Study #38: God sent Peter to preach the Gospel to Cornelius (Acts 9:32

Study #38: God sent Peter to preach the Gospel to Cornelius (Acts 9:32 - 43)

Acts, Chapter 1.5: God elected special Gentiles to hear the Gospel and be saved (9:32 - 12:24)

§Complement Introduction: God used Peter to heal a paralyzed man and raise a woman from the dead (9:32 - 43)

¶Opposite Peter healed a paralyzed man at Lydda (9:32 - 35)

¶Opposite Peter raised a woman from the dead at Joppa (9:36 - 43)

§Complement Body: God led Peter to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles for the first time (10:1 - 11:30)

¶Unique Peter received a vision from God to prepare him to meet with the Gentile Roman Cornelius and his family (10:1 - 23a)

¶Complement Peter met with Cornelius and his family to preach the Gospel to them (10:23b - 48)

¶Complement Peter met with the church at Jerusalem to explain the sequence of events that led him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (11:1 - 18)

¶Opposite The Jews preached the Gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch, and the converts became the first church of the Gentiles (11:19 - 24)

¶Opposite Agabus the Prophet prophesied of a great famine, which led the church to send relief to the Christians in Judea (11:25 - 30)

§Unique Conclusion: The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from death, and killed king Herod (12:1 - 24)

¶Complement The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from being slain by king Herod (12:1 - 17)

¶Complement The angel of the Lord smote king Herod and killed him for his pride (12:18 - 24)

Comment: In this study, we will only look at the first paragraph of the Body Section, because of the large amount of text.

§Complement Body: God led Peter to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles for the first time (Acts 10:1 - 11:30)

¶Unique Peter received a vision from God to prepare him to meet with the Gentile Roman Cornelius and his family (Acts 10:1 - 23a)

Opposite And it came to pass, that he stayed many days in Joppa with one Simon, a tanner.

Opposite There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band: a religious man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much charity to the people, and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision (evidently about the ninth hour of the day) an angel of God coming in to him, and saying to him, “Cornelius.” And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your charity have come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. He lodges with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside; he shall tell you what you should do.” And when the angel who spoke to Cornelius was gone, he called two of his household servants, and a religious soldier of them who waited on him continually; and when he had declared all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Complement On the next day, as they went on their journey, and drew near to the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour. And he became very hungry, and would have eaten; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and saw Heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending to him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: in which were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, saying, “Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord: for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, do not call it common.” This was done three times; and the vessel was received up again into Heaven.

Complement Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men who were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate, and called, and asked whether Simon, who was surnamed Peter, was lodged there. While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. Therefore arise, and get down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.”

Unique Then Peter went down to the men who were sent to him from Cornelius; and said, “Behold, I am he whom you seek; what is the reason for which you have come?” And they said, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that fears God, and of good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by a holy angel to send for you into his house, and to hear words of you.” Then he called them in, and lodged them.

Comments: The Golden Ratio design of the first paragraph is “OO-CCU”: two opposites, two complements, and one unique.

Opposite Peter stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner of animal hides

Opposite An angel told Cornelius to send men to Joppa to find Peter

Complement God gave Peter a vision of unclean creatures which He had cleansed

Complement The Spirit told Peter that He had sent the three men to him

Unique Peter learned from the men that Cornelius had seen an angel who told him to send for Peter

Now there are two important things in this text that I would like to point out to you:

1) Peter saw a vision from God. But this brings up a question: Are visions and dreams always of God?

The answer is clearly “No”. There are many false prophets in our world today who claim to have had visions and dreams from God. In fact, even in Peter’s day in the first century A.D., there were many false prophets who claimed to have had visions and dreams from God; and this was true going all the way back to the days of Moses and beyond.

God said, “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had truly stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God nearby,’ says Jehovah, ‘and not also a God far away? Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ says Jehovah. ‘Do I not fill Heaven and earth?’ says Jehovah. ‘I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my Name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’” Jeremiah 23:21-25

“And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy; and say to them that prophesy out of their own hearts, ‘Hear the Word of Jehovah; thus says the Lord Jehovah: ‘Woe to the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!” Ezekiel 13:1-3

“Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life; therefore you shall not see vanity, nor divine divinations any longer: for I will deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am Jehovah.’’” Ezekiel 13:22-23

Satan can give dreams and visions to anyone he chooses, so we need to be extremely careful and discerning when someone tells us that he or she has seen a vision or had a dream that they believe was from God.

How can you tell the difference between a true prophet and a false prophet? Their works and their doctrines.

1) Their works are a very good indicator, because every false prophet commits fornication and/or adultery: they are very immoral. They might have many “wives” or just many “girlfriends” or many men. They will also tell many lies; they are liars by nature, so when you see them telling lies and it doesn’t bother them, you know that they are not of God.

