ACTS 10
Act 10:1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion
of the band called the Italian band,
Act 10:2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave
much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.
Here is someone who loved God and served God but that wasn't enough to save his
soul and his household. They needed to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and be
filled with the Holy Spirit. This is an occasion where the glorious gospel is
given to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. God is no respecter of persons and He
sent Jesus to save any who would believe both Jews and Gentiles, bond or free,
male or female, child or adult.
Act 10:3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an
angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
Act 10:4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord?
And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial
before God.
God saw the works of this man and had mercy upon Him sending an angel and an
apostle to tell him of the gospel and give him the greatest gift of all, the
gift of the Holy Spirit and of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.
Act 10:5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is
Peter:
Act 10:6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he
shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
Act 10:7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called
two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him
continually;
Act 10:8 And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to
Joppa.
Act 10:9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the
city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
God doesn't leave any loose ends. He sent an angel to Cornelius but he also had
a very prejudice apostle to deal with. Peter was faithful in spreading the
gospel but he forgot that it was for the entire world. He even forgot his own
words and the great commission given by Jesus.
Act 10:10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they
made ready, he fell into a trance,
Act 10:11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it
had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
Act 10:12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild
beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
Act 10:13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
Act 10:14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is
common or unclean.
Jews were forbidden to eat certain animals and to eat them would have broken the
law of God.
Act 10:15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common.
Act 10:16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into
heaven.
When God makes a person clean from sin, he or she is clean no matter what
nationality. Peter was about to find out that those mean old Gentiles were also
to be recipients of the Holy Spirit.
Act 10:17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had
seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made
inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,
Act 10:18 And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were
lodged there.
Act 10:19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold,
three men seek thee.
Act 10:20 Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting
nothing: for I have sent them.
Act 10:21 Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from
Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore
ye are come?
Act 10:22 And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that
feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned
from God by a holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of
thee.
Act 10:23 Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went
away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
Act 10:24 And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited
for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends.
Act 10:25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his
feet, and worshipped him.
Act 10:26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
A true man of God will never accept worship or credit for what God does through
him. An angel of God will not accept worship. Only an agent of Satan will
receive worship that is meant only for God or for Jesus Christ.
Act 10:27 And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were
come together.
Act 10:28 And he said unto them, 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 showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Act 10:29 Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent
for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?
Act 10:30 And Cornelius said, 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,
Act 10:31 And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in
remembrance in the sight of God.
Act 10:32 Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is
Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who,
when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.
Act 10:33 Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that
thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all
things that are commanded thee of God.
Act 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God
is no respecter of persons:
Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is
accepted with him.
Apparently God still sees righteous works and accepts them but this man still
needed to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. A truly righteous man who loves God
would want to receive all God has for Him.
Act 10:36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching
peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
Act 10:37 That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea,
and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
Act 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power:
who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for
God was with him.
Act 10:39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of
the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:
Act 10:40 Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly;
Act 10:41 Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even
to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
Act 10:42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it
is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Act 10:43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever
believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
Act 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them
which heard the word.
These people were quick to believe and as a result they received the Holy
Spirit.
Act 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as
many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the
gift of the Holy Ghost.
They should not have been astonished but they were. Even Peter preached that the
Holy Spirit was available for everyone.
Here is his words in Act 2:
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are
afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Act 10:46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered
Peter,
This is proof that tongues did not just appear on the day of Pentecost when
people of other nations were present. Tongues is a supernatural sign that God is
present. To speak in one's own tongue the great works of God is great and will
win the lost to Christ. Those that are naturally gifted can speak as well as
those that can only speak as moved by the Holy Spirit but to speak in a language
that one has never learned previously is a miracle and can only happen by the
supernatural. Some claim that the devil also can duplicate this and I will leave
that to the skeptics to figure out. I don't know and will not comment on it. I
do know though that speaking in tongues does occur when one is baptized with the
Holy Spirit and it is real. Just because some claim to speak with tongues and do
not live godly or act in a manner that is unscriptural doesn't make this gift of
God any less real. Just as everyone that claims to be saved by grace doesn't
always live by the scriptures, this is also true of those who claim to be filled
with God's spirit. We still have our own free will and can sin if we over ride
the leading of the Holy Spirit. We still have the power to resist the will of
God and refuse to obey His word. That doesn't make this wonderful gift null and
void or not real. These things are promised to all that are afar off. It did not
stop with the apostles. If they disappeared for a season after the apostles died
off, it was probably because the church was going into apostasy rather than God
taking the gifts back. They might have shied away from the gifts because of the
trouble the Corinthian church had. Look at the results though of refusing
to lean on the Holy Spirit. The gospel was replaced by the religion of
man. They began to use force to spread the gospel instead of the power of
the Holy Spirit. People were converted to Christianity but did not know Jesus
Christ and were not walking in the spirit of God.
