He Shall Tell You What You Ought To Do - Part One

The directions of the Angel to Cornelius begin the fulfillment of the Promise made by the Lord to Abraham some 2,000 years earlier, "and in Thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Thank God that in this wonderful Promise made to the Patriarch, now nearly 4,000 years ago, that my family was included in all of the myriad of families who have had the opportunity to know Jesus Christ. In all of Cornelius' doing there was no salvation in any of his efforts and despite his moral worthfulness and religious culture, he was an unsaved sinner.

 

By Chris McDonald

 

TEXT: Acts 10:1-6  - There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, [2] A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. [3] He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. [4] And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. [5] And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: [6] He lodges with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

 

The story of Cornelius presents the beginning of one of the great turning points of history as it pertains to the great redemptive plan of God for the human race. For the most part prior to the events that took place as recorded in Acts 10, Satan had done his work well in locking up the Word of God among the Jews. Israel's self-righteous sectarianism had taken the nation as a whole (even though there were exceptions) down such erroneous paths, that by the time of Christ, they had so perverted the Word of God and hardened their heart to such a degree they would murder their Messiah and as a result bring unspeakable judgment upon themselves. Part of this judgment included a spirit of hatred to develop for the Gentiles which epitomizes self-righteousness, a spirit that will always resist and prevent the true Word of God being spread to others while those who resist it never receive or accept it themselves.

 

Despite what seemed like a hopeless situation for the spread of the gospel to Gentiles, the Lord was busy breaking these bonds, and setting the stage for the propagation of the Word to go to the entirety of the world. Of course, as all things pertaining to the gospel, the spread of God's Word began with CHRIST, but it actually had its launching with the Advent of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, made possible by the Death, Burial and Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ. By now, some eight years after Pentecost, tens of thousands of Jews are followers of Christ, with the Gospel now ready to be launched to the Gentile world, thus the seeds for a miracle that would take place in the city of Caesarea.

 

Caesarea was about 30 miles north of Joppa, and situated as well, on the Mediterranean Coast. It was built by Herod the Great on the site of Stato's Tower, and the name "Caesarea Sebaste" was given it in honor of Augustus. With his usual magnificence Herod lavished adornments on the city. He erected sumptuous palaces and public buildings, a theater, and amphitheater with prospect to the sea. It is one of Israel's most beautiful amidst a world of turmoil and war as we write this in early 2007. In was into this city, as we shall see, Peter brought the Gospel to the house of Cornelius, which, for all practical purposes, was the first presentation to the Gentiles. Here dwelt Philip the Evangelist also:

 

Acts 8:40
But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

Acts 21:8
And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.

Thrice Paul passed through this city; as well, he was sent here under guard from Jerusalem to escape the Jews, and here was imprisoned about year years, before his final departure for Rome.

 

To this same city and to the HOUSE of one named Cornelius, a Roman who belonged to a distinguished family in the Imperial City, such as the Scipios and Sulla, was the apostle Peter sent by God the Father through a heavenly vision to change the course of Christianity forever and forever. Cornelius was probably an Italian of Roman blood; Julian the Apostate reckons him as one of the few persons of distinction in Rome who actually became a Christian, though he was not a believer at the time Peter arrived at his home.

 

Cornelius was evidently a man of great importance in Caesarea and well-known to the Jews; he was, as we shall see in this narrative, one who yearned for a better Faith than the myriad of gods and religions embraced by Rome. It seems Cornelius embraced Jehovah of the Jews, read the Scriptures and practiced more or less the Jewish rites and festivals. There is great evidence he had made his house some sort of a church, for his kinsfolk and friends were in sympathy with him, and among the soldiers who closely attended him were some devout ones.

 

Other than the Tenth Chapter of Acts, nothing further is known of Cornelius, though one tradition asserts that he eventually  founded the Church in Caesarea, while another legend says that he became the Bishop (Pastor) of the Church of Scamandros. This incident in Acts 10 forever settles the great fundamental question as to the relations of Jews and Gentiles in the Church and the current error in the Body of Christ called dual-covenant theology.

 

 The experience of Cornelius, plainly portrays to all, that one did not have to first become a proselyte to Judaism before one could be Saved and In other words, Salvation was by FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST and the Cross, and NOT with the addition of rituals and ceremonies. That is God's way of redemption and atonement for ALL of fallen humanity - be them Jew or Gentile. The way to God as it pertains to salvation pertains to BOTH; there is not one "way" for the Gentile and one "way" for the Jew!!

