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, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying in the house of a tanner named Simon, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’
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Acts 10:30-32 sits inside this longer paragraph.
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, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying in the house of a tanner named Simon, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ Therefore I sent to you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God.”
Parallel Translations
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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,
and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God.
Send therefore to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying in the house of a tanner named Simon, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’
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And Cornelius sayde: This daye now.iiii. dayes I fasted and at the nynthe houre I prayde in my housse: and beholde a man stode before me in bright clothynge and sayde:
Cornelius thy prayer is hearde and thyne almes dedes are had in remembraunce in the sight of God.
Sende therfore to Ioppa and call for Simon which is also called Peter. He is lodged in the housse of one Simon a tanner by the see syde the wich assone as he is come shall speake vnto the.
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Then Cornelius sayd, Foure dayes agoe, about this houre, I fasted, and at the ninth houre I prayed in mine house, and beholde, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
And sayd, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine almes are had in remembrance in the sight of God.
Send therefore to Ioppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter (he is lodged in the house of Simon a Tanner by the sea side) who when he commeth, shall speake vnto thee.
Cross-references (23)
- Acts 10:4 (v31) He, fastening his eyes on him, and being frightened, said, “What is it, Lord?” He said to him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the needy…
- Daniel 9:23 (v31) At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved. Therefore consider…
- Luke 1:13 (v31) But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and…
- Isaiah 38:5 (v31) “Go, and tell Hezekiah, ‘Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add…
- Daniel 10:12 (v31) Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel; for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before…
Show all 23 cross-references
- Revelation 8:3-4 (v31) Another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer. Much incense was given to him, that he should add it to the prayers of…
- Leviticus 2:9 (v31) The priest shall take from the meal offering its memorial, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to…
- Revelation 5:8 (v31) Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and…
- Leviticus 2:2 (v31) He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. He shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense, and…
- Leviticus 5:12 (v31) He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, on the…
- Daniel 9:20-21 (v30) While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my…
- Acts 10:3 (v30) At about the ninth hour of the day, he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God coming to him, and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
- Philippians 4:18 (v31) But I have all things and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance,…
- Nehemiah 9:1-3 (v30) Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, with sackcloth, and dirt on them. The…
- Hebrews 6:10 (v31) For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the…
- Ezra 9:4-5 (v30) Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel were assembled to me, because of their trespass of the captivity; and I sat…
- Matthew 28:3 (v30) His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
- Mark 16:6 (v30) He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place…
- Luke 24:4 (v30) While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.
- Acts 1:10 (v30) While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing,
- Acts 10:23-24 (v30) So he called them in and provided a place to stay. On the next day Peter arose and went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa…
- Acts 3:1 (v30) Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
- Acts 10:7-9 (v30) When the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of those who waited on…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v30 Because this answer of Cornelius containeth only the bare…
Because this answer of Cornelius containeth only the bare repetition of the history, I shall not need to stand long about that. The sum is, that he called Peter at the commandment of God.
30. I was fasting. Many Greek books have ημην, I sat. The old interpreter omitteth the word fasting, which I think was done through error or negligence, because it is expressed in all the Greek books. Furthermore, he maketh express mention of fasting, partly that we may know that he prayed not coldly, or overfields at that time; secondly, that the vision may be the less suspected. For doubtless the brain of a man that is fasting (where there is moderate sobriety) doth not easily admit any strong imaginations, wherein appear images and strange forms, whereby men are deceived. Therefore Cornelius’ meaning is, that he was earnestly bent to pray, at such time as the angel appeared to him, and that his mind was free from all such lets which use to make men subject to fantasies and imaginations. And to the same end tendeth the circumstance of time, that this was done when it was now fair daylight, three hours before the going down of the sun.
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A man stood in shining garment. He calleth him a man, whom he knew was an angel of God; but it is a common thing for the name of the visible form wherein God or his angels appear to be translated unto him or them; so Moses doth sometimes call them angels, and sometimes men, which appeared to Abraham in shape of men. The shining garment was a token of heavenly glory, and, as it were a sign of the divine Majesty which appeared in the angel. The evangelists declare, that there was such brightness in Christ’s garment when he showed his glory to the three disciples in the mount. The same thing do they witness of the angels which were sent to testify Christ’s resurrection. For, as the Lord beareth with our infirmity thus far that he commandeth his angels to descend under form of our flesh, so he casteth out upon them certain beams of his glory, that the commandments which he hath committed to them may be the more reverenced and believed. Here ariseth a question, whether that were a true and natural body, and whether that were a garment in deed, or Cornelius did only see such a shape and show; and though this be not so necessary to be known, and we can scarce affirm any thing for a truth, yet it seemeth to me more probable as touching conjecture, that God to whom it belongeth to create all things gave to the angel a true body, and did clothe the same with a most gorgeous garment; but so soon as the angel had ended his embassage, I think he was restored to his own nature, the body and garment being brought to nought, and that he suffered no human thing so long as he was in the shape of man.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv30–32 He meaneth not the selfsame hour, but the like,…
He meaneth not the selfsame hour, but the like, that is, about nine of the clock the other day, as it was then nine when he spake to Peter.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv30–32 30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was…
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,
Ver. 30. I was fasting until, &c.] Fulness breeds forgetfulness; but fasting maketh a man capable of heavenly visions of divine glory. The three great fasters, Christ, Moses, and Elias, met gloriously in Mount Tabor.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv30–32 Four days ago I was fasting until this hour;…
Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; Cornelius does not intend to declare by this how long he had fasted; but he tells him when he, being fasting, saw the vision, which was four days before, at the same time of the day.
The ninth hour, which was a time of prayer, it being the time of offering the evening sacrifice: see Act 3:1.
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A man, in appearance, but an angel indeed, as in Act 10:3.
In bright clothing; why angels appeared in bright or white raiment, see Act 1:10.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v30 Observe here, 1. Cornelius relates the occasion of his…
Observe here, 1. Cornelius relates the occasion of his sending for St. Peter, and the warrant he had for so doing: He declares that as he was fasting and praying in his family, he had a vision, in which an angel directed him to send for the apostle.
Where note, That Cornelius doth not talk of his fasting, praying, and alms giving, by the way of ostentation, to boast of himself, but only to give satisfaction to St. Peter, that he had certain advice from heaven for what he did in sending for him.
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Observe, 2. The readiness of Cornelius’s obedience in sending for St. Peter: Immediately therefore I sent to thee. Joppa from Cesarea is computed to be about forty miles; but no sooner did Cornelius receive the commandment, but without delay he put it in execution, and sent men to Joppa. When our call is clear, our obedience must be speedy.
Observe, 3. The kind reception which Cornelius gives St. Peter; Thou hast well done that thou art come; He doth not only approve of the apostle’s coming, but thanks him for it.
Observe, 4. The preparation and readiness of Cornelius and his friends, to hear and receive the word of God from St. Peter’s mouth: We are all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.
Where note, 1. He desires the same holy doctrine which the apostle came to preach, may be delivered to his family, his friends, and his kinsfolk, as well as himself. A good man would not go to heaven alone; but is desirous of the instruction, conversion, and salvation of others, as well as of himself: We are all here.
Note, 2. The place of God’s pure worship is the place of his special presence; We are all here present before God.
Note 3. The end for which they were now come into the presence of God; it was to hear what God should speak, yea, to hear all things which God should command the apostle to speak:
Intimating to us, that as St. Peter himself was, so all the ministers of Christ are confined within their commission and must only speak what God commands; neither are hearers bound to receive anything else. Woe unto us, if when God sends us of his errand, we tell our own tale: The world is the counsel of God; now it is the cousel of God only, and the whole counsel of God also, that we are to declare, and our people are to hear; We are all present before God, to hear all things that are commanded us before God.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv30–32 And Cornelius said,.... The Syriac version adds, "to him",…
And Cornelius said,.... The Syriac version adds, "to him", to the apostle; the following he said, in a very submissive and humble manner:
four days ago I was fasting unto this hour; in the Greek text it is, "from the fourth day unto this hour I was fasting": which looks as if he had been fasting four days, and was still fasting at that hour; though the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions leave out the phrase "I was fasting": but the sense which our version and others give is the truest; that four days ago, or reckoning four days back, Cornelius was fasting on that day, until such time in that day as now it was in this present day; and which perhaps might be the ninth hour, or three o'clock in the afternoon: the account of days exactly agrees; as soon as Cornelius had had the vision, he sends men to Joppa, which was one day; on the morrow they came to Joppa, which makes two days; Peter lodged them all night there, and the next day set out on the journey with them, so you have three days; and the day after that, which was the fourth, he entered into Caesarea, and came to Cornelius's house, where he now was:
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and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house; which was one of the stated times of prayer; See Gill on Act 3:1.