In saying that I will say this: Those of us who have received this wonderful
gift of God have even more responsibility to live by the word and in obedience
to God by not returning to the sin Jesus saved us from as those who have not
received this gift. We have even more responsibility to not add to or take away
from the scriptures. Those who speak against this are ignoring part of the
scripture. How can we accuse the Catholic Church of adding to scripture and
living by tradition, if we do the same? To by dear Baptist and mainline
denomination brothers and sisters, I say, it is in the bible. Lay aside
unscriptural traditions and get back to the word.
Maybe being slain in the spirit or some of the other things we hear happening
today are not in the bible and you can say, perhaps it is not scriptural but
tongues is in the bible. I don't know one way or another if being slain in the
spirit is for real but I do know of a church that is nearby to me that is not
Pentecostal and do not speak in tongues that had a lady slain in the spirit.
That same lady was healed instantly of cancer. This was at a non-Pentecostal
church. Doctors verified her healing.
Act 10:47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which
have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
Peter saw something. He saw the God had given the Gentiles the Holy Spirit. They
heard the outward evidence or speaking in tongues and praising God. In other
places the evidence is speaking in tongues and prophesying. Prophesying is not
necessarily foretelling the future. In fact only in rare cases does that occur.
Prophesying is either interpretation of tongues or speaking forth a word from
God in a language that is understood. It is usually exhortation, comfort,
correction, or praise. It is usually short as opposed to anointed preaching of
the word which is longer. There is many times when people may prophesy and not
know what it is. If it is preceded by tongues it is more easily recognized as
prophesy.
Let us avoid speaking evil of this just because we can't figure it out. It is a
gift from God. I consider it proof positive that God exists and the whole gospel
is real. We have the supernatural that we know that we couldn't get by
ourselves. I have heard of talk that people teach people to speak in tongues.
Whether or not that is true, I've never seen it. In my own case I was not in
church and no one was praying for me or laying hands on me. I was in the back
seat of my dad's car. He was driving and the Holy Spirit came upon me and for
the first time in my life, I spoke in a language that I had never learned
before. It was beautiful and was a definite language. It was not gibberish or
baby talk. It was not repeating the same phrase although I've heard many do that
and will not speak against it. All experiences are not the same.
If this experience was not in the word of God, I would say, go ahead and reject
it. It is there however, and is the real evidence that God is present with us.
Maybe it can be faked, that is between God and the individual who does the
faking. All it know is that it is real and it is in the word. I want all the
spirit blessings God has for me and whatever God thinks I need, I want to
receive.
Act 10:48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then
prayed they him to tarry certain days.
I noticed that they still observed water baptism even though these received the
Holy Spirit first. This shows that they were in obedience to the example that
Jesus set in being baptized by water. It is an outward confession of what has
taken place in the inner man. It is a sign of obedience. It shows our
willingness to be buried with Jesus in baptism and rising to the newness of
life. No the water itself does not wash away our sins but is an outward
testimony to the fact that our faith in Jesus enabled our sins to be washed away
by His own blood. Also we are washed in the water of the word. All these good
things are gifts of God and we are privileged to have heard about them.
Notice the attitude of Cornelius. He didn't think in his heart, "Hey, I don't
need anything else. I already love God. I'm already religious. I'm good enough
as I am." No! he wanted all God had for him. He wanted to hear what God had to
say to him. He was willing to hear a Jew tell him that he needed this Jesus that
was crucified for his sins and for the sins of his household. Because of his
obedience, his whole family was saved. If we had that attitude, we would receive
the Holy Spirit.