 

The CROSS of Christ is the ONLY thing that stands between man and eternal hell. The gospel message is the message of the CROSS, NOT the message of the cross PLUS good works, or the cross PLUS church membership, the cross PLUS belonging to a certain group, the cross PLUS a "celebrate recovery" effort (which is nothing more than a glorified 12-step program). Neighbor it's the message of the CROSS, it's the CROSS, it's the CROSS and the power of the Holy Ghost that can change the hearts of men. By this tremendous experience it was settled that Christianity was to be freed from the swaddling bands of Judaism, which Satan tried his best to bring about, and with some help from the infant Church, we might quickly add. In other words, the Christian Church, was not to be an appendix of the Synagogue.

 

I know that last statement may make some of our Jewish readers mad, especially some in the "Messianic" community or those who have come to Jesus by faith but because they are Jews by culture have sought to express their faith through Jewish tradition and ceremony. There is a teaching among Messianics called the "one new man," in which some believe the church must be an expression of both Jewish AND Gentile expression and until Jews and Gentiles "come together" in this unity there can be no revival or the church cannot be all it needs to be. Some take this theology to an even deeper extreme and tell Gentiles that if they don't express their faith as Jewish believers too then somehow the Gentiles are going to miss out on some mystical blessing from God. I'm very familiar with this because this writer actually got caught up in this very same spirit and outlook just a few years ago and I feel sharing some of our experiences may help some of those reading understand how easy Satan can get us side tracked into legalism very quickly that generate death and not life.

 

Our connection to the Messianic community began in 1999 when the Lord did something powerful in our home to give us a supernatural intercessory heart and burden for Israel in an unprecedented way. I remember that summer going through days at a time where I could not eat or sleep without just breaking into tears learning more of the history of the Jewish race.  Prior to 1999 I was like most Christians as it pertained to the understanding of the relationship between Israel and the Church - very little!; I so wanted to know more about my Jewish brethren in the faith and in the sincerity of my pursuit, I felt led to join a Messianic congregation to understand the scriptures from a Jewish perspective and gain more knowledge. Somewhere however in this journey our family found ourselves being drawn more and more into this theology, as stated earlier, that exists among many Messianics that if a Gentile doesn't express their faith as the Jewish people they are somehow missing out on God's blessing and are not following in obedience to the Lord. Messianics hold up a "Torah" and march around their congregations asking people to "kiss" the box as a sign of affection to the Law of Moses; this is rank blasphemy friends and I don't make that statement lightly. I love the Messianic movement and have met some fine people within it's confines of influence. But we are not saved by LAW and by us placing a sign of affection on a box to glorify LAW denigrates the Finished Work of Christ which came to FULFILL the Law of God so we would not have to "live" by its power - but live by the power of the Holy Ghost!

 

THE LAW came by MOSES but GRACE and TRUTH came by JESUS CHRIST.

 

John 1:17
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
 

Jesus Christ came to fulfill the LAW because He knew fallen humanity could not keep the Law of God. Those who come to faith in Christ, TRUE FAITH in Christ, are then made temples of the Holy Ghost, who alone fulfills the law of God in our hearts and lives as we yield ourselves to His leading and power. The Holy Ghost's power is available to the believing sinner - whether they be Jew or Gentile -  because of what Christ did for us at the Cross 2,000 years ago! This arrogance among many Jewish believers is in this writer's view from the same root of arrogance that existed in Israel's day during the time of Christ and kept the gospel away from many Gentiles. It's interesting to note that at the beginning of the church the most polarizing question facing the early church was that of what the mainly Jewish church was supposed to do in embracing and welcoming the Gentiles into the faith!

 

This question almost busted the early church in two many times as we see through the struggles and rebukes by the Holy Spirit through Paul to the Galatians and even to the Apostle Peter who backslid into legalism years after the Day of Pentecost.

 

Since the destruction of Jerusalem and Jewish dispersion in A.D. 70 the church became mainly Gentile for nearly 2,000 years - at least until about 10 years ago when the Holy Spirit began to do a major work once again in the hearts and lives of thousands of Jewish people who have come to know Christ for the first time as their Messiah and Saviour. The "blindness in part" spoken of by Paul is coming off the hearts of MILLIONS which this writer knows is yet another sign we're living in the last of the last days. The Holy Spirit is orchestrating these events to usher in the Great Tribulation period when God will press Israel into such a corner she will have no other choice but to one day turn her whole heart as a nation back to God and receive Christ as Her Messiah!