And behold a man stood before me in bright clothing; or "in a white garment", as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read: which was an emblem of the excellency, glory, and purity of the angel, and of the divine majesty in him: he calls him a man, because he appeared in the form of one, as angels used to do.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv30–31 Four days ago I was fasting - The first…
Four days ago I was fasting - The first of these days he had the vision; the second his messengers came to Joppa; on the third, St. Peter set out; and on the fourth, came to Cesarea.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv30–31 Verse 30. Four days ago I was fasting until…
Verse 30. Four days ago I was fasting until this hour] It was then about three o'clock in the afternoon; and it appears that Cornelius had continued his fasts from three o'clock the preceding day to three o'clock the day following; not that he had fasted four days together, as some supposes for even if he did fast four days consecutively, he ate one meal on each day. It is however necessary to remark that the word νηστευων, fasting is wanting in ABC, one other; the Coptic, AEthiopic, Armenian, and Vulgate; but it has not been omitted in any edition of the Greek Testament.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v30 Act 10:30-33. And Cornelius said, Four days ago I…
Act 10:30-33. And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting — The first of these days he had the vision; the second, his messengers came to Joppa; on the third, Peter set out; and on the fourth, came to Cesarea; until this hour — Cornelius does not intend to declare by this how long he had fasted; but he tells him when he, being fasting, saw the vision, which was four days before, at the same hour of the day. And at the ninth hour — An hour of solemn prayer, being the time of offering the evening sacrifice, see Act 3:1. I prayed, and behold a man stood before me — A man in appearance, but an angel in reality, as in Act 10:3; in bright clothing — Such as Christ’s was, when he was transfigured; and that of the two angels, who appeared at his resurrection, Luk 24:4; and at his ascension, Act 1:10; showing their relation to the world of light. And said, Thy prayer is heard — Doubtless he had been praying for instruction how to worship and serve God in the most acceptable manner; and thy alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God — Who looks not merely on the outward gift, but on the inward affection from which it proceeds, and the intention with which it is offered. Send, therefore, to Joppa, &c. — See note on Act 10:4-6. Immediately, therefore, I sent — As I was directed; and thou hast well done that thou art come — To us, though we are Gentiles. Observe, faithful ministers do well in going to those that are willing and desirous to receive instruction from them. Now, therefore, are we all here present before God — The language this of every truly Christian congregation; to hear all things that are commanded thee of God — To know and do whatsoever he shall require of us. In this spirit ought every one that would profit by the word of God, to attend upon it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v30 Four days ago - See the notes on Act…
Four days ago - See the notes on Act 10:23.
Until this hour - The ninth hour, or three o’clock, p. m. See Act 10:3.
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A man - Called, in Act 10:3, an angel. He had the appearance of a man. Compare Mar 16:5.
In bright clothing - See the notes on Mat 28:3.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v30 Four days ago--the messengers being despatched on the first;…
Four days ago--the messengers being despatched on the first; on the second reaching Joppa (Act 10:9); starting for Cæsarea on the third; and on the fourth arriving.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v30 30. Until this hour—Until this time on that day.…
30. Until this hour—Until this time on that day. He does not mean that he has now been fasting four days, but that he fasted to about this hour of day on the day of the angel’s appearance, namely, the fourth day before his present speaking.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv30, 32 30. Four days ago I was fasting until this…
30. Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, &c.] The oldest MSS. have “Four days ago until this hour I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house.” This makes the time of Peter’s arrival to be after the ninth hour of the day. The prayer-service to which Cornelius refers had begun and been continued for some time before the appearance of the angel.
in bright clothing] See above, Act_1:10, note.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv30–31 (30) I was fasting until this hour.—The hour is…
(30) I was fasting until this hour.—The hour is not stated, but the facts of the case imply that it could not have been much before noon, and may have been later. Assuming that Cornelius in his fasts observed the usage of devout Jews, we may think of his vision as having been on the second day of the week, and Peter’s on the fifth. It is probable, accordingly, that the meeting in the house of Cornelius took place on the Sabbath. Allowing some hours for the conference, of which we have probably but a condensed report, the outpouring of the Spirit, the subsequent baptism, and the meal which must have followed on it, may have coincided with the beginning of the first day of the week.
In bright clothing.—The phrase is the same as that used by St. James (Act_2:2-3). The same adjective is employed by St. John to describe the raiment of the angels (Rev_15:6), and of the bride of the Lamb (Rev_19:8).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv30–32 Until this hour, I was keeping the ninth hour…
Until this hour, I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer for I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour I prayed, A.V. and T.R.; apparel for clothing, A.V. Four days ago. This was the fourth day (see ver. 23, note). Until this hour, etc. The reading of the R.T. is not adopted by Meyer or Alford, and the R.V. is unintelligible. The A.V. seems to give the meaning clearly and accurately. Until this hour probably denotes the sixth hour, midday, as in ver. 9. Peter"s journey would naturally have been taken in the cool of the early morning. Starting at 5 or 6 a.m., five hours, with perhaps an hour"s halt, would bring him to the end of his fifteen miles" journey by 11 or 12 a.m. Apparel. The same phrase, ejsqh, is used by St. Luke. (Luk_23:11) In the description of the transfiguration a stronger expression is used, ejxastraptwn, dazzling.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting.
Act_10:30-48
And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting.
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Peter at Caesarea
We welcome his revelation that the grace of God has so boundless a reach; that in His government men are accountable not for knowledge which they have not, but for what they have. It suggests certain practical lessons like the following:
I. It is our privilege to exercise a wide charity toward religions which differ from our own. We have the authority of Scripture for recognising the truth wherever found. No one of the apostles stands more resolutely for sound doctrine, for righteous living, than Paul; yet more than once he takes pains to quote from heathen writers opinions that are correct as far as they go. He believed that so far as they had any truth, it was the truth of God. We have a feeling sometimes that to acknowledge anything of good in one who is not a Christian, or in a Church with which we have no fellowship, or in a nation that is in spiritual darkness, is disloyalty to God; but we are really doing Him larger honour to believe that something of His image is left in His creatures everywhere; that, in the plenitude of His grace, His Spirit is working to some extent in all men the fruits of righteousness; that He only demands of His creatures, in Christian or in heathen lands, to follow the knowledge which they have; that in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.
II. We may be inspired by the virtues of the pagans. It is a part of charity not only to recognise virtue anywhere, but to be willing to copy it. That is a high attainment in the study of this grace. If a man is, in your judgment, a heathen or a heretic, it is humiliating to admit that he can teach you anything of goodness; but perhaps he can. He may have some excellencies that are far beyond yours in the same line. Why should you not make these a subject of study and emulation? Certainly it is not disparaging the Christian system; it is not reflecting upon God; they all came from Him; they are not the product of the human will; they are fruits of the Spirit, and in copying them you are but copying God. For example, the Stoics, who knew little of Christianity, had rules for right living as exalted in some particulars as those prescribed by Christian men in any age. One of their philosophers says of human depravity: Let us first persuade ourselves of this, that there is not one of us without fault. If you wish to be good, first believe that you are bad. That is as strong as the Saviours words: They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Another, writing of self-examination, refers to an old scholar who, when the day was over and he went to rest, used to ask himself, What evil have you cured today? What vice have you resisted? In what particular have you improved? That would be a good rule for Christians. Here is another precept: What ought not to be done, do not even think of doing. Virtues like these were taught by a few, at least, centuries before the Christian era. There seems ground for the opinion that the prevalence of these to such an extent helped to prepare the world for the gospel, as St. Augustine admitted that he had been led first toward Christianity by the stoical teachings of Cicero. A flower that springs up in a field of weeds and surprises you with its fragrance, is as really the work of a Divine Creator as that which grows in a gardeners bed. Virtue is always Divine, and wherever she leads it is safe to follow.
III. We ought to be grateful for the light of christianity. But why, if there is so much to commend in the pagan philosophers? What need is there of the gospel? This simply: religion is something more than a system of ethics. If it be asked more definitely what was it that they lacked as compared with us, the answer is many sided; but this is its substance: they lacked Christ. Here, then, is a vast gulf between those sages and ourselves. They did not have the idea, as we do, of a personal God--a Father, a Friend. More particularly they did not know Jesus, did not have Him as a guide. With all their beautiful precepts, they had no example; they did not know of anyone who had ever obeyed these laws. One of them writes, Follow the guidance of nature: that is the great thing. What a rule for a weak human being! One of them speaks of waiting for death with a cheerful mind; but look back a sentence or two, and see what he means: What, then, is that which is able to enrich a man? One thing, and only one--philosophy. That is as far as their wisdom rose. That is why we have reason for gratitude that we know of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of men. He is the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Every man, whoever, wherever, whatever he is. If anyone claims that he is sufficient in himself, and needs no Divine revelation other than that which comes from his own consciousness, he is making a fatal mistake; he cannot quote Cornelius as an example. (T. J. Holmes.)
Peter at Caesarea
Peters bringing of the gospel to Cornelius, and Cornelius subsequent baptism, seem very much matters of course to us; but they were revolutionary. They were like John Wesleys ordination of men to preach the gospel in America. Thenceforth he knew he had violated the canons of the Church of England. Thenceforth Peter knew that he had repudiated Judaism as a necessary preparative to Christianity.
I. Cornelius preparation. No man can make himself worthy of Gods blessing. But one can so prepare himself for the Divine blessing, that it shall come more easily down and find a quicker acceptance. In this sense Cornelius had made ready for God. He says he was fasting at the time the special revelation came to him, and, indeed, it was at the very moment of prayer (verse 30). Gods ways of dealing with men conform to none of the laws which we might construct. We cannot say that religious exercises, in which Cornelius was engaged, offer the only occasions when God may come to men. We recall Balaam, addressed when on an ungodly mission; we recall Saul, converted while journeying to persecute the saints. But these revelations were not in congruity with the souls antecedents. They came by crushing down opposition. Yet we are safe in saying that such is not Gods usual way of granting insight into His truth. We cannot bind God by law; but conversely we can assert law of ourselves, and say confidently that prayer and all religious exercises are used by God in leading us into new visions of truth. The angel told Cornelius that his prayerful and upright life had commended him to God for His blessing (verse 31). What God remembered was not Cornelius worthiness of a blessing, but his fitness for a blessing, shown by the desire for it, witnessed to, by a prayerful and righteous life. Cornelius life commended him to God not as accomplishment, but as a sign of aspiration. A good man is one who wants to be better. For such Gods blessing is surely prepared. Being of such a temper of mind, it was natural that Cornelius showed an immediate acceptance of Gods revelation and an immediate obedience toward it (verse 33).
