As Peter was speaking, and at the moment he preached belief in Jesus for the pardon of sins, the Holy Spirit of God interrupted the message by filling the assembled audience of listeners with the presence of God in them! Peter and the Jewish believers who accompanied him recognized immediately that even Gentiles who had not converted to Judaism, could be full disciples of Christ by receiving Jesus as the Christ.
Learning to Unlearn
The apostle Peter arrives at the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. Rabbinical Jewish teachings had made it unlawful for a Jew to make a social visit to a Gentile at their home. But Peter informed Cornelius that God made it clear that he was not to follow this restriction, and entering the house he found many Gentiles willing and waiting for him to preach and so he did. Peter preached Christ of the Scriptures and remission of sins.
Preparation for Preaching
There was a lot of preparation that went into saving a man named Cornelius. First God sent His angel to being preparing the heart of Cornelius, who in turn, unknowingly, began preparing the hearts of those in his household. Then the Holy Spirit began to work in the heart of Peter, who would be sent to Cornelius. The end result would be the salvation of a large house of people. Preparation for preaching the Gospel is vital.
Deemphasizing Miracles
In this section, a man bedridden for eight years is healed, and a dead woman is revived from the dead. Both of these miracles are carried out by Peter the apostle. Such Biblical stories can leave us wondering why we don’t benefit from these miracles today? Answer, our New Testament emphasizes preaching truth over miracles. Christ Himself deemphasized miracles as a basis for faith. Realizing this does not make us faithless.
The Awakened Tiger
Not only did Satan lose a useful subject named Saul, he gained a fierce adversary. This man Saul who was persecuting the Christians for Satan, having been saved by Jesus, became a tiger against the very same Satan, the devil! This chapter charts the beginnings of his awakening, after Jesus personally discipled him somewhere in Arabia.
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