 

The prophetic promise that God would "pour out His Spirit upon ALL Flesh," actually speaks of events during the Great Tribulation period when what we see in part at the moment will increase in momentum and scope to unprecedented levels prior the physical Second Coming of Christ at the Great Battle of Armageddon. We are seeing an "earnest" of this outpouring in the salvations of many Jewish people at the present time! These events have brought the questions surrounding the church during the time of this event at the home of Cornelius full circle to "what does the church do with the great number of Jews coming to faith in Christ?"

 

Part of this answer is found in what scripture calls, "the one new man," found as the Holy Spirit speaks through Paul to the Ephesians and tells us that:

 

Ephes. 2:14-16
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; [15] Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; [16] And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

 

It is clear that through the blood of Jesus Jew and Gentile have been brought together IN CHRIST (for to make IN HIMSELF of twain <the two- Jew and Gentile>,) one new man "making peace," so that He might reconcile BOTH unto God in ONE BODY - BY THE CROSS. There is nothing where it states in scripture that the one new man doctrine teaches two different ways of salvation -one for the Jews, one for the Gentiles. We must ALL come the same way - through the blood of Jesus Christ and faith in Christ Crucified. There is no other name whereby men, be them Jew OR Gentile, must be saved except that be of CHRIST.

 

Acts 4:12
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

 

The one new man is CHRIST to whom both Jew and Gentile find reconciliation and unity through His blood. There IS a tremendous need for the Gentiles to be involved and embrace prophetic prayer and intercession for Israel and the Jewish people in the sense they are God's chosen people. In reality however, Israel has been "set aside," right now until the church age ends and the gospel is preached in all the world - bringing and pointing as many who will believe to CHRIST and set the world's stage for the rise of the Antichrist and the coming Great Tribulation period.

 

There is a great dearth of knowledge and lack of interest sadly in the Gentile world as to Israel's role in Bible Prophecy and Her relation to the church being seen through the fact that the roots of our Christian faith have ties to the foundation of the Jewish people. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Judah's father, where we get the term 'Jew') and their descendants from Moses to David to Isaiah to Ruth to JESUS were the foundation of the Jewish nation. When Israel in general rejected Christ and as a result rejected the message of the true gospel, the message of the Cross, the gospel was then taken through the Gentile mainly through the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Some have said Paul was a minister to the Gentiles (the uncircumcision) and Peter was a messenger and minister to the Jews (the circumcision). Those roles clashed during the great Galatia controversy where Peter was the center of a tremendous firestorm concerning the issues of grace and Law.

 

Galatians 6:12- As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, THEY CONSTRAIN YOU (Gentile proselytes) TO BE CIRCUMCISED (in accordance with the Passover passage in Exodus 12:48) ; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. 13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; BUT DESIRE TO HAVE YOU CIRCUMCISED , that they may glory in your flesh.

It doesn't seem unlikely then, that when we read of "those of the circumcision" in Acts 10:45 and Galatians 2:12, its referring to those members of the church who believed that Gentiles STILL had to become naturalized Israelite citizens through physical circumcision in accordance with Exodus 12:48.

 

Galatians 2:12
For before that certain came from James, he (PETER) did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

Acts 10:45
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Exodus 12:48
And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

The events at Cornelius' house were more than just a great revival service; they were a turning point of the plan of God that affected every single believer who has come to know Christ since the days of the Early Church! Paul knew that even after God revealed that Cornelius' should be baptized without being circumcised, some church members still couldn't quite get their heads around the fact that God was calling Gentiles directly into the church, WITHOUT them having to become naturalized Israelite citizens through PHYSICAL circumcision in accordance with Exodus 12:48. That is: they couldn't get their heads around the fact that God had changed His own law. It seems that some of them including Peter who was an eyewitness to the events at Cornelius' home, continued to insist that Cornelius was in fact just "a blip" and that circumcision was still ESSENTIAL for Gentiles in the church, which it was not and it STILL is not!