II. Peters address was the fuller form of Gods answer to Cornelius. The appearance of the angel, and the directions he gave, were only preliminary to something else. This was furnished by Peter; it was the revelation of Christ as a Saviour. Peters address divides itself easily into three parts--
1. The introduction (verses 34, 35) lays down the double statement that God is no respecter of persons, but that a good man, whatever his nationality, is accepted of Him. The special lesson needed by Peter and the other leaders of the Church then was that circumstantials make no difference to God. The passage has been immensely abused by misinterpretation. It has been supposed to teach that all religions are equally pleasing to God; from which has been deduced the inference that our duty is to let men alone in their religions, and not try to convert them to Christianity. But if Cornelius was already in the proper condition Godward, why did he need conversion? Again, the passage has been used to teach the doctrine that if one is a good man, and tries conscientiously to do his duty towards his fellow men, and reveres God, he is all right, is accepted with Him, and needs nothing more. Faith in Christ is thus not enumerated among the things necessary to reconciliation with God. But if to fear God and to work righteousness were enough in Cornelius, why did Peter preach to him the gospel? The truth is, accepted here does not mean accepted as all he ought to be, but accepted as a proper subject for that work of conversion which tends to make one what he ought to be.
2. The main part of Peters address describes the life and function of Jesus (verses 36-42). The external facts of His career are touched upon in such a way as to show the solid grounding of His supernatural work upon indisputable material fact.
3. The application of Peters address (verse 43) makes the doctrines concerning Christ which he has just stated practical and pointed. Christ is given to men that whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. The other functions of Christ do not press so immediately upon us as His office as a Saviour. To miss this is to miss all that He would have us know.
III. The blessing from on high came while Peter was speaking. The Holy Ghost fell upon them (verse 44). No distinction of nationality was observed by the heavenly Visitor. (D. J. Burrell, D. D.)
Cornelius and Peter
I. Ready to hear the Word. Cornelius was a Roman centurion--in modern phrase, heathen. How did he become ready to hear the Word?
1. By prayer. At the time the angel came he was engaged in prayer. This prayer was not a mere form.
(1) He had not stopped just when the ninth hour expired, but had persisted in his supplications until this hour. It is fair to infer from that, that he was in earnest about something. Such prayers only are effective. General prayers, that seek for nothing specific, get just what they seek, and no more. It is safe to take the mission of the angel as an answer to Cornelius prayer, and to deduce that Cornelius was praying that he might be shown the way of salvation (Act_11:14).
(2) The angel came in response to his prayer. No celestial messengers are sent where the prayers are merely formal.
2. By a vision. His vision was not a dream or a trance. He saw in a vision openly (Act_10:3). He was wide awake, as one engaged in earnest prayer could not help but be. A man stood before me in bright apparel. Cornelius tells how he looked. Luke tells what he was (Act_10:3.) When Cornelius saw him, he was affrighted, and said, What is it, Lord? The celestial character of his visitor, the circumstances of his appearing, and the fear that sinful mortals must ever feel in the presence of sinless immortals, combined to compel Cornelius to accept without questioning whatever the angel might say.
3. By the angels words. They were--
(1) Words of assurance. Thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance. Faith now takes the place of an angel in assuring all who approach the throne of grace that their prayers have prevailed. Neither are their alms or good deeds forgotten. God is not unrighteous, etc. The declaration that his prayers and his alms were gone up for a memorial before God, gave comfort and prepared for further revelation.
(2) Words of direction. Send therefore to … Peter. Whatever Peter might say had celestial endorsement beforehand. Many hearts are Divinely made ready for the reception of the gospel, when the Spirit moves one to speak the words of life. But observe, the angel himself did not tell the story of the Cross to Cornelius. He left that to Peter. No one can tell the story of redemption so well as one who himself has been redeemed. That Cornelius was thus prepared to hear the Word is made evident--
(a) By his sending for Peter. He sent forthwith. He was in haste to hear.
(b) By his commendation of Peter. Thou hast well done that thou art come. Cornelius believed that Peter was about to do that which would show him that he was right in disregarding the ceremonial barriers between Jew and Gentile.
(c) By his declaration to Peter. Now therefore we are an here present in the sight of God to hear. Cornelius had improved the time while waiting for Peter to come (verse 24). He was in earnest to learn the way of life, not only for himself, but for all of his friends.
II. Proclaiming the word. We turn now from Cornelius to Peter.
1. The truth perceived.
(1) Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. Until this moment, Peter had not known why he had been sent for, nor the real meaning of his vision. So far he had interpreted the vision to mean nothing only that he must not hesitate to associate with the Gentiles, to whom he was sent. But now he sees it meant a great deal more--spiritual as well as social equality. This was no new thought (Deu_10:17; 2Ch_19:7; Job_34:19). But Peter and others had been thinking of this as true only as between Jews. He had not realised the truth he himself had declared (Act_3:25).
(2) But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to Him. Mark here two things--
(a) Peters change of standards. His criterion for judging was outward no longer. He instantly dropped the notion that circumcision was necessary to salvation. All essentials were suddenly reduced to two--fearing God and working righteousness.
(b) That those two essentials were not enough. They made Cornelius acceptable, but not accepted. If anyone, by good works, could be saved, there was no need for Cornelius to hear about Christ the Saviour (verse 2). But his good works did not satisfy God, nor did they satisfy himself. Salvation cannot be purchased with good works. The only adequate price for that is the precious blood of Christ.
2. The truth preached. Note--
(1) That Peter did not tell anything new. His auditors were aware of the story of Christ. Ye yourselves know. It was the old, old story that was effective, and that will be effective to the end of time.
(2) That he verified what he did tell. He offered himself and the other apostles as witnesses of the death and the resurrection of Christ. He offered also the prophets as witnesses, and probably showed how the sufferings and atoning death of Christ were symbolised in sacrifices and foretold in prophecy.
III. Blessed by the word. The Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word. Notice--
1. The time. While Peter yet spake. There was no laying on of apostolic hands. The conferring of the gift was as direct from God to those Gentiles as it had been to the Jews on the day of Pentecost.
2. The abundance. Was poured out.
3. The manifestations. Heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. They were affected and endowed in the same way that their Jewish brethren had been. Thus this Pentecost of the Gentiles proved their right to an unquestioned place in the brotherhood of the saints--their baptism of the Spirit to baptism by water. (M. C. Hazard.)
Peter and Cornelius
Here we have a Conservative Jew and a Liberal Gentile. The Jew wants to keep things as they are. He is quite content to preach Christ to his countrymen. The Gentile, on the other hand, has come to feel that all truth is not confined to the systems of his fathers. He has heard of Christ, and wants to know more of Him. So the narrative shows how, in the providence of God, these opposite men meet at the Cross, and there forget their differences as they learned that God is no respecter of persons. Let us consider--
I. A good preacher.
1. Opinions greatly differ on what constitutes a good minister of Jesus Christ. Some say educate your men; others say you will educate all the fire out of them. Some say that the minister must take an active part in social movements; others, that he must do nothing of the kind. Some think he must give his strength to visitation; others, that he must be strong in the pulpit. Some leave a mans ministry because he is too noisy; others, because he is too quiet. Some object to men who do not rush to the door to shake hands with everybody; others object to such familiarity.
2. But there was one thing about Peter that all may imitate--he was a man of prayer, as every good preacher, teacher, Christian must be. Christ Himself was. Nothing great or good can the man of God expect without prayer. While Elijah prayed the fire fell; in answer to prayer Joseph was able to interpret Pharaohs dreams; while the little Church prayed at Pentecost the Holy Ghost came down; while the disciples prayed Peter was released from prison; and as he prayed on the housetop God gave him the vision. You cannot preach, but you can pray, and that will make the weak strong.
II. The remarkable congregation (verse 33). Observe--
1. They were all in time. No notice was put up in the porch, saying, You are requested not to enter during prayer. No one disturbed the singing or preaching. We are not told that anybody came in knocking down half a dozen hymn books and attracting attention to the last new bonnet.
2. No one went to sleep. Judged by modern practice that was remarkable. Our fathers must have been wakeful people, for they would listen to sermons two hours length in straight-backed pews. Now the pews are so shaped and furnished as to invite sleep.
3. They were anxious to hear. That, too, was remarkable. How vastly different would be our worship if we came in that expectant condition! How helpful would be the preachers word! Once a week worship, empty seats, and deserted churches would be things of the past.
III. The very striking sermon.
1. It was very short; one could have wished it longer. The main objection to long sermons is that the quality is not in proportion.
2. It was full of Christ, although the Name appears only twice. We should not be always repeating the Name, but all our sermons and lessons should be as full of Christ as they can carry; and our daily life and conduct too. You need not forever carry a Bible in your hand. When your little one draws a cat she is obliged to say so underneath, or no one would recognise it; but by and by she will draw what will describe itself. So all should be able to recognise the Master in us. Let your light so shine, etc. So let it be with your lessons. Christ is to be your diamond; set it as you like, but be sure it is seen.
