Peter
Teaches at Cornelius' House in Caesaria
[Acts
chapter 10, verses 34-48]
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Last
week when we left off at verse 33 of Acts chapter 10, the apostle
Peter had just seen a vision about clean vs. unclean animals, and he
had found himself being reminded in the Spirit to never “call
anything unclean that the Lord has made clean”
(see verse 15). As soon as he came out of the trance he was in, Peter
found himself summoned to Caesaria by Cornelius the Roman centurion,
that he would come to his house to preach the Word. So as we begin
this week's lesson, Peter and those who brought him have arrived at
the home of Cornelius. Everyone has been introduced, most likely a
meal has been prepared, and now Peter is about to preach, beginning
at verse 34.
“Then
Peter began to speak: 'I now realize how true it is that God does not
show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do
what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel,
telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of
all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in
Galilee after the baptism that John preached – how God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went
around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the
devil, because God was with him. We are witnesses of everything he
did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by
hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third
day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but
by witnesses God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with
him after he rose from the dead.'”
(Acts 10, verses 34-41)
You'll
all recall from last week's lesson, which you can view
from here, that the vision Peter experienced made him realize he
needed to change his thinking. Peter's regard for things he viewed as
“unclean”, such as certain animals as well as the overwhelming
majority of Gentiles, had just made a fundamental change, as we saw
in verse 34. We would all do well to take this lesson to heart. Under
no circumstances should any of us ever hold in contempt another
person or thing, which God has created as he saw fit. Who are we that
we can ever question the motives or judgment of the Lord? So it is
with His creations. “You
know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good
news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.”
People, it is this very same message of hope and faith that I
continue to bring to you today via the internet. I may not have a
physical church, nor can I pass around a collection plate excluding
donations from my website (there is a link provided at the bottom of
every page on my website at https://www.pcmatl.org
for donations to keep this blog running). I don't even own a car as
of yet, and since I'm disabled I work from home. But I don't let any
of these things stop me from posting my progressive faith-based
messages twice a week as I currently do. Nothing whatsoever.
“....God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he
went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of
the devil, because God was with him. We are witnesses of everything
he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.”
Based on the apostle Peter's statement, there can be no doubt about
the true identity of Christ as the only begotten Son of God, the
Prince of Peace and the Savior of the world! Any person who says they
don't believe Jesus lived, died and then lived again is missing out
on one of life's fundamental truths – that of reconciliation with
our Maker. Jesus taught that whoever rejects him rejects the Father
who sent him, and that is still just as true today.
“We
are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in
Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised
him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was
not seen by all the people, but ….by us who ate and drank with him
after he rose from the dead.”
So we can see here that Peter is stating emphatically that he, along
with the remainder of the Twelve, saw everything Jesus did with his
own eyes. If fact, his experience so compelled him to abandon
everything to follow Christ that Peter and all the rest couldn't help
but preach and teach the Gospel! I mean, who else has had a delicious
seafood lunch cooked for them by Jesus himself (see John 21: 12)? Yet
we are, in a way, even luckier than the apostles. Jesus was talking
about us when he said to the apostle Thomas, “Blessed
are they who have not seen, and yet still believe.”
(John 20: 29) Aren't you glad that you still believe? Darn right you
are! And now let's move on to part 2 of this week's ongoing study,
starting at verse 42.
“'He
commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the
one who God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the
prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives
forgiveness of sins through his name.' While Peter was still speaking
these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The
circumcised believers who came with them were astonished that the
gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For
they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter
said, 'Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water?
They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.' So he ordered
that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked
Peter to stay with them for a few days.”
(Acts 10, verses 42-48)
As
it was with Christ, so it was with the 12 apostles and so it should
be for ourselves. We too are commanded “to
preach to the people and to testify that (Jesus) is the one who God
appointed as judge of the living and the dead.... everyone who
believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Although we all know that being a Christ follower consists of much
more than just believing, keep in mind that Peter was speaking to a
somewhat unsophisticated audience, so he was keeping things simple
for the sake of some members of Cornelius' household (the illiteracy
rate was in excess of 98%). Everyone who believes in Jesus – who
place their complete trust in him regardless of their level of
education – receives forgiveness for their sins. There are,
however, 2 conditions here pertaining to our faith. First, our faith
must be accompanied by our works and deeds in order for it to be
valid. As the apostle James wrote, “Faith
without works is dead”
(see James 2: 14-17). Second, our faith must become our lifestyle and
our trademark in life, both personally and professionally.
We
must live our faith, then, in order for it to be authentic. Simply
showing up at church every Sunday morning and giving our 10%
(provided you can afford to do that, and you're not sinning if you
can't) is not going to cut it, people. Next time you pray, don't brag
to God about how much you gave to the collection basket or dropped in
the little wooden box. Tell God how much you gave to that homeless
man, or whose power bill you paid when their power was about to be
cut off, or the free ride you gave to someone for their job interview
and they nailed that job. Because if you're not doing any of these
things while still self-identifying as a “Christian”, if you're
not out in the world every day trying to make a positive difference,
you're not a saint, you're an 'ain't'! Be very much aware that there
will be no phony people in heaven. So if you're spending every waking
hour staring at a screen, if you're focused mainly on what you are
doing instead of tending to the needs of others, you're falling
short. Better catch up, because our time is getting short.
“While
Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who
heard the message. The circumcised believers who came with them were
astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even
on the Gentiles.”
Just as we saw back in Acts chapter 2, when Peter spoke, the Holy
Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ filled the entire place where he was
and the surrounding areas too. When the Holy Spirit lives within you,
every time you open your mouth it spills out all over the place!
Notice, too, that the Jewish believers from Joppa where Peter had
been staying were totally blown away at the sight of Gentiles
receiving the Risen Savior. Seeing non-Jews freely receiving the
salvation of Christ was completely outside of the scope of their
combined experience.
“....they
heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,
'Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They
have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”
So the evidence of the Holy Spirit residing within the hearts and
minds of the Gentile believers at Cornelius' house in Caesaria was
their speaking in other languages. In this case that would be
Aramaic-speaking people suddenly bursting forth in praise to Almighty
God – in Hebrew! Although bilingual people are common today thanks
to the internet and better education, this was not the case back in
the first century. That level of education was simply not available
to most people. So Peter immediately had them all baptized with
water, proving once again that Holy Spirit baptism can precede water
baptism (but not always).
Also,
note that, once again as before, Peter was given a place to lay his
head without charge (“Then
they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.”).
All the apostles enjoyed this privilege everywhere they went. They
didn't depend on collections like churches do today. Here in the
western hemisphere especially, the whole economic and tax system is
too profit-oriented while ignoring the needs of the population it's
supposed to be serving! But that's a topic for a future Sunday
commentary. For now, this concludes our 3-part study of Acts chapter
10. Everyone be sure not to miss next week's study as we begin part 1
of Acts chapter 11.
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