God overlooked NO SUCH THING and neither was He violating His word under the Law. The Gentiles had always been in the plan of God not because of the Gentiles per say but because of the CROSS, which was foreordained before the foundation of the world! God has never been a respecter of persons and had Israel not hardened her heart against Him, He would have poured out every single blessing upon her that was promised under the Law she embraced at Sinai. But Israel was only part of God's plan, not the ENTIRETY of God's plan for the fallen race. Israel was to have been the tool through which the great message of redemption would flow and because of her rejection of the CROSS - God turned to the Gentiles. For God so LOVED THE WORLD, not just the Jews, and not just the Gentiles - but the ENTIRE WORLD - Jew and GENTILE alike - that HE GAVE His only begotten Son Jesus Christ that whoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life.

 

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
 

1 Peter 1:18-20 - Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; [19] But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: [20] Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, [21] Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. [22] Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: [23] Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever. [24] For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: [25] But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

This plan superseded the law of Exodus 12:48; God was more interested in the redemption of mankind that He was in a ceremonial act under the Law that man could never keep in his own strength anyway. God's law was JUST, HOLY and RIGHT but man was WICKED, SINFUL and WRONG! Man is a SINNER - be that man Jew or Gentile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

From this point on after the events we write about at Cornelius' home, the church was going far wider than "just" the twelve tribes. God was going to call not just an occasional Gentile, but MANY MANY more non-Israelites AND to even GREATER promises than he'd made to Abraham; under the NEW Covenant that again had been planned way back, yet again, in what we refer to as the Old (some would say redundant) Testament.

Under the New Covenant God planned not to just put Laws on stone, but to give His Spirit and write that Law on the hearts of men through the power of the Holy Ghost with the ultimate benefit not only being physical blessings, but eternal life and things so wonderful that it's not even entered into the heart of man.  The events at the home of Cornelius planted the seeds for the Acts 15 council that made it clear to ALL that Gentiles no longer HAD to be circumcised, to be called, to take Passover and participate in the New Covenant and be born again. That has not changed 2,000 years later despite the efforts of Satan and all his agents of false doctrine and error.

 Paul wrapping his arguments up in a summary, which helps us to see how central this subject was to the letter.

Galatians 6:12 - As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, THEY CONSTRAIN YOU TO BE CIRCUMCISED; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

During this crucial time in the history of the early church those "of the circumcision" were trying to get Gentile proselytes to be circumcised under Exodus 12:48. In the next verse the Holy Spirit defines true Bible salvation and the truth of what the gospel message of the Cross is really all about:

Galatians 6:13-15
For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. [14] But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. [15] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.


The tenets of the Law of Moses were to point us to CHRIST, the One to Whom ALL prophecy and Law fulfills. Christ came to give us a better covenant than Judaism! HE IS THE COVENANT! Our faith must be in HIM not the Torah! We say this because there has been a lot of recent preaching/teaching that says the Jews have a special way they must be saved, and a subject we plan to address both in journals and in our new apologetic section. This heresy is called "dual-covenant theology" which basically says Jews don't have to come by way of faith but can keep the Abrahamic Covenant and be born again. That is blatantly unscriptural and false yet it is being promoted by some of the biggest ministries in the United States of America right now and if we named names they would be instantly recognized.

 

The One New Man teaching is to point us to reconciliation in CHRIST, not give a sense that Gentiles must become Jews or Jews must become Gentiles to find favor with God. GOD FORBID. The Body of Christ is made up of two parts - Jew and Gentile, but we are ONE BODY unto CHRIST. The HEAD of the Church is CHRIST, not Israel, the Church, the Assemblies of God, the Church of God, the Foursquare or the Southern Baptist Convention. The head of the CHURCH IS CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The Jewish Root of salvation is CHRIST, the One Whom the Gentiles were grafted in as a result of Israel's unbelief. That does not give us Gentiles reason to be high minded but to FEAR lest we be cast off as well because of the same unbelief Israel rejected her Messiah so long ago. If we don't believe, our fate will be the same as them! That's the message of Romans 9-11 and really the foundation of the One New Man teaching.