3. One which declared Gods impartiality (verses 34, 35). God cares for lowly toilers, etc.
IV. The glorious effects (verse 44). We learn that--
1. Peter did not labour in vain. He had immediate results; you may not; but wait Gods good time.
2. The people did not hear in vain. How could they, listening as they did. (G. Leach, D. D.)
The gospel to the Gentiles
The hasty and impetuous Peter had now become, under the influence of transforming grace, a considerate and self-governed man. But though he had lost his impetuosity and was fast losing his prejudices, he had not lost his vigour nor his readiness to give effect to conviction. After one night of calm reflection, diligent search, and earnest prayer, he was ready to set forth on his errand. At the door Cornelius meets him with an act of homage to the exalted character of his visitor, which was already familiar to a Roman in the case of his emperor, but which the apostle refused as an act of superstition. The minister of Christ, even if he be an apostle, is still but a man: in that identity of nature with his people lies as much his strength as his weakness. Compassed, like them, with every infirmity, he can both feel for the sins and the weaknesses of others, and also comfort them with the comfort wherewith he himself is comforted of God. Now, therefore, having come, he must know for what intent they have sent for him. Cornelius answers by recounting the story of his vision. Ten verses comprise the whole of St. Peters answer; the whole of that, revelation which was to be the eternal life of Cornelius and his house. Note that--
I. The gospel was a record of facts; and out of the facts grew the doctrines. It was not a mere lesson of morality. It did not say, Do your best and God will accept you, It did not say, Care not about opinion, or doctrine, if only your life is right. Cornelius, whose life was blameless and exemplary, still needed Christ, and the Holy Spirit for his salvation. His diligent use of the light he had, brought him more light: such is Gods rule: but it did not enable him to dispense with it. What showed Gods acceptance was, Gods teaching, Gods illumination; not Gods acquiescing in his condition, and leaving him as he was.
1. And when that teaching and illumination came, what was it? It was the account of a Person; of One who, though Himself man, had altogether changed and reversed mans condition; had broken the yoke of sin and Satan in instances numerous and decisive enough to show that He could do it in all; had lived a life such as never man lived, and spoken words such as never man spake; had then given His very life as a ransom for many; had died upon the Cross to take away sin, and after dying had also risen again to be the living High Priest, the Mediator and the Advocate with God, of all who believe; to be both the Judge of human kind, and also the Atonement and the Propitiation for human sin. It was our apostles creed which formed the original gospel to the Gentiles.
2. And is it not so still? And has that gospel now lost its savour? Must we look out for some other because the first is worn out? So the world judges, and the Church has too much caught the infection. We fear that even Christian sermons are too much estimated now by their eloquence or their novelty, and too little by their proclamation of Christ Himself. God help us to come back to the simplicity and (with it) to the strength of St. Peters first sermon to the Gentiles!
II. God in a remarkable manner bare it witness.
1. While the narrative was proceeding, the gift of Pentecost was poured upon the hearers. The fire of the Lord fell, and attested the sacrifice. By an inversion of which we possess no other record in Scripture, the inward gift preceded the outward dedication. Elsewhere baptism went first, and the gift of the Spirit followed. God is a God of order, but He is not restricted by His own laws. Nothing less than the Pentecostal sign would have furnished an irresistible argument for this first Gentile baptism (Act_11:17-18).
2. Yet, lest any should draw from this an argument against the importance of forms, it was required that the outward sign should follow. How presumptuous then, in later times, to say, Because the form is not all, therefore the form is nothing! if I have the Spirit, I may dispense with the baptismal water! God has been pleased, in His two holy Sacraments, to remind us that in this life we are body as well as soul, and that the two elements of our being are wonderfully and fearfully commingled. The body acts upon the soul; the soul, in all its volitions, must act through the body.
3. Those who talk slightingly of forms are seldom those who know most of the Spirit. Not without form, though not by forms only, can the work of Christ be carried forward in the world. If the doctrine of the gospel had been launched in the world without the institution of a Church, it might have waxed feebler, generation by generation, until at last it actually died and vanished away. The Church is the pillar and ground of the truth. And we all know how much our faith owes to the possession of a house of prayer, regular seasons of worship, and a standing ministry to lead and to guide and quicken our devotion. Take away all these things, or any of these things, and where should we be? Destroy this temple, make its services rare or repulsive; let there be no one to exercise a regular ministration; let there be no visitation of the sick, no care for the poor, no catechising of the young; and who does not know how serious would be the loss to himself and to the cause of good? I know not whose faith would stand the test of an utter denial of all help either from public worship or from private ministrations; an absolute removal of that candlestick, the Church, which is not indeed, but which yet holds, the light of the Word, the lamp of the truth. Let us not lose, my brethren, by lethargy of soul, the advantages which God has given us. (Dean Vaughan.)
Complemental ministry
In the Garden of Plants at Paris a certain rare tree grew for many years. It was a thriving and mature plant. Year by year it was covered with blossom, and year by year the white blossoms were shed on the ground leaving no fruit behind. After every promise it remained barren still. At last one season, although nothing extraordinary had been observed, after flower came fruit; it swelled apace, and in due time ripened. The tree for the first time brought to maturity self-propagating fruit. They sought and found the cause. Another tree of the same species, but bearing flowers the counterpart and complement of this, had then for the first time blossomed in a garden at some distance. The small white dust from the flowers of that other tree, necessary to make the flowers of this tree fruitful, had been borne on the feet of bees, or wafted by the wind into their bosom, and forthwith they bore fruit. This in the natural department is the work of the same all-wise God, who prepared Cornelius for receiving Peters word, and brought Peter with the word to Cornelius. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come.--
Corneliuss sending and Peters coming
I. Cornelius sending was--
1. The outcome of a felt want. Heathenism, Judaism, devotion, moral excellence, noble birth, popularity were insufficient to fill the void in this good mans soul.
2. After prayer, or he might have sought the counsel of Jewish rabbi, Gentile philosopher or candid friend who would have directed him to ritual, wisdom or self-complacency, but never to one by whose words he might be saved.
3. By Divine direction.
(1) To an unlikely man.
(2) At an unlikely place. God moves in a mysterious way. but always in the right way.
II. Peters coming. Peter did well in coming, for thereby--
1. He conquered his Jewish prejudices. This was well for himself. Bigotry and exclusiveness are everywhere self-hindering and harmful.
2. He opened the door of the gospel to the Gentiles, thus anticipating and preparing for the worldwide mission of Paul.
3. He satisfied the aspirations of a genuine soul, and in doing so who knows what else? The influence of the converted centurion could not but have been felt in the army. Did Cornelius take the gospel to Rome?
4. He was the means of converting an entire congregation. What a phenomenon! (J. W. Burn.)
Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.--
A model congregation
It was--
I. Earnest, which is obvious from--
1. The religious character that was given to it. It was composed of Cornelius and his family. The centurions religion (verse 2) was--
(1) Domestic, all his house.
(2) Generous, he gave alms to the people.
(3) Habitual, he prayed to God alway. There were no frivolous spirits among Peters listeners.
2. The invitation they gave the preacher, Immediately therefore I sent to thee.
II. Solemn, Before God. The expression implies belief in--
1. The existence of God--they were neither atheists, pantheists, nor polytheists.
2. The presence of God, not merely His influence.
3. The claim of God. He is our Maker, Proprietor, Judge, demanding the homage of our souls.
4. This belief was grounded in such a consciousness that would sweep from their minds all that was secular, sceptical and frivolous, and fill them with a profound solemnity.
III. Inquiring. To hear all things, etc. They were assembled not as a matter of custom, not to sit passive and be acted upon by the preacher, not for a mere performance, but to inquire. In this inquiry they were--
1. Profoundly religious. They were in quest of the Divine, Commanded thee of God. They were not seekers after Peters private speculations, but after the Divine Will.
2. Thoroughly free, To hear all things. Their minds were untrammelled by prejudices, unbiassed by dogmas. They wanted to know the whole counsel of God. May not such a congregation be regarded as a model? Such a congregation would not have tolerated the pulpit crudities and priestly assumptions of modern times. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The model congregation
Is it true that it was composed of men who were neither Jews nor Christians, and that it met in the first century of the Christian era; yet there are many points in which it might be an example to nineteenth century Christian congregations. They were present--
I. Everyone. When was it ever said of a modern congregation, We are all here present? Naturally, all cannot be; but how many are absent, who might have been present, if animated by the spirit of Cornelius and his friends!
II. Punctually. When Peter arrived, Cornelius met him with the announcement, We are all here. Want of punctuality is an evil in our services. Some are always late. They lose part of the services; they disturb the minister and congregation. In many eases it is a mere habit, that could be overcome by a little attention.
III. With a definite purpose. To hear. How many motives influence attendance nowadays! Some are present to see, some to criticise, some from habit, some to while away the time, some from curiosity.
IV. With prepared hearts. Now, therefore. We are here expectantly. If the minister ought to prepare to speak, not less ought the people to prepare to hear. Our Lord solemnly warns us: Take heed how ye hear.
V. With reverent spirits. Present before God. This was an act of solemn worship. They did not come to sit at the feet of some popular preacher. The worship of Dr.
will be resumed next Sabbath, said an usher to some persons who were leaving the church, upon learning that their favourite minister was not to preach that day.
VI. With attentive ears. How many absent-minded men there are in our congregations! They could not say, We are all present. Wandering thoughts are servants of the devil. This congregation expected to hear all things that were commanded of God. There were, evidently, no sleepers among them. A parishioner, upon his deathbed, confessed to his pastor that he had not heard a sermon for years--his thoughts had habitually reverted to his business as soon as the text was announced. Worshippers ought not to have their bodies in the house of God, and their hearts, with the fools eyes, in the ends of the earth.
