The Church Enjoys a Period of Peace, 9:31.
[31] These three regions were the scenes of the labours of the Lord. Here the church first took root and though there was strong opposition, the church grew. After a time, the persecution ceased, and there was peace.
Peter Comes to Lydda, 9:32-35.
[32-35] Our attention is now turned to the apostle Peter. We last noted his activity in Acts 8:25 when he returned to Jerusalem from the visit to Samaria. Evidently, about that time, he left Jerusalem to preach throughout the surrounding country until he came to Lydda. At Lydda, Peter healed a man, and as a result of this miracle, many people turned to the Lord.
Peter Is Called to Joppa, He Raises Tabitha, 9:36-43.
[36] Dorcas was an example of an active Christian. She was full of good works and had many friends because of the things she did.
[37-39] It is likely that the disciples at Joppa had heard of the cure of Aeneas. When Dorcas died, they thought of the power of Peter. They hoped Peter might raise Dorcas from the dead.
Acts 9:40-43
40 Peter sent everyone out of the room. He kneeled down and prayed. Then he turned to Tabitha’s body and said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. 41 He gave her his hand and helped her stand up. Then he called the holy people and the widows into the room. He showed them Tabitha; she was alive! 42 People everywhere in Joppa learned about this. Many of these people believed in the Lord Jesus. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for many days. He stayed with a man named Simon who was a leather-worker.
[40-43] Faced with this situation, perhaps Peter remembered when the Lord had raised Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:35-43). Like Jesus, Peter sent the rest of the people outside. Then Dorcas was raised from the dead. The apostles did not often use their power to raise the dead. The result of this miracle is evident since many turned to the Lord.
It ought to be observed that the rest of the disciples did not possess the power to raise the dead. It has been pointed out previously that the apostles possessed greater power than others.
Other disciples received certain powers through the laying on of the apostles’ hands. Nowhere does the New Testament teach that all Christians had the power to perform any miracle.
Acts 10:1-8
10 1 In the city of Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius. He was an officer in the “Italian” regiment of the Roman army. 2 Cornelius was a good man. He and everyone who lived in his home worshiped the true God. He gave much of his money to the poor people. Cornelius always prayed to God. 3 One afternoon about three o’clock, Cornelius clearly saw a vision. In the vision, an angel of God came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at the angel. He became afraid and asked, “What do you want, sir?” The angel said to Cornelius, “God has heard your prayers. He has seen your gifts to the poor people. God has not forgotten the things you have done. 5 Send some men now to the town of Joppa. Send for a man named Simon. He is also called Peter. 6 Simon is staying with another man named Simon, who is a leather-worker. He has a house beside the ocean.” 7 The angel who spoke to Cornelius left. Then Cornelius called two of his servants and a soldier. This soldier was a good man. They always stayed close to Cornelius. 8 Cornelius explained everything to these three men. Then he sent them to Joppa.
Cornelius Sends for Peter, 10:1-8.
[1-2] Peter was called to another city. This time he had to go some fifty kilometres north of Joppa to Caesarea.
Cornelius was an army leader. His men were a company of Italian soldiers. Cornelius was a Gentile but had no confidence in the idolatrous worship of the Gentiles. He had come to trust in God. Gentiles who followed the one true God were called “Godfearers.” Such men had not been circumcised, but they did respect the Jewish community and the worship of the one true God. The high moral character of Cornelius is clearly described. As far as general moral character is concerned, he was a very good man. But he was lost. However, he was a seeker after God. Therefore, God made it possible for him to know the way of salvation (Matthew 7:7-11).
[3-8] There were a number of miracles associated with the conversion of Cornelius. The major reason for these miracles was that Cornelius was a Gentile. Power was shown to prove that Peter was from God.
The gospel was to be preached to the whole world (Matthew 28:18-20). But at that time, the gospel had not been preached to the Gentiles. The gospel had spread rather quickly throughout the land of Judea. It had not been long before Philip went to Samaria and preached to those half-Jews. But the gospel had not reached the Gentiles. It seems to have been nearly 10 years after the beginning of the church before the events of this chapter occurred. Probably, the gospel would not have been preached to Gentiles until much later if God had not intervened with miracles. Cornelius saw a vision. The prophet Joel had spoken of such events, and Peter explained that the prophecy was fulfilled in those days (Acts 2:17-21). Cornelius was told that his prayers had been received by God and that he should send for Peter. Without delay, he followed those instructions.