2) Their doctrine is another good indicator, because every false prophet will say things that clearly contradict the plain teachings of the Bible. Many times a false prophet will deny the Trinity of God (but not always):

“Beloved, believe not every spirit; but test the spirits to see whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist, of which you have heard that it would come; and even now is it already in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3

A false prophet will often claim that he or she is God or Jehovah! Many notorious false prophets in America have done this; also the Hindu swamis claim to be a god, and that their words are the words of God. Anyone who does this is not of God and is serving Satan.

This is where your own knowledge of the Bible is very important: if you are ignorant of the Bible, you may fall prey to these evil people; but if you know the Bible well, you will know that something is wrong with them, even if you cannot understand the reason well.

Christians have a more certain Word that we can rely on, and we know that it can never change: the eternal Word of God, the Holy Bible! This is what we need to trust in and believe at all times. Read it daily! Ask God for understanding and wisdom as you read, and He will give you understanding and wisdom:

“All Scripture is God-breathed; and is beneficial for doctrine, for rebuke, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, and thoroughly equipped for all good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Visions and dreams COULD be of God, but they are unreliable, because Satan can give you the same thing, and it is difficult to know the difference. Trust only in what the Bible says, because we know that the Bible will never change; and it is always trustworthy, because it is the written and Eternal Word of God.

"We also have a more certain Word of prophecy; unto which you do well that you take heed, as to a Light that shines in a dark place, until the Eternal Day dawns, and the Day Star arises in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture comes of one’s own interpretation: for the prophecy came at no time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:19-21

2) Cornelius was a just or a righteous man, the Bible says.

This is something that I have said since the beginning of these studies in Acts, that many of the people who heard the Gospel at Pentecost, Cornelius and his family, and the Jews who were followers of John the Baptist in Acts 19:1-7 were ALREADY SAVED. In other words, they were believers in Jehovah under the Old Covenant; and their home was in Heaven. Their sins had been washed away through their faith in the blood shed by the animal sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem through the Aaronic priesthood and the Law of Moses.

As we will see in the next study, when Peter preached the Gospel to Cornelius and his family, the Bible says

“While Peter still spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them who heard the Word;” Acts 10:44

In other words, Peter did not give an invitation to Cornelius and his family to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, because they were already believers in Jehovah under the Old Covenant. The Holy Spirit fell on all them who heard the Word, because they had transitioned from the Old Covenant of animal sacrifices to the New Covenant of the Finished Work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The difference between the two Covenants is in the OBJECT of their faith:

1) Under the Old Covenant, the object of faith was Jehovah God through the mediator of the animal sacrifice offered up by the priest of Aaron. This sacrifice had to be repeated over and over again, although once a person was saved under the Old Covenant, they were always saved: they could not lose their salvation.

2) Under the New Covenant, the object of faith was Jesus Christ and his Finished Work on the cross: in other words, the work of atonement and expiation for sins accomplished by Jesus in his three hours on the cross for the sins of all mankind, once for all time, and never to be repeated.

Cornelius and the other Old Covenant saints who became Christians during the Book of Acts did something that we cannot do today, because no one since the first century A.D. has been saved under the Old Covenant. Only those who were living before the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus could be an Old Covenant saint.

So we need to be very careful about how we read and interpret the events described in the Book of Acts. We cannot say that Cornelius and his family were saved after Peter preached the Gospel to them; but rather, they were COMPLETED in their faith in Jehovah God by transferring their faith to Jesus from the system of animal sacrifice in the Temple in Jerusalem. The same is true for the Jews that Peter preached to on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, and the followers of John the Baptist in Acts 19:1-7.

This is a subject that we will study in detail in the next study of the Letter to the Hebrews.

Are you saved? Have you repented of your sins, and placed your trust in the Jesus Christ of the Bible for your eternal Salvation?

Or, are you trusting in Mary and the saints? Or, are you trusting in Mohammed or Buddha or even your own good works? Maybe you believe that you are a Christian because you were baptized as a baby, or that your family is a Christian family. None of those things will succeed in getting you into Heaven after you die, according to the Scriptures.

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: NO MAN comes to the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” John 10:1

“Then Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the Door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them.” John 10:7-8

The Bible says that there is no other way to be saved, except through Jesus Christ and his Finished Work of salvation on the cross:

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other Name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

“But as many as received him, to them gave he authority to become the children of God: even to them that believe on his Name” John 1:12

“for [it is written], “whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13

Would you like to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and know that you are saved and have Eternal Life? You can do it right now. Use this prayer as a model for your own words:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, were buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.