VII. With one mind. No divisions in this congregation. They were all, with one accord, in one place.
VIII. With a right idea of the preacher. They wished to hear the things that God commanded him to speak. They cared more for the message than the messenger. If some of our congregations would think more of Gods deliverance and less of mans delivery, it would tend to their spiritual edification.
IX. To hear the whole counsel of God. They wished to hear all things that God commanded. A modern congregation must have some fortitude before it asks for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
X. With a spirit of obedience. The word which we translate to hear oftentimes, as in this case, means to hear and obey. It is well to be ready to hear all of Gods commands; better to be ready to obey them.
Results:
1. The gospel was faithfully preached (verse 34). Faithful hearers make faithful preachers.
2. The Holy Ghost was giver (verse 44). Peter yet spake these words presence and the Word:--
I. The great fact and truth realised by Cornelius: Now, therefore, are we all here present before God.
II. The devout and sincere purpose of heart expressed: To hear all things, etc.
1. Now therefore, etc. Evidently spoken by a man who had before recognised and felt Gods presence in his life and ways. We are of a truth alway in Gods presence if we knew it: but there are times when the reality breaks forth with special power for special purposes. But there are other times and ways beside those in which we are met together for public worship, when we may be made feel that we are present before God. All time and place, thought and feeling, are sacred when this great and holy truth is impressed upon us, the Lord God is there.
(1) Have we never felt we were present before God, in our own soul and conscience? Have we never felt within, that there was another Presence besides our own, that penetrated and searched our inmost thoughts?
(2) We may feel we are present before God in His works.
(3) In the course of the Divine providence, its ways and dealings. Behind and above all these busy outward actors, scenes of engagement, there is the Divine Seer and Actor, and His hand is outstretched upon every man, woman and child. Were our eyes opened to see the greatest truth and reality of this scene of our existence and probation, we should feel no words were so true as these; Now, then, are we all here present before God.
(4) Again in the dispensation of truth and privilege vouchsafed to us, God is and comes very near to us. What in fact is Divine truth but the immediate touch, teaching, and reality of God?
(5) Our parents, specially if pious parents, are they not witnesses to us of Gods presence, authority and grace, seeing they are given and appointed to represent Him and lead us to Him?
II. We must have regard to the sincere devout purpose of heart expressed: To hear all things that are commanded thee of God. Here are three things to be noted: the preacher; his message and its source; the receptive state of mind and heart among the hearers.
1. The preacher was Peter the apostle, who, when Cornelius would have worshipped him, on entering his house, said, Stand up, I myself also am a man (verse 26). It has been well and wisely observed, not the angel but the man must preach the gospel to Cornelius. Even salvation itself came to us through the man Christ Jesus, God laying hold of us through the medium of our own nature. Peter had all the experiences of an ignorant, weak, failing, sinful man, and of a man forgiven, converted, transformed, consecrate, Divinely taught and led. Such experiences, with their vital, soul thrilling power, could never proceed from the tongues of angels.
2. Next Peters message and its source: All things that are commanded thee of God. Cornelius had no idea of any self-made or man-made gospel. We now come--
3. To the state of mind and heart in the hearers: To hear all things that are, etc., that are commanded us also, through thee as the Divine organ and representative. The mind of Cornelius was not passive, but as the whole chapter shows, was in intense action and engagement; and he knew and felt by the present living testimony of Gods Spirit and truth in his own spirit, that the things which Peter spake came from God and were commanded of God. It is God Himself who calls us to the obedience of His gospel. It is not mans gospel, but His, commanding us in His name, on His authority. Let man stand aside, that God may be heard and obeyed. (Watson Smith.)
The ideal congregation
I. The ideal congregation will be present at the appointed place betimes. Now therefore we are all here.
II. The ideal congregation will never fail to have unanimity of representation as far as that is possible. We are all here. If it could be said truly, all who could be are here, we would have great reason to rejoice.
III. The ideal congregation will be reverent. We are all here before God.
IV. The ideal congregation will be attentive. We are all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. They do not come to see or be seen, but to hear; not to be gratified or entertained, but to be spiritually profited.
V. The ideal congregation will re sympathetic. There were some communities in which the Lord Jesus Christ could not perform mighty works. There are congregations so cold and unresponsive that the preachers thoughts are chilled in transmission. A man cant be packed in ice without freezing. The Church has a great deal to do with making the minister. Many a sermon has caught its glow and power from the sympathies of those to whom it was delivered. A genial summer is not more effective in calling forth buds and blossoms, than warm hearts are in drawing out all that is best and noblest in a preachers soul.
VI. The ideal congregation will be receptive. Like nature in the spring time, with every tree and flower and grass blade open to receive the gracious ministries of heaven. VII. The ideal congregation will be unprejudiced. We are all here before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. Prejudice is the hardest thing to cope with, for it is not amenable to conviction even when the evidence is overwhelming. Argument cannot do the work of instruction any more than blows can take the place of sunlight. Not what suited their tastes and harmonised with their preconceived notions, but all that was commanded of God. It would be well if congregations now came together with this absolute simplicity and guilelessness of disposition. VIII. The ideal congregation will be obediently disposed. All that is commanded thee of God. Nothing can be of real value in Gods sight which does not shape itself into obedience. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The reciprocal duties of a minister and of his people
I. Let us consider the duty of a minister of religion, which, though not explicitly laid down, is nevertheless implied in the words of my text: he is to teach all things that are commanded him of God; not teaching for doctrines the commandments of men; not setting forth human tradition as of equal importance with the oracles of the living God, but, in humility and godly sincerity, declaring the truth as it is in Jesus. Let us now consider more particularly what the minister is commanded to teach.
1. He is commanded to remind his hearers that they are all by nature born in sin, and the children of wrath; that they are very far gone from original righteousness, and are of their own nature inclined to evil.
2. Having shown his hearers their state by nature, and their utter helplessness and inability to deliver themselves from this spiritual bondage as slaves of sin and Satan, he is authorised to point out to them a way of deliverance.
3. We are commanded to set before our hearers the precepts, as well as the doctrines, of our holy religion; to tell them plainly that profession without practice, that faith without works, will be of no avail to them (Mat_8:20). I have dwelt on the duty of a Christian minister: permit me now to invite your attention--
II. To that of our hearers, which is implied in my text: We are all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. Take heed how ye hear.
1. Receive the Word with an humble and a teachable mind. This is the disposition that was so exemplified in Mary, when she sat at the feet of Jesus, and listened to the sweet expressions that dropped from His lips. This is the disposition recommended by St. James in the following words: Receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls. It is to be feared that many of our hearers enter into the sanctuary strangers to this temper; more eager to judge than to hear; ever on the alert for an opportunity to condemn; putting every phrase to the rack, if it accords not with their notion of propriety.
2. Hear with faith. The Word preached, says St. Paul, did not profit the Jews, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it: it had no influence on their conduct, because they did not believe what they heard.
3. If ye would hear with profit, be constant in prayer, not only in the church, but in the closet. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights. Remember the preparation of the heart in man is from the Lord. Paul may plant, Apollos water; but it is God only that giveth the increase.
4. Be ye practical hearers. St. Paul represents some as ever hearing, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (J. Hughes, M. A.)
Congregations to be well fed with the truth
Dogs often fight because the supply of bones is scanty and congregations frequently quarrel because they do not get sufficient spiritual meat to keep them happy and peaceful. The ostensible ground of dissatisfaction may be something else, but nine times out of ten deficiency in their rations is at the bottom of the mutinies which occur in our Churches. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The best remedy for small congregations
Mr. Christopher Richardson, minister of Kirk Heaton, in Yorkshire, was much followed. A neighbouring minister, Whose parishioners used to go to hear him, complaining once to him that he drew away his flock, Mr. Richardson answered, Feed them better, and they will not stray.
Punctuality in attendance at church
An earnest minister once had the misfortune to succeed a tardy man who had had the congregation in charge for some years. He despaired of reforming them in great matters if he could not reform them in small. He found them in the habit of meeting at twelve oclock, though the hour appointed and agreed upon was eleven. The preacher knew his duty, and began at the minute. The first day after his settlement, his sermon was well-nigh closed before most of his congregation arrived. Some actually arrived just at the benediction. They were confounded. He made no apology. He only asked the seniors if they would prefer any other time than eleven oclock, and he would be sure and attend. A few weeks passed and the church was regularly full, and waiting for the minute. The preacher never failed in twenty years, except in a few cases of indisposition, to commence at the hour appointed. His congregation soon became as punctual and circumspect in other matters as in their attendance at church. (Cyclopoedia of Illustrative Anecdotes.)
A model congregation
This congregation may be held up as a model in three things.
I. Punctuality of Attendance. Now therefore are we all here.
1. All were present. No absentees.
2. All were present in proper time. They were waiting for Peter, and not Peter for them. No coming in during service, and disturbing both preacher and hearers.
II. Devoutness of spirit. Before God. Realised Gods presence. This would inspire--
1. Humility (Exo_3:2-6; 1Sa_16:7; Gen_18:27; Isa_6:5; Job_42:5-6).
2. Sincerity. Here, if anywhere, there should be truth (Isa_57:15; Psa_51:6). Hypocrisy may walk the earth invisible to men, but not to God.