Acts 10:9-21
9 The next day, these men came near Joppa. At that time, Peter was going up to the roof to pray. It was about noon. 10 Peter was hungry and wanted to eat. But while they were preparing the food for Peter to eat, a vision came to him. 11 He saw something coming down through the open sky. It looked like a big sheet coming down to the ground. It was being lowered to the ground by its four corners. 12 Every kind of animal was in it – animals which walk on four feet, animals which crawl on the ground, and birds which fly in the air. 13 Then a voice said to Peter, “Get up, Peter; kill any one of these animals and eat it.” 14 But Peter said, “I would never do that, Lord! I have never eaten food which is unholy or not pure.” 15 But the voice said to him the second time, “God has made these things pure. Don’t call them ‘unholy’!” 16 This happened a third time. Then the whole thing was taken back up into the sky immediately. 17 Peter was wondering what this vision meant. Then the men whom Cornelius had sent found Simon’s house. They were standing at the gate. 18 They asked, “Is Simon Peter staying here?” 19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Listen, three men are looking for you. 20 Get up and go downstairs. Go with these men and don’t have any doubts. I have sent them to you.” 21 So, Peter went downstairs to the men. He said, “I am the man you are looking for. Why did you come here?”
Peter’s Vision and Instructions to Go to Cornelius, 10:9-22.
[9-16] While the messengers from Cornelius were on their way, Peter also saw a vision. It was about time for the noonday meal. While Peter waited, he prayed to God. Roofs of houses there were flat, and people used them like rooms. Peter saw a vision of a large sheet with all kinds of animals in it. A voice from heaven instructed him to eat. Peter objected at once to this because it implied that he might eat unclean flesh. Under the law of Moses, many animals were declared unclean, and Jews would not eat those animals. While Peter realized that the law of Moses had been taken out of the way, he was still influenced by his former allegiance to that law. It was this strict Jewish concept of purity that kept him and others from taking the gospel to the Gentiles. Jews considered the Gentiles to be unclean. They would not even enter the home of a Gentile. But in this vision God taught Peter that Gentiles should not be considered unclean.
[17-22] Peter did not understand the meaning of this vision at first. It was only later that he fully understood that God had cleansed the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-36). While he was considering this vision, the messengers from Cornelius appeared at the gate. The Spirit told Peter to go with these men because He had sent them. Peter was surprised at what was happening, but he was willing to follow the directions of the Spirit.
Acts 10:22-33
22 The men answered, “A holy angel told Cornelius to invite you to his house. Cornelius is a Roman army officer. He is a good man; he worships God. All of the Jewish people respect him. The angel told Cornelius to invite you to his house, so that he may listen to the things you have to say.” 23 Peter asked the men to come in and stay for the night. The next day, Peter got ready and went away with the three men. Some of the Jewish brothers from Joppa went with Peter. 24 The next day they came into the city of Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them. He had already called in his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him. Cornelius fell down at Peter’s feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter made him get up. Peter said, “Stand up! I am only a man, like you.” 27 Peter continued talking with Cornelius. Then Peter went inside and saw a large group of people there. 28 Peter said to them, “You people understand that it is forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit any non-Jewish person. But God has shown me that I should not call any person ‘unholy’ or ‘unclean.’ 29 That is why I didn’t argue when the men invited me to come here. Now, please tell me why you sent for me.” 30 Cornelius said, “Four days ago, I was praying in my house. It was at this same time – three o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, there was an angel standing before me. He was dressed in shining clothes. 31 The man said, ‘Cornelius! God has heard your prayer. He has seen your gifts to the poor people. God has not forgotten the things you have done. 32 So, send someone to the city of Joppa. Ask Simon Peter to come. Peter is staying in the house of another man named Simon, who is a leather-worker. His house is beside the ocean.’ 33 So, I sent for you immediately. It was very good of you to come here. Now we are all here in the presence of God. We want to hear everything that the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
The Meeting of Peter and Cornelius, 10:23-33.
[23-24] Cornelius was anxious to hear Peter’s message. He realized that this message would be important. He invited both his family and his friends to hear also. This is a good lesson for us.
[25-27] When Peter entered, Cornelius felt that he must worship him. At once, Peter showed him that this was not right. Peter was only a man. No man deserves the honour of worship. However, many men in these modern days seek that honour. They wish to be addressed with such exalted titles as “Reverend,” “Holy Father,” or other such titles. They dress in flowing garments and adorn themselves with many things. Some require their followers to bow down before them. In many ways, men have corrupted the simple Christianity that the early disciples knew.