 

Romans 11:25-27
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. [26] And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: [27] For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

 

Sadly, the modern church reeks with unbelief as it seeks to preach a gospel that is void of the message of the Cross. It's a gospel that points men to psychology, 12-step programs, humanistic method and efforts, purpose-driven life seminars, steps to "be a champion" inside, and all sorts of everything else the apostate system can come up with. Entertainment and SELF have become the new gods of the modern church in these last days. Instead of being houses of prayer, the church has become an entertainment house. If we're not entertaining men, we're so busy trying to find a program to keep people "busy" with religious activity instead of preaching the anointed Word of God which will always point MEN TO CHRIST!!!!!!


As Gentile believers, we're not called to live as Jews to receive blessing from God. We're ALL called to live worthy of the calling we have been placed in as a result of the blood of Christ. If, as a Jewish believer, one wishes to live culturally as a Jew, then they do not need to be rejected by the church. Sadly, however going back to our original thought, many well-meaning Messianic believers have sought to take the cultural question of one's Jewish identity and make it a spiritual requisite to receive blessing from God. Some go even as far as saying salvation is based on Jewish customs, and traditions which is no different that what the Judaizers of the first church, who opposed the message of Grace given to the Apostle Paul, sought to do in bringing the church back into Law by preaching that one could not be saved by faith in Christ alone, but by faith AND observing the Torah (LAW), i.e. circumcision. Many today -both Jew and Gentile - advocate  the same damnable doctrine! The Catholic Church's entire system of doctrine rests on a message of works instead of faith.


The same spirit and doctrinal stance by the Judaizers almost destroyed the early church and sadly, this same fundamental error is coming close to destroying the present day church as well. To state and scream it again at the top of this writer's lungs, whatever one does, whether they be Jew or Gentile, our faith must be anchored by FAITH IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST! God's favor on us as believers is not because of our "works" or the efforts of our flesh to please Him. God is pleased with one thing and one thing alone - and that is HIS SON - CHRIST JESUS. When we embrace THE Cross of Christ, we are then truly embracing the SON OF GOD, then and only then are we pleasing to God.

 

We are not pleasing to God because we keep the feasts, reading and keeping the Torah, or following a certain type of worship - be in Davidic, Messianic or singing just plain regular old-time worship choruses on Sunday. God is not wrapped up in a DAY. If we want to worship on Saturday (the Sabbath) go for it. If we wish to worship on Sunday have at it. But if we are worshiping on one of those days to obtain righteousness - we are fallen from GRACE! Righteousness from God only comes as a result of one placing their faith in the Cross of Christ.


GOD IS WRAPPED UP IN A PERSON - HIS SON JESUS CHRIST!!!!!! We worship the SON! If we worship any other object, be it a religious program or a rosary or whatever else - no matter the denomination or movement, that is no different than what the children of Israel did in the wilderness when Moses lifted up the serpent on the pole for salvation only to have them worship the object a short time later in their history idolatry by King Hezekiah.

 

2 Kings 18:4
He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
 

The very symbol God used to bring healing became an object of idolatry. The serpent on the pole was to serve to a dying nation in the wilderness as a sign to the coming CHRIST who would be lifted up as the serpent was on the pole to bring HEALING to the world - THROUGH THE CROSS! The symbol was just that - a symbol. And neighbor - ANY OBJECT, I don't care what it is - that we hold up as an object of worship instead of worshipping the LORD JESUS in Spirit and in Truth - is an object of idolatry.


Whenever we seek to walk in anything other than true Biblical faith and the truth of the Word of God, led by the SPIRIT OF GOD (Who only ordains and anoints the parameters of what Christ did at the Cross), we fall from GRACE and wind up in LAW. When we do that we bring spiritual death to our lives! The law came by Moses, but GRACE and TRUTH comes through THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. A Works-oriented and based walk with God after we get saved, can never bring maturity and development of the believer - be that believer JEWISH or GENTILE! Most know that we're not saved by works - but neighbor, do we understand we're not KEPT by works either! We're kept by the HOLY GHOST who is SEAL of our redemption!


Only the HOLY SPIRIT can do that. If the Messianic Communities' feel they have a right to observe the Jewishness of their faith we don't stand in their way. But when they or any movement for that matter start thinking that the expression of one's faith instead of where one anchors their faith brings greater favor upon them by God - WE STRONGLY DISAGREE!  THERE ARE NOT TWO SEPARATE FAITHS NOR IS THERE TWO WAYS OF SALVATION. We cannot state that loudly or strongly enough. WE ALL MUST COME THE SAME WAY. Israel rejected this way and was cast aside because of their unbelief as a nation and as a result Peter found himself at the house of a man named Cornelius, the first Gentile to receive this glorious message of redemption.

