Mr. Clean

GETTING STARTED

“When it comes to clean there is only one Mr. ­­­­­­­­­_____.” Can you fill in the blank? In the 1950s, in an effort to produce an abrasive cleanser to clean ships which would not cause health problems, a Mr. Burton came up with Mr. Clean. It was sold to Proctor and Gamble and within months became the best-selling household cleaner on the market. I can smell the pine aroma even now. In today’s passage, Peter has a dream about clean and unclean. And unfortunately, this is an unclean that Mr. Clean can’t do anything about.

  • Do you think of yourself as a clean or unclean person—not physically, but spiritually?

READ THE WORD: ACTS 10:9-16 (ESV)

9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. What did Peter see in his dream (vs. 12)?
  2. What did Peter hear in his dream (vs. 13)?
  3. How did Peter respond to the voice in his dream (vs. 14)?
  4. What do you think “what God has made clean, do not call common” means?
  5. Are you clean or unclean? And what makes you one or the other?

RESPOND TO GOD

The great news about Jesus was no longer being preached only to Jews. God was preparing the Gentiles (specifically Cornelius) to hear the gospel. God was also preparing Peter (a Jew) to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter had a bizarre dream where a sheet full of animals came out of the sky, and he heard a voice say, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” When Peter refused, the voice said, “What God has made clean do not call common (or unclean).” But Peter refused again, thinking he would be disobeying the Jewish food laws. Peter would soon understand that both Jews and Gentiles are unclean before God. And it would be Peter who preached to Gentiles that the only thing that can make someone clean is to believe in the work of the real Mr. Clean—Jesus!

  • Thank God for cleansing you through the work of Jesus on the cross.
  • If you are not clean, then believe in the work of Jesus to make you clean.
  • Ask God if he is preparing you to tell someone else about Jesus.