by Timothy W. Burnett
To set the scene, Peter was staying with a man named Simon in the town of Joppa. At the same time a man named Cornelius from Caesarea was praying. Cornelius was a centurion, or a Roman captain over 100 soldiers. The word says he was a devout man who reverenced God with everybody in his home.
While in Joppa, Peter had a routine of meditating and praying on the roof of Simon's house. This time God gave him a vision of different kinds of animals gathered in a blanket. He was very hungry at the time. After noticing the vision, God said to him, "Rise, Peter kill and eat" (Acts 10:13). Peter told God that he would not eat, and that he had never eaten any thing that was common and unclean. God replied, "What God has cleansed, call not common." God was telling Peter something that was very different from what he understood his whole life. God repeated this three times. When God gets our attention about something three times, it is completely established.
Cornelius was praying when an angel from God came with orders to send for Peter. As a centurion he understood the importance of following orders, and he did so meekly. He sent his best soldiers who arrived to Simon's home, called for Peter and told his story. The next day Peter returned to Caesarea with the soldiers. When he arrived to Cornelius' house, everybody was ready to hear God's word. This is a great example of how we can approach God's word. Just completely focused, ready to listen and go back to study what we learned.
Peter and Cornelius shared their stories about how God talked to them. After that Peter said, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). This was huge! What did he do next? He taught about Jesus Christ. How God annointed Jesus of Nazareth with holy spirit and with powerful authority. He taught that Jesus did good by healing all that were oppressed of the devil. Peter went on to explain that he and his companions were witnesses to all the things Jesus did in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. Next he taught that Jesus was crucified and on the third day and night God raised him up from the dead showing him openly to certain chosen people.
Next he said, ""Through his name whoever believes in him shal receive remission of sins" (Acts 10:43). Does this sound familiar? He said the same thing in Acts 2:38. It then says that while he spoke, "the holy ghost fell on all them which heard the word." Now we see in Acts 10:44 that the holy ghost "fell on" the Gentiles also. It says everybody who came with Peter were astonished. Why were they so astonished? The answer is in verse 46, "For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God." To dispel any doubt, go to Acts 11:15 where Peter told his story to other believers. He said, "And as I began to speak, the holy ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning." At "the beginning" the apostles were filled with holy spirit unto remission of sins, and received the holy ghost when they began to speak in tongues
(Acts 2:4&38).
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