3. High expectation (Mat_18:20). Here the Father is present (Rom_8:32). Here the Son is present (Joh_6:48-53; Mat_23:26). Here the Holy Ghost is present (Joh_6:63; Joh_16:15). We should attend upon ordinances with diligence, preparation, and prayer. Come to Gods house fresh from the company of the gay and the thoughtless, and with no real seriousness of spirit, and is it any wonder if you are not benefited.
III. Practicalness of purpose. The more part knew not wherefore they had come together (Act_19:32). Not so here. Had a clear, settled, well-understood purpose.
1. To hear. Sense of Gods personal interest and love (Rom_10:17; 1Th_5:21; Joh_13:17).
2. To hear what was commanded of God. Looked above the messenger to Him that had sent him. Recognised the Divine authority of the truth. Without this there can be no real good (Exo_3:13; Deu_5:27; Heb_4:2).
3. To hear all that was commanded of God. Law and gospel. The whole counsel of God. There should be fearless honesty both in speaking and hearing. (William Forsyth, A. M.)
A model audience
I. It was noted for punctuality.
1. A sense of the importance of the service. Men generally careful to secure a front seat at theatre, entertainment, banquet. Religion paramount.
2. It secures the whole of the service.
3. It is helpful to the preacher.
4. It makes the service enjoyable.
II. It was noted for reverence.
1. Conscious of the Divine superintendence.
2. Regard for the Divine dignity.
3. Awe of the Divine purity.
4. Engagement in Divine service.
III. It was noted for attention.
1. Unprejudiced attention.
2. Docile attention.
3. Practical attention.
4. Successful attention. They believed and obeyed. (B. D. Johns.)
Concerning audiences, preachers, sermons, and conversions
I. The audience.
1. Before the preacher began this innovation takes place--the audience spoke up to the preacher, the pew to the pulpit. It was a splendid audience, though not very large. How earnestly they came together! What a solidarity there was! No wandering thought or eye, but all was focused; calm and purposeful both in body and soul; so that ere the preacher began, one man could speak for all, Now therefore are we all here present before God. May this audience bring its contribution to the preacher, while it expects the preacher to bring his! The contribution he has a right to expect is, that the people should come united, full of expectation, led into the temple like Simeon by the Spirit of God, at the very moment when Jesus came. No chance, no haphazard in this gathering. We have not come here to spend an idle hour. When asked, Where have you been this morning?--it is wrong to answer Oh, I dropped in to Regent Square. You did not drop in nor drop out. The Lords providences for the whole of the week have been hedging up your way, and securing that you should be here. Fall in with Gods arrangement.
2. I like to dwell on the word all. The people were invited, and they came. This morning the very hour invites us. I know there are many excuses. You can tell me about young children, sickness, waiting on the sick, fogs, east winds, long distances, wet days, etc. In many families, at ten oclock on the Sabbath morning, attendance at church is still an open question. It is no open question on the Monday morning, John, will you go to work today? Oh, said a farmer in Scotland, when a minister rebuked him for not attending church, and said, You know, John, you are never absent from the market. Oh, was the reply, we maun gang to the market. Unconsciously it came out. To come to the house of God was not so urgent. But when we look at this audience we see the benefit of setting ourselves the task of coming with a purpose to Gods house. It will need planning and self-denial. Some of you are here today only because you have trampled upon a hundred obstacles. And some are not here because they have given way to things which will not be allowed to stand in the way of tomorrows engagements.
3. And then when we all come--
(1) The Lord marks how we have pressed forward to meet Him. I think there is no sweeter sight to His holy eyes than to see the people wending their way to His house. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
(2) And when you come in this expectant way, how it helps the reception of the sermon! How we have all suffered from coming to the house of God in a disorderly, hurried way, both as regards body and soul! Then you look up to the preacher and expect him to work miracles on your higgledy-piggledy soul.
4. We are all here present before God.
(1) Try to realise Gods presence; get past outward and temporal things, and call upon your soul to pass into the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High. Compel your soul to grasp the thought--Surely God is in this place; and instead of saying, I knew it not, let us say, We know it, and wait for a clearer revelation of His presence. This is holy ground. Where you are sitting God has converted men ere now. Canst thou come where God has done His mightiest work, carelessly, heedlessly, and merely as a matter of custom and routine? Thou art occupying the room of men and women who today are before the eternal throne. This word is true: We are all present before God--and therefore let there be nothing unworthy of such a Presence and such a place.
(2) And how the thought of Gods presence will help to focus our attention; to take our eyes off each other, and off the preacher! How it will help to prepare us to receive Gods Word! How it will reduce to a minimum the over-critical spirit! Said a preacher to myself, I notice when I give out my text, my people settle down and settle back; but, I am afraid, not so much to hear what I have to say as to watch how I get through.
5. To hear all things that are commanded thee of God. They came to hear Gods Word. You know that today there is a tendency to say, Hearing has been too much magnified. What I come to Gods house for is to worship. The preacher gets far too much space. There may be something in that, but it is exaggerated. What was central here, and what must always be central in a gathering of saints or sinners is the preaching of Gods Word, and the attending thereto by the hearer. That is worship at its highest. All the powers of the soul get their highest use and their fullest freedom when Gods Word is faithfully and lovingly proclaimed. Faith cometh by hearing.
II. The preacher.
1. I have been speaking straightly to you, but now your turn comes. The pew has a right to say to the preacher, Now, give us what God has told you. There are many things that might interestingly occupy an hour; give us, however, the thing that brought us here. And this is needful, for we get so immersed in favourite lines of reading which unconsciously colour our utterances, so that we need from the audience--Now, preacher, Gods Word and truth; all things from Him today, and nothing else. Never mind about reconciling science and revelation; we can get that in our magazines and read it at home. Give us today what really concerns us, All things commanded thee of God. Peter needed that. He was a narrow, bigoted Jew, and he would never, of himself, have preached to Cornelius and his company the sermon they needed. At the best we are but men, and of narrowness and prejudice we have our share. Therefore there is tremendous need that the preacher should be in Gods hand, and come from Gods presence with his soul and voice attuned to a large, full, free, and glorious utterance of the gospel of the grace of God. Leave as to ourselves, and there may be some little glimmering light in our preaching, but only a little: there may be light from every quarter, to use the phrase of the day, save the Sun! The Lord blow out all our penny candles. His light has come. We need to come forth from God, He having poured into us something of the fulness of His mind and heart.
2. Then Peter opened his mouth. Do not run over that phrase and say, Of course. A number of us cannot open our mouths when we preach--it is the most piteous mumbling. Sabbath school teacher, preacher, Open your mouth, and teach the people, as your Lord did and His chief apostle. Let it be seen in the very manner of our speech that our mouth is open, for our heart is enlarged; that it comes, not feebly and faint and constricted, but glad and full and free, for the Lord is with us. Do not say, I have no eloquence; I have a stammering tongue. Who made mans mouth? Have not I the Lord? Open thy mouth; behold I put My words into thy mouth. What does Isaiah say? Lift up, he says--and how much it is needed in this namby-pamby, over-refined, hypercritical age--Lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up; be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Peter opened his mouth. He lifted up his head, and let go! We put down ours, and hold on!
III. The sermon. It was the old gospel. It was new and fresh then. That is one thing that one does sometimes envy the first preachers for; for they had seen Him and His glory. Peter preached Christ, not theology, not a creed; but Jesus, sent for a particular purpose by God; how that, carrying out that purpose, He had died on the Cross and risen again, and that through Him is preached forgiveness of sins. That is where the gospel began then, and where it begins today--forgiveness of sins to a devout man, and one that feared God, and made prayers, and gave alms. People would have said today, with an audience like that, what you want to do is not to take them to the Cross. Show them Christ, of course; but Christ as the great ideal and embodiment of all that is good, and a devout, God-fearing man like Cornelius will be enamoured with Him and make Him his Leader and Pattern. No, says Peter; We preach the Christ who died for sin to everybody. A French officer, whose ship had been taken by Nelson, was brought on board Nelsons vessel, and he walked up to the great admiral and gave him his hand. No, said Nelson; your sword first, if you please. That is the gospel.
IV. The result. There is a new name brought in here. I have talked of Cornelius, of Peter, of Jesus, of God the Father, but here is another name. While Peter yet spake these words about Jesus, The Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the Word. Cornelius possibly had heard of Jesus as a name of reproach and blasphemy. Now, Jesus leapt up into his heart as his Friend and Saviour, and God. That is the miracle of the Gospel. That is what the Holy Ghost does. If you know Jesus Christ, flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto you. Peter was there, as the preacher is here; and the sermon; but the Holy Ghost gives the increase and blesses the Word, and without Him fruit cannot be. (J. McNeill.)
Attending at ordinances enforced
We have here--
1. A call to Peter related--I sent.
2. Peters compliance with the call commended, Thou hast well done that thou art come.
3. An address made to Peter when he was come. In which take notice--
(1) Of a congregation, though small? yet well convened (verse 24).
(2) An acknowledgment of Gods presence in a special manner in religious assemblies, We are all here present before God.
(3) The great end of their meeting was their souls edification, to hear, i.e., to hear and obey. And here is what the minister is to preach and the people to receive: what is commanded of God. The extent of both is all things.
Observe--
1. When God discovers His mind in any particular to a person or people, it is their duty presently to comply with it without delay. The contrary was the fault of Balaam, and of the Jews in Egypt (Jer_44:1-30).
2. It is a blessed thing for a people to call that minister to whom God Himself directs and inclines them. Cornelius did not so much as know Peter by name (verse 5), but he goes to Gods and God directs him.
