Peter's Vision of the Sheet on the Rooftopby KandD
10:15Acts 10:15
And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
The voice did not make unclean animals fit for food, but declared that the Gentiles had been cleansed through the death of Christ and must no longer be called common or unclean. The sheet of clean and unclean beasts was only a symbol to rebuke Jewish prejudice that Gentiles were an inferior, excluded race unfit for fellowship. God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation accepts those who fear Him and work righteousness, making believing Gentiles fellow-heirs with Israel and purifying their hearts by faith. So the command prepared Peter to carry the gospel beyond the Jews to Cornelius and his household, and the gift of the Holy Spirit to those uncircumcised believers proved the lesson concerned people, not diet.
Vision Setting and Details
The voice came to Peter while he was praying on the housetop at Joppa, very weary and hungry, immediately after the angel had visited Cornelius. While he prayed heaven was opened and a vessel like a great sheet knit at the four corners was let down to earth. That sheet contained all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls of the air. A command came to him to rise, kill and eat, and he refused because he had never eaten anything common or unclean. Then the voice answered him the second time that what God had cleansed he must not call common.
This exchange was done three times, and then the vessel was received up again into heaven. It left Peter doubting what the vision should mean until the men sent from Cornelius stood at the gate. At that moment the Spirit told him to arise and go with them, doubting nothing.
Cleansing Means Gentile People
What God has cleansed is not to be called common, and the cleansing is of people, not of food, for through the death of Christ the Gentiles have been cleansed and must no longer be treated as common or unclean. By this God showed that He is no respecter of persons, but that in every nation he who fears Him and works righteousness is accepted with Him. Through Christ the heathen nations are made partakers equally with the Jews of the blessings and privileges of the gospel, fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, fellow heirs with Israel and of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ, no longer strangers and foreigners excluded from the promises of God. The gift of the Holy Spirit to uncircumcised Gentiles as to circumcised Jews confirmed this, for faith in Christ purified their hearts and they needed not take on circumcision or the rites of the ceremonial law. The message belongs to the directing of Cornelius to seek further light through human messengers, bringing the gospel to the Gentiles and beginning the first work among them while removing prejudice among Jewish Christians.
The sheet let down with four-footed beasts and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls of the air, with the command to kill and eat, was only a symbol and illustration of the true position of the Gentiles. The word was spoken to Peter a second time in the housetop trance and then a third time before the vessel was received up again into heaven, leaving him doubting its meaning until the men sent from Cornelius stood at the gate and the Spirit told him to arise and go with them doubting nothing, with angels directing at every step toward the house. By that figure Peter was to comprehend the world-wide extent of God's plan, beginning in importance with the conversion of Cornelius as the firstfruits among the Gentiles.
The voice was both reproof and instruction to lay aside settled Jewish prejudice, the prejudice put in his mind by all his Jewish training that the Gentiles were an unclean race excluded from the promises of God. It rebuked him for confining his labors to the Jews and for belittling those who had no opportunity to hear the truth, and it corrected his still regarding as common what God had cleansed. So taught, he was to convert from that exclusiveness and no longer exclude Gentiles by the old barrier between Jews and Gentiles, but to recognize them as people who may receive the gospel.
Its command means he must not call any man common or unclean, must not regard people from other nations as spiritually unclean, inferior, or unfit for fellowship with Jews, and must not refuse fellowship with them. God accepts men and women from every nation who fear Him and do what is right, and the blood of Jesus can cleanse all from uncleanness. Therefore Peter was to carry the gospel beyond the Jews, going without gainsaying to Cornelius with his kinsmen and friends to preach peace by Jesus Christ, giving it as freely to Gentiles as to Jews with no erected barriers. In this Gentiles who accept the gospel stand on equal terms with Jewish believers, not to be treated as inferior or excluded from God's blessings.
Not Permission for Unclean Food
The voice did not lift the divine ban on flesh formerly pronounced unclean, and it did not make swine's flesh or any other unclean animal fit for food. The distinction between clean and unclean for eating remained, for the sheet of clean and unclean beasts was only an illustration of the true position of the nations.
To read the declaration as permission to eat unclean animals is a narrow and erroneous interpretation. That reading is contradicted by the scriptural account of the vision itself and by its outcome and consequences.
Peter himself understood the meaning only when he was sent to teach the Gentile centurion. The gift of the Holy Spirit to uncircumcised Gentile believers, just as to circumcised Jewish believers, confirmed that the lesson concerned people and fellowship, not food. It showed that God accepts in every nation those who fear Him and work righteousness, that the blood of Jesus can cleanse all from uncleanness, and that their hearts are purified by faith. It therefore supported the conclusion that Gentiles must not be regarded as inferior or unfit for fellowship with Jews and need not take on circumcision and the ceremonial law.
God Accepts All Equally
God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fears Him and works righteousness is accepted with Him. Jew and Gentile alike are precious in His sight, and none who reverences Him and does right is to be counted inferior or unfit for fellowship. The cleansing declares that Gentile men and women have been opened to the gospel, overcoming Jewish exclusiveness and training in prejudice against those without opportunity to hear the truth. Its meaning became clear when the Holy Spirit was given to uncircumcised Gentile believers as to circumcised Jewish believers, confirming that God made no difference between them.