 

A Devout Man, One Who Feared God and Who Gave Much Alms, Prayed Always - Yet Lost

 

Acts 10:2
A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

As commendable as all these things were concerning Cornelius they do not save the soul. There is much evidence that Cornelius did these things religiously as regrettably millions do today who like Cornelius, may be "good" people, but they are lost and without God. Let's look at what the Holy Spirit says about Cornelius.

 

1. He was a devout man. The word "devout," speaks of one who is reverent and consecrated, and in this case to God. HOwever, as commendable as this was, it did not save him.

 

2. He was one "who feared God with all his house." As stated Cornelius was a "God-fearer," which in Jewish terminology referred to one who had not become an outright proselyte to Judaism, but who was in sympathy with its teachings and followed them somewhat. As well, Cornelius not only did this, but the entirety of his family did likewise. However again, as commendable as this was, this did not in itself mean he was saved and born again.

 

3. He "gave much alms to the people," signifying he was a wealthy man, and, as well, was generous in his efforts to help those who were less fortunate.

 

4. He "prayed to God always," which even though these prayers did not save this man, still, and as we shall see, the Lord heard and saw all that he was doing, and in a very positive sense.

 

All of these things pointed to the HUNGER in the heart of Cornelius for more of God, the one thing God never ignores and turns aside! He is the one who puts the hunger in man's heart for God to begin with. Man tries to fill the hunger and thirst in his heart with a myriad of things - drugs, sex, alcohol, cigarettes, money, education, work, and the list could go on. NOTHING can satisfy the hunger and thirst of the human heart except the Holy Spirit who draws us to Christ and once we're born again dwells within the heart of the believer to fulfill our hearts desire. Jesus said the "water" that springs up unto everlasting life, a type of the Holy Spirit, would cause men to "never thirst again."

 

John 4:13-14
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: [14] But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

 

Even after we are saved, it behooves us to stay hungry and thirsty for God. "MY SOUL thirsts after you Oh, Lord," cried the Psalmist.

 

Psalms 143:6 - I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

Psalm 42:1 - ....As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
 

A hunger and thirst for God began in my heart that led me to an encounter that I will never forget 20 years ago this coming February in the kitchen of my aunt’s house in Atlanta, Georgia.  The Holy Spirit never turns aside a heart hungry for more of Jesus. I remember calling my dear Aunt up with questions about this experience in December 1986, after spending the first 21 years of my life in a Southern Baptist atmosphere (my dad was a SBC pastor at the time), I found myself sitting every Sunday night in an atmosphere of people in a local Pentecostal church who were doing things I’d never experienced before in my life even though I was exposed to it some via my mom's side of the family who were very Pentecostal, Holy-Ghost filled people who spoke in tongues often!

 

Even as a young child even though I never understood it, I was fascinated with the experiences of those who spoke in tongues. When I called my aunt, I told her I wanted to come see her and ask her some questions.  I remember that weekend as I sat in my aunt’s kitchen I shot question after question at her about the experience of speaking with other tongues. I told her my fears, my opinions, my concerns, my “doctrinal stance,” and my curiosity. But above all, I told her the Lord had dealt with me that even though I had not heard much about this glorious experience, I had come to recognize the Holy Spirit was real and I wanted all the Lord had for it - if the baptism in the Holy Spirit was available with the evidence of speaking in other tongues - I wanted it.

 

Around 11 p.m. my aunt and I began to pray. She began to pray at first in English then all of sudden I heard her begin to pray in other tongues. As she did it brought back memories to her praying over us as children in other tongues as we laid upstairs in her house and felt electricity roll all over us.   I remember her downstairs many times calling each child he kept by name to God pleading with God for protection and anointing on our lives. Many times we would hear her begin praying and weeping and moaning in English then all of a sudden hear something that was not of this world. We knew our Aunt Florence had touched heaven and heaven had touched her. We didn’t understand it as kids, we just knew that God was in that house.