[28-33] Peter observed the unusual events of that occasion. Jews would not normally go into the house of a Gentile. Peter was now willing to associate with those Gentiles because of the vision from God. In Christ, we must forget tribal hatred
Acts 10:34-48
34 Peter began to speak, “Now I understand! God treats everyone the same. 35 God accepts any person who worships Him and does what is right. It doesn’t matter what race a person comes from. 36 God has spoken to the sons of Israel. He sent them the Good News, that peace has come through Jesus the Messiah, who is the Lord of all men! 37 You know what occurred all over Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached to the people about immersion. 38 You know about Jesus from Nazareth. God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power. Jesus went everywhere doing good things for people. He healed everyone who was ruled by the Devil. God was with Jesus. 39 We saw all of the things that he did in Judea and in Jerusalem. But Jesus was killed; they put him on a cross made of wood. 40 However, on the third day after his death, God raised Jesus to life! God allowed a few people to see him clearly. 41 Jesus was not seen by all of the people; only the witnesses whom God had already chosen – they saw him. We are those witnesses! We ate and drank with Jesus after he was raised from death. 42 Jesus commanded us to preach to the people. He told us to tell them that he is the one whom God chose to be the judge of all people, living or dead. 43 Every person who commits himself to Jesus will be forgiven through the authority of Jesus. All of the prophets say that this is true . . . . ” 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came upon all those people who were listening to his speech. 45 The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed. They were shocked because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on people who were not Jewish. 46 These Jewish believers heard them speaking different inspired languages and praising God. Then Peter said, 47 “Can we refuse to allow these people to be immersed in water? They have received the Holy Spirit the same as we did!” 48 So, Peter commanded that Cornelius and his relatives and friends be immersed by the authority of Jesus the Messiah. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
Peter’s Sermon, 10:34-43.
[34-36] The vision had taught Peter that God does not respect one nation or tribe above another. God demands that all people worship Him and do what is right. Peter’s sermon informed the audience of what they should do.
[36-37] The people there knew something about Christ. They had undoubtedly heard many times about this One who had done so many good things. This One is Lord of all. Jesus had announced that He had all authority (Matthew 28:18). Even demons were subject to Him (Luke 10:17).
[38-42] Peter said that he was an eyewitness of what he was telling. Christ was killed by evil men, but God raised Him from the dead. After His return from the grave, He appeared to many people. No one could deny that He was alive. After Jesus appeared to the apostles, He told them to preach to the people. A part of their message was that Christ had been appointed as judge of both the living and the dead.
[43] Salvation was promised through this Christ. The prophets had spoken of this Saviour. Peter was an eyewitness of the resurrected Lord. Salvation was offered to everyone who believed in him. But we must do more than just believe. Even demons believe (James 2:19). Religious rulers believed in Him but would not confess their faith (John 12:42). But a true believer will be saved because he is an obedient believer. God accepts all who worship Him and do what is right (Acts 10:35). This is what Jesus had said in His Great Commission (Mark 16:16).
The Conversion of Cornelius and His Household, 10:44-48.
[44] Another amazing miracle occurred while Peter was teaching. The Holy Spirit came upon this audience of Gentiles. What happened must be seen in the context of the circumstances. This was the first time the gospel had been preached to Gentiles. God had been working miraculously with both Cornelius and Peter to prepare for this occasion. Peter had recognized that the prejudices among the Jews might cause them to reject the conversion of Cornelius. To assist in this problem, he had brought six Jewish brethren with him as witnesses (Acts 10:23).
[45-46] The Jews who accompanied Peter were amazed that the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit. How are we to understand this coming of the Spirit? The purpose of this miracle was to convince the Jews that the Gentiles were worthy to receive the gospel. Therefore, it served the same purpose as the vision Peter had received. Evidently, what these Gentiles received was the gift of languages. This gift then – became a sign to the Jews that God accepted the Gentiles.
[47] It was obvious that God did approve of the Gentiles as disciples. Peter turned to the Jews who had come with him to ask if they could forbid that the Gentiles be immersed. Since the Gentiles had received the Spirit as the Jews had on Pentecost, they obviously could be baptized as well as the Jews.