3. It is a commendable thing in a minister of Christ to comply with the call of God and His people, though it should be offensive to some, and not very agreeable to his own inclinations. The doctrine arising from the text is--It is the duty of a people to attend on ordinances. In discoursing from this I shall--
I. Give reasons why people should attend on and be present at ordinances, where God has set them up among them. Because--
1. God has commanded it (Heb_10:15). The Lord calls His people to be present there, wherever it is. Thus there was the tabernacle in the wilderness, and afterwards the temple, and the synagogues. It was the practice of Christ Himself to attend these places (Luk_4:16).
2. The public assemblies are for the honour of Christ in the world. They are where His honour dwells, where His people meet to profess their subjection to His laws, to receive His orders, to seek His help, to pay Him the tribute of praise.
3. These assemblies are the ordinary place where Christ makes His conquest of souls (Rom_10:14). The gospel is Christs net wherein souls are caught. And it is always good to be in Christs way.
4. They are Christs trysting place with His people, the galleries wherein our Lord walks (Exo_20:24). What a disadvantage had Thomas by his absence from one meeting where Christ met with the rest of the disciples!
5. The delights of Christ and His people meet there; for ordinances are the heaven on earth. Christ delights to be there with His people (Psa_86:2.; Luk_22:15). And they delight to be there with Him, and for Him (Psa_84:1; Psa_48:2; Psa_27:4; Psa_122:1).
6. The necessities of all that mind for heaven require it. Had the ordinances not been necessary, God would never have appointed them. Have not Christs soldiers need of them to clear their rusty armour? do not dead souls need them to quicken them? sleepy souls, to awaken them?
II. Show in what respects people are before the Lord at public ordinances. The Lord is everywhere present (Psa_139:7). But we are before Him in a special manner in the public assemblies. He holds the stars in His right hand, and walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks. Christ is in the assemblies of His people--1, Representatively. He has His agents there, His ministers, who are the Lords proxies to court a wife for their Masters Son (2Co_11:2); His ambassadors to negotiate a peace betwixt God and sinners (2Co_5:20; Mat_10:40),
2. Efficaciously. The Word of the Lord is a powerful word. Christ is there giving life to some, strength to others, and deaths wounds to others (Mic_2:7; Psa_45:5; Hos_6:5).
3. As our witness. Mens eyes and the devils eyes are upon us; but this country in regard to the public service of religion. Our forefathers put their clocks on the outside of their places of worship, that they might not be too late in their attendance: we have transferred them to the inside of the house of God, lest we should stay too long in the service--a sad and an ominous change. (R. Watson.)
Dont grumble about the fodder
Now, deacon, Ive just one word to say. I cant bear our preaching! I get no good. Theres so much in it I dont want that I grow lean on it. I lose my time and pains. Mr. Bunnell, come in here. Theres my cow Thankful--she can teach you theology! A cow teach theology! What do you mean? Now, see, I have just thrown her a forkful of hay. Just watch her. There now! She has found a stick--you know sticks will get into the hay--and see how she tosses it to one side and goes on to eat what is good. There, again! She has found a burdock, and she throws it on one side and goes on eating. And there! She does not relish that bunch of daisies, and leaves them and goes on eating. Before morning she will have cleared the manger of all, save a few sticks and weeds, and she will give milk. Theres milk in that hay, and she knows how to get it out, albeit there may be now and then a stick or weed which she leaves. But if she refused to eat, and spent the time in scolding about the fodder, she, too, would grow lean, and the milk would dry up. Just so with our preaching. Let the old cow teach you. Get all the good you can out of it and leave the rest. You will find a good deal of nourishment in it.
Interested hearers
A gentleman once said to Rowland Hill, It is sixty-five years since I first heard you preach; and the sermon was well worth remembering. You remarked, that some people are very squeamish about the manner of a clergyman in preaching; but you then added, Supposing one is hearing a will read, expecting to receive a legacy, would you employ the time in criticising the lawyers manner while reading it? No: you would give all your interest to ascertain if anything were left to yourself, and how much. Let that, then, be the way in which you listen to the gospel.
Different kinds of hearers
There are four different kinds of hearers of the Word--those like a sponge, that suck up good and bad together, and let both run out immediately; those like a sand glass, that let what enters in at one ear pass out at the other, hearing without thinking; those like a strainer, letting go the good, and retaining the bad; and those like a sieve, letting go the chaff, and retaining the good grain. (T. Boston, D. D.)
Various kinds of hearers
One is like an Athenian, and he hearkeneth after news; if the preacher say anything of our armies beyond the sea, or council at home, or matters of court, that is his lure. Another is like the Pharisee, and he watcheth if anything be said that may be wrested. Another smacks of eloquence, and he gapes for a phrase. Another is malcontent, and he never pricketh up his ears till the preacher come to gird against some whom he spiteth; and when the sermon is done he remembereth nothing which was said to him, but that which was spoken against another. Another cometh to gaze about the church; he hath an evil eye, which is still looking upon that from which Job did avert his eye. Another cometh to muse; so soon as he is set, he falleth into a brown study; sometimes his mind runs on his market, sometimes of his journey, sometimes of his suit, sometimes of his dinner, sometimes of his sport after dinner; and the sermon is done before the man thinks where he is. Another cometh to hear; but so soon as the preacher hath said his prayer, he falls fast asleep, as though he had been brought in for a corpse, and the preacher should preach at his funeral. (H. Smith.)
Truth liked as a sentiment, but disliked as a law of life
A man comes to New York on an errand of fraud. He is seeking to take an estate away from the rightful heirs, because he has some little legal advantage. He has resisted his conscience, and suppressed all his reluctances, and his purpose is fixed. On arriving here he goes to the theatre--that school of morals!--and witnesses a play, the point of which turns on the defrauding of heirs by an old rich uncle--just the same thing as he is attempting. The various parts are gone through with, and everybody cries, and he cries, and he goes away feeling, How mean it is for a man to supplant poor orphans in that way! He cries over and denounces the very act which he is himself performing. You know that such things take place. There are hundreds of men that love to hear about temperance, and go and get drunk. There are many men that love to hear about truth, and lie like witches afterwards. There is nothing more common than instances which go to show that we like as a sentiment things that we do not like as an ethical rule. Oftentimes, when a thing comes to us as a rule of conduct, and lays its law on us, and demands our obedience, we resist it; but when, instead of that, it comes to us as on emotion, we like to lie upon its bosom, as a duck lies on a swell of water. Wicked men like to undulate on these moral elements. They like to go to sea on the gospel. They swing to and fro upon it with infinite pleasure. (H. W. Beecher.)
Hearing and its proper effects
When a man says he received a blessing under a sermon, I beg to inquire what effect it has produced. The Roman soldiers proved the effect produced by Antonys sermon when they flew to avenge the death of Caesar. (J. Newton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v30 Act 10:30 - Act 10:44.
Acts
‘GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS’
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Act 10:30 - Act 10:44.
This passage falls into three parts: Cornelius’s explanation, Peter’s sermon, and the descent of the Spirit on the new converts. The last is the most important, and yet is told most briefly. We may surely recognise the influence of Peter’s personal reminiscences in the scale of the narrative, and may remember that Luke and Mark were thrown together in later days.
I. Cornelius repeats what his messengers had already told Peter, but in fuller detail.
He tells how he was occupied when the angel appeared. He was keeping the Jewish hour of prayer, and the fact that the vision came to him as he prayed had attested to him its heavenly origin. If we would see angels, the most likely place to behold them is in the secret place of prayer. He tells, too, that the command to send for Peter was a consequence of God’s remembrance of his prayer {‘therefore,’ Act 10:32}. His prayers and alms showed that he was ‘of the light,’ and therefore he was directed to what would yield further light.
The command to send for Peter is noteworthy in two respects. It was, first, a test of humility and obedience. Cornelius, as a Roman officer, would be tempted to feel the usual contempt for one of the subject race, and, unless his eagerness to know more of God’s will overbore his pride, to kick at the idea of sending to beg the favour of the presence and instruction of a Jew, and of one, too, who could find no better quarters than a tanner’s house. The angel’s voice commanded, but it did not compel. Cornelius bore the test, and neither waived aside the vision as a hallucination to which it was absurd for a practical man to attend, nor recoiled from the lowliness of the proposed teacher. He pocketed official and racial loftiness, and, as he emphasises, ‘forthwith’ despatched his message. It was as if an English official in the Punjab had been sent to a Sikh ‘Guru’ for teaching.
The other remarkable point about the command is that Philip was probably in Caesarea at the time. Why should Peter have been brought, then, by two visions and two long journeys? The subsequent history explains why. For the storm of criticism in the Jerusalem church provoked by Cornelius’s baptism would have raged with tenfold fury if so revolutionary an act had been done by any less authoritative person than the leader of the Apostles. The Lord would stamp His own approval on the deed which marked so great an expansion of the Church, and therefore He makes the first of the Apostles His agent, and that by a double vision.
‘Thou hast well done that thou art come,’-a courteous welcome, with just a trace of the doubt which had occupied Cornelius during the ‘four days,’ whether this unknown Jew would obey so strange an invitation. Courtesy and preparedness to receive the unknown message beautifully blend in Cornelius’s closing words, which do not directly ask Peter to speak, but declare the auditors’ eagerness to hear, as well as their confidence that what he says will be God’s voice.