I had this same feeling this night in the kitchen in February 1987. I was older (22) but had been “churched” enough to know that Southern Baptists didn’t believe speaking in other tongues and in some cases even though the experience was of Satan. I didn’t have the same innocent heart I did when she had kept me as a child. It’s sad that children tend to accept this experience quicker than adults. The reason is children’s hearts are open to God while adults tend to be hardened by religious tradition, pride and arrogance. We have set ourselves in agreement with our traditions and even if someone came back from the grave itself and told us otherwise, we would not believe them. How tragic that much of what God wants to do in our lives is not stopped by Satan, but it is stopped by our own ignorance and arrogant religious attitudes. That is why Jesus spoke of one of the requirements of receiving the Kingdom of God was to receive it "as a child."


As she laid her hands on me that night I began to weep and pray with her and before I knew what had happened the power of God hit me and I found myself on the floor with my hands raised in the air. As my aunt knelt down on the floor with me she just continually interceded for me in tongues, weeping, and weeping and weeping, travailing in the Holy Ghost.  She began to prophesy over me that the Lord had called me to preach this mighty gospel but also warned me that the enemy had planned a hurtful end to my life. My parents had went through a divorce in 1983 and without even knowing it, I was harboring unforgiveness in my heart toward my mother. The Lord Jesus, speaking through my aunt, told me that night that I had to forgive my mother. All I remember from that point on was speaking the words, “Lord, forgive me.” When I did, I felt a rush of power go through my soul and as John writes in his gospel, the words of my mouth became “rivers of living water” from within my “belly.” The words I began to speak were no longer English but another language.

 

I spoke in tongues nearly all night long. I remember it was at least 4 a.m. before we even got off the floor. My aunt just laid beside me and wept and prayed in tongues with me. I have never felt so clean in my innermost being as I did that night. I was doing more than just speaking gibberish. The Lord Jesus had baptized me with the Holy Spirit. If terminology is an issue with you, then He filled me an enduement of power from on high. The tongues were just the evidence that this had happened. I remember waking my dear mother up that morning from her sleep, weeping profusely, kneeling at her bedside, asking her to forgive me for harboring resentment towards her. As we drove home the following day, I couldn’t stop crying. Every song I heard was more powerful. Every message I heard became more clear. Every thing that was of God became more powerful.


My life has never been the same since that night. I remember going home to my dad’s house and facing him. I had told my pastor (Rev. Price) who had been praying for me to receive this gift. He and sister Ruby were in their 80s but rejoiced as if they were in their 30s. It was at that moment in my life, February 1987, that I had to choose whether to pursue what the Lord had done in my life and cultivate this gift or go back into an atmosphere that would kill everything that happened that weekend before. I chose to move on with God.


As I retell this story, I think of Cornelius and that moment in his house that day when something in him caused him to seek after God. Hunger and thirst for God is something you cannot teach. It must start in the heart of man, birthed by the Holy Ghost. It must start in our innermost being. God is going to hold America so accountable for our lack of hunger and desire for him. In a country where we’ve been given so much and God is reverenced so little. It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorra than for us in the Day of Judgment. Think about this. Cornelius was not even saved, yet he was seeing visions, doing alms before God and was so sensitive to God that he asked the Lord what was he supposed to do when he saw the vision. That’s hunger for God. He was so dedicated to serving God without even knowing the real truth about God. How sad it is that many who know the truth about God have very little desire to serve God. We are going to be held SO accountable for this attitude in this country. But it is only this type of hunger that God rewards. He is a rewarder of those who DILIGENTLY seek him. The casual seeker of God will not find much. It’s when we seek Him with ALL our heart and all our soul that He is so willingly and excited to REVEAL HIMSELF TO US.


Heb 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
 

Jer 29:13-14 - And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive


He Shall Tell Thee What You Ought To Do


Acts 10:3-6
He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. [4] And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. [5] And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: [6] He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
 

When God saw Cornelius’ hunger, He sends both a vision AND angelic visitations to tell Cornelius that the hunger of his heart had come up for a memorial before God. That amazes this writer to see how religious this man was yet he had not come to to faith in Christ. Despite the fact Cornelius was lost, his heart's desire and hunger for God moved the heart of the Father to send heaven's messenger to tell him to go seek after Simon a tanner where the apostle Peter would be waiting and he "would tell him what he ought to do." The job of the 21rst Century Church is to tell men what they ought to do to be saved and born again. Instead of leading them into a fuller relationship with the Lord Jesus and not hindering the moving of the Holy Spirit, the church is guilty of being one of the greatest stumbling blocks to world evangelism than any institution on the face of the earth. The only way the church rightly tells men what they ought to do is when we preach the CROSS and the power of the Holy Ghost! When we preach the Cross under the anointing of the Holy Ghost men will see the TRUTH of the Lord Jesus Christ and God's great plan of redemption.

