Cornelius a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.

Transcription

1 1 There was a certain man in Caesarea / the roman capital of Judea, a mixed population of Jewish and Gentiles, about 30 miles north of Jaffa -- old Joppa, modern day Tel Aviv; north, adjacent to Megiddo; not to be confused with Caesarea Philippi, north of Galilee. There was a certain man called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band / a roman military noncommissioned officer responsible for men; not a certain rock band enthusiast from Italy, 2 A devout man / in Greek: eusebes, meaning good-sensed, also translated, A godly man, and one who feared God with all his house / so this roman centurion with his wife and kids they too had good sense; he was no fool who said in his heart there is no God. In these verses we often read commentary written by some who feel the need to start qualifying, and further clarifying what the Spirit inspired Luke to write; the NIV team strangely wrote: Cornelius needed to hear the way of salvation from a human messenger. Why? I don t know. Do they think Gabriel isn t good enough? Cornelius a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 He saw in a vision about the ninth hour of the day / around 3:00 pm, the time of day when Jesus gave up his spirit; in the Jewish culture, the time to daily pause and give the evening sacrifice. an angel of God coming to him, and saying to him, Cornelius / and people of the book; should pay attention to these verses closely, that we might have a metanoia moment and consider the greatness of God our Father. an angel, a citizen of eternity, sent by God -- who is the Center of all eternity; came saying, Cornelius / so notice in eternity they knew the name of this roman soldier; they did not say: Hey you. a citizen of eternity came saying, Cornelius. 4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid / in Greek: emphobos, he heard his name called and when he looked, this certain man was suddenly seized with fear; I bet this head of a roman cohort was terrified; like Daniel of old, who was interrupted in his prayer time, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, your prayers and your alms are come as a memorial before God / and some in the church might be confused that the angel did not ask: Do you know Jesus? Or, do you know that you are a sinner, repeat after me. No! Not necessary! This one sent by God said 1 ilibros.net internacional 2016

2 Your prayers and your charitable giving like a sweet-smelling sacrifice are come before God / God not only heard this man s prayers; but also saw this man had a heart toward others notice Cornelius, this distinguished military man of a Gentile is never asked to find another profession. Verse 5 And now send men to Joppa, and call one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 6 He lodges with Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he will tell you what to do. 7 And when the angel who spoke to Cornelius departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout / a good sensed godly soldier of them that waited on him continually / so we learn about one who was equally inspired by this disciplined officer of a boss, Cornelius; little did any of them know they were being used by God to teach a lesson to his people throughout the world for the next 2,000 years; 8 And when he declared all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa / the 3 men were sent: in Greek: apostello by their Centurion boss a decent journey to the south, though they were glad to go and could travel the distance in a day. 9 In the morning, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour / around 12 noon; lunch time: 10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready / so more faithful servants were kindly preparing Peter lunch, he fell into a trance / in Greek: ekstasis, used 7 times in the NT; literally, ek = out + stasis = state, most frequently describing the response of people to the amazing power of the Lord Jesus. Peter had an unearthly, amazing visual lesson; it was not a natural event, though it was memorable and not forgotten, 11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain container like a great sheet descended to him / probably like a familiar sail hoisted on Peter s fishing boat at the sea of Galilee knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth / so this disciple of the Lord doing his math, was putting together in his mind each familiar item, 1 plus 1 plus 1: piece by piece: 12 in it were all kinds of four-footed beasts of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air / so Peter sees enfolded in this Galilean sail descending from heaven lots of critters clean and unclean which Peter recognized were those same mammals and reptiles and bird enumerated in the Mosaic law. 2 ilibros.net internacional 2016

3 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat / Peter was hungry, and heaven said: GO FOR IT! Have lunch. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord / notice how antithetical the response of Peter is to the Lord, someone who had walked with the Lord every day for years; compared to that of Cornelius, the roman centurion. How can they both identify the Lord, who is the eternal Master, the eternal Boss? Yet one responds: NO, Chief! While the other whom we would imagine knew Him the least, responds: Yes, Chief! for I have never eaten anything that is common / in Greek: koinos, where we get our word: community; interesting, Luke wrote in the upper room, they had all in common same word; perhaps, like any fearful legalist, Peter had forgotten; and had the Lord stopped to correct him, Peter probably would have responded: Oh yeah, but I mean and then gone on steeped in fear attempting to justify himself forgetting that the Lord already did justify him; or unclean / in Greek: akathartos, not clean; in the upper room, the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter was told, he was clean already apparently he didn t make the connection; if God says something is clean, take Him at his word. 15 And the voice spoke to him again a second time, What God has cleaned is not koinoo / is not common traditionally, this word suggested a lack of privilege; insinuating a lower status; falling below ordinary standards. 16 This was done 3 times: and the container / that looked like Peter s boat sail was received again to heaven. 17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision he saw should mean / Peter was hungry; and now he was scratching his head over this incredibly thought provoking terribly challenging lesson, too. Behold / pay attention, because God has great timing, doesn t He? the men who were sent / apostled from Cornelius made enquiry for Simon s house, and stood before the gate / while Peter is scratching his head they stood at the front door, 18 And called, and asked whether Simon, who was surnamed Peter lodged there. 19 While Peter thought on the vision / and now greatly perplexed, Peter is going to discover the practical meaning of the wideness of God s mercy; he is going to have opportunity to change his thinking, until he thinks correctly. And from the street, he probably heard someone calling his name. I remember when several US Marines arrayed in their finest military gear one day stormed into my school office, demanding to see me; and from my vantage point, where I was located what I could observe were 3 ilibros.net internacional 2016