A variant reading in Act 10:33 gives ‘in thy sight’ for ‘in the sight of God,’ and has much to recommend it. But in any case we have here the right attitude for us all in the presence of the uttered will and mind of God. Where such open-eared and open-hearted preparedness marks the listeners, feebler teachers than Peter will win converts. The reason why much earnest Christian teaching is vain is the indifference and non-expectant attitude of the hearers, who are not hearkeners. Seed thrown on the wayside is picked up by the birds.
II. Peter’s sermon is, on the whole, much like his other addresses which are abundantly reported in the early part of the Acts.
The great business of the preachers then was to tell the history of Jesus. Christianity is, first, a recital of historical events, from which, no doubt, principles are deduced, and which necessarily lead on to doctrines; but the facts are first.
But the familiar story is told to Cornelius with some variation of tone. And it is prefaced by a great word, which crystallises the large truth that had sprung into consciousness and startling power in Peter, as the result of his own and Cornelius’s experience. He had not previously thought of God as ‘a respecter of persons,’ but the conviction that He was not had never blazed with such sun-clearness before him as it did now. Jewish narrowness had, unconsciously to himself, somewhat clouded it; but these four days had burned in on him, as if it were a new truth, that ‘in every nation’ there may be men accepted of God, because they ‘fear Him and work righteousness.’
That great saying is twisted from its right meaning when it is interpreted as discouraging the efforts of Christians to carry the Gospel to the heathen; for, if the ‘light of nature’ is sufficient, what was Peter sent to Caesarea for? But it is no less maltreated when evangelical Christians fail to grasp its world-wide significance, or doubt that in lands where Christ’s name has not been proclaimed there are souls groping for the light, and seeking to obey the law written on their hearts. That there are such, and that such are ‘accepted of Him,’ and led by His own ways to the fuller light, is obviously taught in these words, and should be a welcome thought to us all.
The tangled utterances which immediately follow, sound as if speech staggered under the weight of the thoughts opening before the speaker. Whatever difficulty attends the construction, the intention is clear,-to contrast the limited scope of the message, as confined to the children of Israel, with its universal destination as now made clear. The statement which in the Authorised and Revised Versions is thrown into a parenthesis is really the very centre of the Apostle’s thought. Jesus, who has hitherto been preached to Israel, is ‘Lord of all,’ and the message concerning Him is now to be proclaimed, not in vague outline and at second hand, as it had hitherto reached Cornelius, but in full detail, and as a message in which he was concerned.
Contrast the beginning and the ending of the discourse,-’the word sent unto the children of Israel’ and ‘every one that believeth on Him shall receive remission of sins.’ A remarkable variation in the text is suggested by Blass in his striking commentary, who would omit ‘Lord’ and read, ‘The word which He sent to the children of Israel, bringing the good tidings of peace through Jesus Christ,-this [word] belongs to all.’ That reading does away with the chief difficulties, and brings out clearly the thought which is more obscurely expressed in a contorted sentence by the present reading.
The subsequent resume of the life of Jesus is substantially the same as is found in Peter’s other sermons. But we may note that the highest conceptions of our Lord’s nature are not stated. It is hard to suppose that Peter after Pentecost had not the same conviction as burned in his confession, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ But in these early discourses neither the Divinity and Incarnation nor the atoning sacrifice of Jesus is set forth. He is the Christ, ‘anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power.’ God is with Him {Nicodemus had got as far as that}. He is ‘ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead.’
We note, too, that His teaching is not touched upon, nor any of the profounder aspects of His work as the Revealer of God, but His beneficence and miraculous deliverances of devil-ridden men. His death is declared, but without any of the accusations of His murderers, which, like lance-thrusts, ‘pricked’ Jewish hearers. Nor is the efficacy of that death as the sacrifice for the world’s sin touched upon, but it is simply told as a fact, and set in contrast with the Resurrection. These were the plain facts which had first to be accepted.
The only way of establishing facts is by evidence of eye-witnesses. So Peter twice {Act 10:39, Act 10:41} adduces his own and his colleagues’ evidence. But the facts are not yet a gospel, unless they are further explained as well as established. Did such things happen? The answer is, ‘We saw them.’ What did they mean? The answer begins by adducing the ‘witness’ of the Apostles to a different order of truths, which requires a different sort of witness. Jesus had bidden them ‘testify’ that He is to be Judge of living and dead; that is, of all mankind. Their witness to that can only rest on His word.
Nor is that all. There is yet another body of ‘witnesses’ to yet another class of truths. ‘All the prophets’ bear witness to the great truth which makes the biography of the Man the gospel for all men,- that the deepest want of all men is satisfied through the name which Peter ever rang out as all-powerful to heal and bless. The forgiveness of sins through the manifested character and work of Jesus Christ is given on condition of faith to any and every one who believes, be he Jew or Gentile, Galilean fisherman or Roman centurion. Cornelius may have known little of the prophets, but he knew the burden of sin. He did not know all that we know of Jesus, and of the way in which forgiveness is connected with His work, but he did know now that it was connected, and that this Jesus was risen from the dead, and was to be the Judge. His faith went out to that Saviour, and as he heard he believed.
III. Therefore the great gift, attesting the divine acceptance of him and the rest of the hearers, came at once.
There had been no confession of their faith, much less had there been baptism, or laying on of Apostolic hands. The sole qualification and condition for the reception of the Spirit which John lays down in his Gospel when he speaks of the ‘Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive,’ was present here, and it was enough. Peter and his brethren might have hesitated about baptizing an uncircumcised believer. The Lord of the Church showed Peter that He did not hesitate.
So, like a true disciple, Peter followed Christ’s lead, and though ‘they of the circumcision’ were struck with amazement, he said to himself, ‘Who am I, that I should withstand God?’ and opened his heart to welcome these new converts as possessors of ‘like precious faith’ as was demonstrated by their possession of the same Spirit. Would that Peter’s willingness to recognise all who manifest the Spirit of Christ, whatever their relation to ecclesiastical regulations, had continued the law and practice of the Church!
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv30–32 30-33. (30) " Then Cornelius said, Four days ago…
30-33. (30) " Then Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour I was praying in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright apparel, (31) and said, Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your alms are had in remembrance before God. (32) Send, therefore, to Joppa, and call for Simon who is surnamed Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea-shore. When he comes he will speak to you. (33) Immediately, therefore, I sent for you, and you have done well that you have come. Now, then, we are all present here before God to hear all things which are by God commanded you. " In this last remark Cornelius speaks for his friends who were assembled, as well as for himself. As was becoming the occasion, he had gathered in, to hear the expected messenger, only those who were willing to hear him as a messenger of God. In the statement that they were all present before God to hear what he had commanded, there was an implied pledge to obey what they might hear, and there is no doubt, from the sequel, that such was their purpose.
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v30 The explanation of Cornelius:
The explanation of Cornelius:
v. 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
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v. 31. and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.
v. 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 seaside; who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.
v. 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.
It was doubtless with deepest emotion that Peter entered into the door of a Gentile’s house, and Cornelius was no less deeply moved at the evident hearing of his prayer by the Lord and by the prospect which was thereby opened up to him. The two had probably agreed that it would be best for the sake of all those present to rehearse the connection of events once more, in order that the minds of all might be clear on the matter. Cornelius therefore repeats the story of the events leading up to the present moment: that four days ago, on the fourth day before, he had been engaged in prayer in his house, at the ninth hour; that a man had stood before him in a shining vestment, his humble description of the angel that had appeared to him; that this messenger had informed him of the hearing of his prayer and of the remembering of his alms before God (both his prayers and his alms had been sacrifices by which he had brought himself into God’s remembrance); that he had commanded him to send to Joppa and call thence Simon with the surname Peter, who was lodging in the house of one Simon, a tanner, by the sea; that this Peter, having come, would speak to him, bring him a very important message. All these words of Cornelius, presenting a very vivid picture, were addressed as much to his relatives and friends as to Peter. But now he turns to the apostle with a characteristic, humble, beautiful statement: Immediately, at once, without delay, I sent to thee, and thou hast done well in coming; now we all here before God are present to hear all that thou hast been charged with by the Lord to proclaim to us. There are two points of deep significance in this statement: that the entire assembly was conscious of the presence of God, and that they were all convinced that it was a message from God which Peter was charged with proclaiming. Peter therefore surely spoke under ideal circumstances, and could expect that his audience would attend with the proper diligence and relevance.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v30 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Cornelius responds to Peter's question.
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General Information:
In verses 31 and 32 Cornelius quotes what the angel had said to him when he appeared to him at the ninth hour.
General Information:
The words "you" and "your" are all singular. The word "we" here does not include Peter. (See: Forms of You and Exclusive and Inclusive "We")
Four days ago
Cornelius is referring to the day before the third night before he is speaking to Peter. Biblical culture counts the current day, so the day before three nights ago is "four days ago." Current Western culture does not count the current day, so many Western translations read, "three days ago."
praying
Some ancient authorities say "fasting and praying" instead of simply "praying." (See: Textual Variants)
at the ninth hour
The normal afternoon time that the Jews pray to God.
your prayer has been heard by God
This can be stated in active form. AT: "God has heard your prayer" (See: Active or Passive)
reminded God about you
"brought you to God's attention." This does not imply that God had forgotten.
call to you a man named Simon who is called Peter
"tell Simon who is also called Peter to come to you"
at once
"right away"
You are kind to have come
This expression is a polite way of thanking Peter for coming. AT: "I certainly thank you for coming"
in the sight of God
This refers to the presence of God.
that you have been instructed by the Lord to say
This can be stated in active form. AT: "that the Lord has told you to say" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
Cornelius
hour, hours
pray
send
Joppa
Peter
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.