 

As this story of Cornelius plays out, we will see a very hesitant Peter wanting to go witness to Cornelius and his household. While there is a very important underlying reason why Peter didn’t want to go in relation to the Gentile-Jewish connection of the early church, I won’t to speak a few minutes about the church’s role to the people.
 

The effort of the early church in the book of Acts was simple. Get the people saved and get them filled with the Holy Spirit. I want to say that again. Get the people saved and get them filled with the Holy Spirit. When you do that, all other things take care of themselves. Preach Jesus to them. When you get the Holy Spirit operating in their lives, healing takes care of itself. Prosperity takes care of itself. Spiritual warfare takes care of itself. Truth takes care of itself. The problem today is most church leadership doesn’t want the Holy Spirit to be in control of people’s lives – but church leadership wants to be in control. Folks, you can’t have it both ways.


Either the Holy Spirit will control you or something or someone else will control you. The Holy Spirit does not share ownership with people or churches. That’s why most man-made organizations, even though they may have their place in God's scheme of things, usually degenerate into control mechanisms that do more to hinder true ministry than facilitate it. Had Peter listened to his brethren about Cornelius, the Gentiles may well not have received the Holy Spirit. Why does the church fight the Holy Spirit? Why are we so quick to label things that are of God of Satan and label things that are of Satan God? It is because when we reject the Holy Spirit who is called the Spirit of Truth we wind up in delusion? Churches may have thousands attending their services but without the moving of the Holy Spirit very little will be done for God. Souls will not be saved, people will not be healed, people will not be delivered. All the preaching in the world cannot bring about what one touch of the Holy Ghost can do in a person’s life.


Acts 10:9-17 - On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto 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 unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,

 

God sends Peter a vision to get his attention about Cornelius. The vision consists of unclean creeping things – things thought unceremonial by Jews. The Lord tells him to eat these things he sees in the vision. When Peter objects, the Lord tells him – what I have cleansed, call not thou common. God’s message to Peter is His message to the church today. We are not the judge as to who is worthy or unworthy to receive the precious gift of the Holy Spirit. This is directed at Pentecostals. We are not qualified to tell God who can and cannot receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking with other tongues. The only prerequisite to receive the Holy Spirit is SALVATION and a hungry heart for God. When God saves you, He cleanses you. The blood of Jesus is sufficient to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. The blood of Jesus doesn’t need anything added to it nor taken away from it to make us fit vessels for the Holy Spirit. No, you don’t have to be speak with other tongues to be saved, but you have to be saved or cleansed to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.


God was telling Peter, your tradition and law has blinded you to My purpose. The same is true of the church today. Our tradition and legalistic approach to God has blinded us to His higher purposes on this earth. He is making one new man out of Gentile and Jew and the bond or power of that Man is in the Holy Spirit. The Gentile church would not be here today empowered as it is had not Peter went to Cornelius and preached the gospel to him. How much of God’s plan and purposes has been missed in our churches and in our lives because of our tradition?


Acts 10:22-23 - And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
 

As we close out part one of this narrative on the salvation of Cornelius I ask you today - DO YOU KNOW CHRIST? So many know "about" Christ, attend a church, are a member of some religious organization or, like Cornelius, have their faith in their own good works instead of faith in the Cross of Christ. For one to be born again, one MUST have their faith anchored totally in the finished work of Christ - NO EXCEPTIONS.  Sadly, many have their faith in everything else BUT the Finished Work of Christ and thereby are lost and stand in eternal jeopardy.  If we will heed the voice of the Holy Ghost, "he will tell us what to do." I pray you know this Christ today for He loves you so much that He went and paid the ultimate price for man's redemption - His very blood. The blood of Jesus is man's only protection against the powers of darkness. This writer is not ashamed to tell the reader his faith is anchored SOLELY in that blood today! I pray your faith rests in the same. In our next journal in this series we will take a look at Peter and how the Lord had to prepare HIS heart to bring the message of salvation to Cornelius just as He had to prepare Cornelius to go seek after Peter.

 

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Biblical References To The Baptism In The Holy Ghost