[48] The Jews were convinced that God accepted the Gentiles. The Gentiles were baptized immediately. This was the universal practice throughout the New Testament. There is no valid cause for delay in immersing those who genuinely believe in the Lord and are penitent of their sins. The entire family decided together. They were united in Christ. It is very important for every family to be united in this way. Our unity in Christ is even more important than unity in our clan or tribe.
Acts 11:1-11
11 1 The apostles and the brothers in Judea heard that non-Jewish people had also accepted God’s message. 2 However, there were some Jewish believers who argued with Peter when he came back to Jerusalem. 3 They said, “You went into the homes of men who are not Jewish! You even ate with them!” 4 Then Peter began to explain the whole story to them. 5 He said, “I was in the town of Joppa. While I was praying, a vision came to me. In the vision, I saw something coming down from the sky. It looked like a big sheet. It was being lowered to the ground by its four corners. It came down and stopped very near to me. 6 After staring, I looked inside it and I saw animals, both tame and wild. I saw animals which crawl and birds which fly in the air. 7 I heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill any of these animals and eat!’ 8 But I said, ‘I would never do that, Lord! I have never eaten anything that is unholy or not pure.’ 9 But the voice from the sky answered a second time, ‘God has made these things pure. Don’t call them unholy!’ 10 This happened a third time. Then the whole thing was pulled back up into the sky. 11 Suddenly three men came to the house where I was staying. These three men were sent to me from the city of Caesarea.”
Peter Defends His Actions in Jerusalem, 11:1-18.
[1] It was surprising news that the Gentiles had also received the gospel. Peter knew that the Jewish brethren would oppose this. He had taken six Jewish brethren as witnesses. When he was called to defend his actions, he had witnesses to support him.
[2-3] Some Jewish brethren continued to support the law of Moses. They did not believe Jews could have any association at all with Gentiles. Such men gave Paul much trouble when he preached to the Gentiles. (Note Acts 15:1-2.) They had not learned that in Christ God makes no distinction (Acts 10:34-35; Romans 1:16). We must remember this today because God accepts all men, regardless of their tribe or age or wealth.
[4-11] To prove to these Jewish brethren that God accepts Gentiles, Peter told what had happened. Most of this speech was a review of what we have noted in chapter ten. His first piece of evidence was that God gave him a vision and sent him to Cornelius. This being so, he could not refuse to go. Neither could his hearers reject this message from God.
Acts 11:12-21
12 The Spirit told me to go along with them without doubts. These six brothers here also went with me. We went into the house of Cornelius. 13 Cornelius told us about the angel that he had seen standing in his house. The angel said to him, ‘Send someone to Joppa. Invite Simon Peter to come. 14 He will tell you words by which you and everyone in your group will be saved.’ 15 After I began my speech, the Holy Spirit came upon them, the same as He did upon us in the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the words of the Lord Jesus when he used to say: ‘John immersed people in water, but you will be immersed in the Holy Spirit!’ 17 God gave the same gift to these people that He gave to us who believed in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. So, could I stop God?” 18 When the group heard these things, they stopped arguing. They gave glory to God and said, “Then God is allowing non-Jewish people to change their hearts and have life, too!” 19 The believers were scattered by the persecution which occurred after Stephen was killed. Some of the believers went to places far away, like Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch in Syria. The believers told the message in these places, but they told it only to Jews. 20 However, some of these believers came to the city of Antioch. They were men from Cyprus and Cyrene. These men were also talking to non-Jews, telling them the Good News, that Jesus is Lord. 21 The Lord was helping the believers. A large group of people believed and turned to the Lord.
[12-13] His second piece of evidence involved the Spirit. The Spirit told him to go. There were also six brethren who went with him and were witnesses of what had happened. They made his third piece of evidence. The fourth bit of evidence was that the Lord had also appeared to Cornelius.
[14] Peter went, taking the message of salvation. God does not save men separate from the message of salvation. It is the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). Peter went to preach the gospel so that those Gentiles might be saved.
[15] The Holy Spirit came upon those people at the beginning of Peter’s sermon. Peter explained that what happened there was like what happened at the beginning. By “beginning,” Peter referred to the beginning of the church in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).
[16-17] Peter was reminded of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which the Jews had experienced on Pentecost. Peter’s conclusion was this: If God gave miraculous gifts to the Jews on Pentecost and now to Cornelius and other Gentiles, this must be the will of God.
[18] The evidence was convincing. There was nothing the Jewish brothers could say. Convinced that this was God’s will, they gave glory to God. They accepted the fact that the Gentiles had the right to the Christian life also.