4 all the students seized with terror; and even for a moment, the secretary too; though I was already laughing having recognized the voice of the ring leader, sergeant major, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three men seek you / had Peter peeked out the window to understand what was all the commotion? And was Peter suddenly scared? the Spirit said three men seek you. 20 Therefore arise, go down, and go with them, doubting nothing / this is the same word when we read: Abraham staggered not in unbelief; impulsive Peter did not argue, neither disputed nor contended or even attempted to make any further judgment. Peter was learning and he was growing: for I have sent / aposteled them so 2 uneducated cooks and a devout soldier can be apostles, too. 21 Then Peter went down to the men who were sent him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom you seek: why have you come? what is the cause? 22 And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man / literally, the one doing right it s the same word for the Righteous One who came from God; it is the same word when Habakkuk said, the just live by faith; same word: isn t the Bible interesting? No hocus pocus; no super-spiritual pharisaical performers in focus; just good sensed individuals; who fear God regardless of their pedigree; their education or their status in life, a just man and one who feared God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God / the word is: chrematizo, a business matter same word when we read Joseph was divinely directed by an angel regarding his young Child; Cornelius was divinely directed by a holy angel to send / to apostle for you to his house, and to hear words from you / to listen to what you have to say. And you might ask: do you really believe the Lord intervenes in life still today? Yes! More frequently than you and I can imagine. One of our good friends for many years, he told the story about 10 years ago one morning came a knock at his door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see his brother so early in the morning, who had travelled from another village in his far east country. And to the question: why are you here? Came the answer: Last night as I was sleeping, a Voice, a very pleasant Voice woke me and said: I am Way; I am Truth; I am Life. So I asked Him: Who are you? He said, rise up early, and go ask your brother. He will tell you. 4 ilibros.net internacional 2016

5 23 Then he called them in and lodged them. And on the morning, Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And the morning after, they entered Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them; he had called together his kinsmen and near friends. 25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him / this very godly, very good sensed; righteous roman centurion in charge of tough men, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him / and though Peter probably still needed to learn lots of things yet one thing Peter definitely knew and never forgot: he was just a sinner, who had greatly denied even knowing His Savior in his greatest hour of need; and like the next guy, Peter needed a Savior I bet Cornelius knew he needed a Savior, too; and they both knew their Savior was not in a million years to be found in Rome. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, Stand up; I also am a man. 27 And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many who were come together. 28 And he said to them, You know how it is an unlawful thing for a Jewish man to keep company or come to one of another nation / in their prideful, legalistic religious mindset, thanking my God I am not like others not knowing we are all from Adam s race; which is why Jesus many times said, you have heard some lousy teaching, but I say to you; but God showed me that I should not call any anthropos / man or woman common or unclean. 29 Therefore I came to you without gainsaying / without dispute or disbelief, or question, as soon as I was summonsed: therefore, I ask for what reason you summonsed me? 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, 5 ilibros.net internacional 2016

6 31 And said, Cornelius, Your prayers and your charitable giving like a sweet-smelling sacrifice are come before God. 32 Therefore send to Joppa, and summons Simon here, whose surname is Peter; he lodges in the house of one Simon a tanner by the seaside: who, when he comes, will speak to you / he will tell you what you need to hear. 33 So immediately, I called for you; and you have done well to come. For this reason, we are all here before God, to hear all that is orderly toward God / this just man, with his family and friends they wanted to learn what is proper and in order toward God. 34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation, he who fears Him and works what is right, is accepted with Him. 36 The word that God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: /He is Lord of all: / notice, they did not come with angry rants, but preaching the peace left us by Jesus. 37 That word, I say, you know; it was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; 38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by demons; for God was with him / which in Hebrew is the name: Emmanuel; God with us. 39 And we are witnesses / willing to put our lives and reputations on the line and if necessary, forfeit our lives because of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they killed and hung on a tree / and all those present listening probably thought how sad; but Peter said, don t be sad; because he was just getting started with the Good News and continued: 40 God raised up Him the third day, and showed openly; 41 Not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before God / to over 600 or 700 people, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. 6 ilibros.net internacional 2016

7 42 He also announces for us to preach to the people / to preach the peace of the Lord Jesus in Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, and to testify / to put their lives on the line to declare that He is ordained of God the Judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets give witness to Him / He is why the prophets willingly gave their lives, through His name whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins / just imagine! 44 While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them / the Spirit lovingly and powerfully embraced them, too who heard the word. 45 And they of the circumcision who believed were astonished / the Greek word is: existemi, related to the amazement mentioned earlier; most frequently associated with the work of Jesus Christ, those who came with Peter / so not just Peter but lots of the traditional thinking people were also having to reconsider what God was doing in their midst, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter / this word always means: assessing the moment; sizing up the situation, 47 Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who received the Holy Spirit as we did? 48 And he orderly baptized them in the name of the Lord / notice it doesn t mention if they were sprinkled or dunked, 3 times forward or 2 times backward; in the house of Cornelius or at the shoreline because Peter knew what John the Baptist said: when Jesus baptizes someone, anyone He will baptize with fire and the Spirit. Then they prayed he tarry certain days. They asked Peter and his people to stay longer. 7 ilibros.net internacional 2016