the word command by being reminded of who is commanding us.
- The “commander” is the one who has laid his life down for the sheep.
- He is the one who loves us with a love that is for us, even when we are against ourselves.
- The more we come to know who Jesus and his Father are as the God who is for us completely, never seeking our harm, but always calling us further into the fullness of his joy, the more we will be able to receive Jesus’ commands and obey them without hesitation.
- It’s a matter of trust.
- Jesus is trustworthy to a degree that we can do anything he commands, because we know it is for our good.
And to revisit the theme of love, what we have Jesus commanding us is to “love one another as I have loved you.” Notice, he doesn’t just say to love one another. He again is clear that the love we are to have towards others is the same love exemplified in Jesus laying his life down for his friends. That can be a tough commandment to follow when our expressions of love may mean laying down our reputation as the “nice guy” on the block or that “loving” person in the community who never ruffles a feather. But that is not the love we see Jesus displaying in the Gospels. He didn’t always say what people wanted to hear and he didn’t always make friends with his actions and words. But he did always seek the good of those he was relating to. That’s the kind of love he commands of us. We are not commanded to always give ice cream to the children when they also need their vegetables.
So, we may have to rethink what it means to love our neighbors and our family. What is it they really need and what good is it Jesus is trying to give them?
- First and foremost, we can see in Jesus’ command to us to abide in him, that the most significant act of love is to extend to others the gospel of grace.
- This may not be what our neighbor wants. But we know that it is the ultimate good gift they need to receive.
- So, we too, like Jesus, can help others see that God the Father is good, trustworthy, and loves us best.
- And we can do that even when it comes at great cost to ourselves.
Friends
The final theme from the text to explore is “friends.” Jesus reorients our relationship to him from the concept of being a servant to that of being a friend. He doesn’t mean that we do not serve him or others. But he does not relate to us as “hired hands” who do not know the master personally. Serving God and keeping his commandments are put on a whole new basis. We are serving and obeying one whom we trust with our very lives. It’s not a drudgery or a drag to serve the one who has served us by giving us his very life. It is not an obligation to perform to obey the Lord’s commands when we know they all add up to what is best for us and the entire creation. In short, Jesus can be trusted. He is our friend, and he has called us to be his. Notice how Jesus references how he called the disciples. He chose them, not the other way round. Typically, someone who wanted to be discipled would go searching for a rabbi that they hoped would accept them. But Jesus doesn’t it leave it up to us to find the one we should follow. He comes to us, calls us to himself, and then grows our trust in following him.
Today, as we wrap up our Easter celebration, may we hear him calling to us once again. He calls us to abide in his love in such a way that we keep his commandment of loving others in the same way he loves us. This is the True Vine, who serves as the source of the branches’ love and joy, who enables us to abide more and more in him as he grows our trust to receive from him daily. That amounts to a resurrected life to live out who the Father called and chose us to be.
Small Group Discussion Questions
- 1. What is the significance of Jesus telling us to abide in his love in relation to his metaphor of branches abiding in the vine?
- 2. What are some popular notions of “love” in our culture?
- 3. How does Jesus’ statement “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” help us fill out what love really is?
- 4. What are some ways we love others that are an example of laying our life down for others?
- 5. How does knowing who the Father is and who Jesus is as trustworthy shape our understanding of keeping Jesus’ commands?
- 6. Why does Jesus refer to joy as a result of abiding in his love?
- 7. What is the difference between being a servant and being a friend?
- 8. How does this (difference) inform our relationship to Jesus?
Possible ANSWERS …
1. What is the significance of Jesus telling us to abide in his love in relation to his metaphor of branches abiding in the vine?
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- The love we give to others we receive from Him.
2. What are some popular notions of “love” in our culture?
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- a means to an end
- something to give in order to receive
3. How does Jesus’ statement “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” help us fill out what love really is?
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- unconditional
- costly … sacrificial
4. What are some ways we love others that are an example of laying our life down for others?
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- spending time
5. How does knowing who the Father is and who Jesus is as trustworthy shape our understanding of keeping Jesus’ commands?
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- His commands will always be in our best interest
6. Why does Jesus refer to joy as a result of abiding in his love?
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- It’s what we were created for
- It’s a way of sharing in the love that the triune God shared
- It’s not only Jesus’ love that we abide in … but the love of the Father and the Spirit
7. What is the difference between being a servant and being a friend?
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- the nature of the relationsip
- doing things out of desire, instead of duty
8. How does this (difference) inform our relationship to Jesus?
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- how we see Him determines how we relate to Him
Psalm 98:1-9
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
2 The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the [a]nations. 3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
5 Sing to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a psalm,
6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell in it;
8 Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together 9 before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples with [b]equity.
Acts 10:44-48
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And [a]those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
Context … Acts 10:1-43
1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian [a]Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave [b]alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About [c]the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”
So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. 6 He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He[d] will tell you what you must do.” 7 And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. 8 So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.
9 The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about [e]the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has [f]cleansed you must not call common.” 16 This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.
17 Now while Peter [g]wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate. 18 And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.
19 While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. 20 Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
21 Then Peter went down to the men [h]who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, “Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?”
22 And they said, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you.” 23 Then he invited them in and lodged them.
On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
24 And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. 28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. 29 Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?”
30 So Cornelius said, [i]“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, 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your [j]alms are remembered in the sight of God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. [k]When he comes, he will speak to you.’ 33 So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.”
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 36 The word which God sent to the [l]children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ — He is Lord of all — 37 that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom [m]they killed by hanging on a tree. 40 Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. 43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission[n] of sins.”