Through the death of Christ the heathen are made partakers equally with the Jews of the blessings and privileges of the gospel. They are made fellow heirs with Israel and with the Israel of God, no longer excluded from the promises of God but of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. The sheet of clean and unclean animals was only a symbol and illustration of their true position, rebuking the settled view that they were an unclean race and revealing the world-wide extent of God's plan of salvation to all nations.
The blood of Jesus can cleanse people from every nation from all uncleanness. God purifies their hearts by faith, accepting without distinction those who fear Him and work righteousness. This was confirmed when Peter was sent to the Gentile centurion and saw the Spirit fall on Gentile believers as on Jewish believers.
Gentile believers who accept the gospel stand equal with Jewish disciples without being required to undergo circumcision. They are accepted on equal terms, as precious to God as the Jews, and the rites of the ceremonial law were never to be forced upon Gentile converts. The command marks the opening of the church's work to the Gentiles and the end of the barrier that had kept them from fellowship with Jewish disciples.
Gospel Opened to Gentiles
The voice prepared Peter to go without objection to Cornelius, gathered with his kinsmen and near friends, to preach peace through Jesus Christ, and that visit began the first work among the Gentiles while breaking down prejudice among Jewish Christians so that the rites of the ceremonial law were never forced upon Gentile converts. The barrier between Jew and Gentile was taken away so that Jews and Gentiles by faith might be joined to Christ, and Peter himself advanced in conversion as he was appointed to become the human instrument through whom heaven and earth were united in the work. God used the vision to open the way for Cornelius and others like him to be connected with the church, marking the opening of the gospel no longer restricted to the Jewish people.
Cornelius, though devout and accepted of God for piety, prayers and almsgiving, still needed an advance in faith and a new experience that could only be complete in Christ, since neither prayer nor almsgiving can take the place of Jesus in whom all fullness dwells. He believed the promise of a Messiah yet needed its fulfillment made plain so he could do his work intelligently through Christ, and therefore the angel did not preach the gospel to him directly but directed him to send men to Joppa for Peter that the two might become acquainted in gospel missionary work.
Peter undertook the duty laid on him by divine command with reluctance at every step, afterward defending it not on general principle but as an exception done because of divine revelation, and the result was a great surprise to him. God sent messengers and set circumstances in motion to bring Peter by angel ministration into cooperation with Cornelius as an inquiring soul ready to hear and receive advanced light.
The conversion of Cornelius and his household was the first important and major conversion among the Gentiles, yet only the firstfruits of a harvest to be gathered from the world, revealing the world-wide extent of God's plan by which through the death of Christ the heathen were made partakers of the blessings and privileges of the gospel equally with the Jews as fellow heirs with Israel no longer excluded from the promises. From that home in a heathen city a widespread work of grace was carried on. The meaning became clear when Peter was sent to teach the Gentile centurion and saw the Holy Spirit given to uncircumcised Gentile believers as to circumcised Jewish believers, confirming that God accepts in every nation those who fear Him and work righteousness, makes no difference between them, purifies their hearts by faith, and cleanses people from every nation from all uncleanness by the blood of Christ, so that Gentiles need not take on the ceremonial law. By this the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem were convinced that God had granted the Gentiles repentance and life.
God Guides Through Agents
Divine direction can be given in visions, including guidance about what to speak, with the message repeated again and again. The account belongs to instruction given to Peter through vision, showing what to say and repeating it until received.
Visions are not given to establish a new rule of faith but for the comfort of God's people and to correct those who err from Bible truth. The voice to Peter corrected his error as he was about to be sent to preach to the Gentiles, teaching him not to regard as common what God had cleansed. The Word of God remains the rule of faith and practice by which all are to be judged.
God employs angels as powerful helpers of His chosen messengers, and instruction is often given to men by immortal messengers. Angels directed at every step toward the house of Cornelius, through the housetop trance, the sheet let down by the four corners holding four-footed beasts and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls, the word spoken a second time and three times before the vessel was received up, and the Spirit bidding Peter arise and go with the men from Cornelius doubting nothing. Heaven is much nearer to the Christian engaged in soul-saving than is supposed, with heavenly intelligences constantly communicating with inhabitants of earth. This ministration of heavenly angels resulted in the conversion of Cornelius and his company, showing God's regard for every human being and giving great encouragement in working for precious souls and holding prayer meetings so truth may enter strongholds where Satan has set up his throne and dispel his shadow.
God knew each man by name and every action of life. He told Cornelius that his prayers and alms were come up in remembrance before God and told him in every particular to send men to Peter lodging by the seaside with Simon the tanner, and He told Peter that three men were seeking him. He knew exactly where Peter was to be found and worked every detail out, directing Cornelius to send for Peter with full particulars including just where Peter lived.
Though the angel of God could have told Cornelius the whole gospel message directly, that is not God's way of working. God did not work that way because His church must connect together. The light and truth He had imparted to Peter was to be imparted by Peter to Cornelius and all his family, so that believers unify, love one another, and deal honestly, justly, truly, gently and righteously with one another instead of working apart and against one another or covering wrong by pointing at another's wrong. God may give people light through human agents, and they should accept the help and instruction He provides rather than insist on being taught by God alone.
In every age God sends messengers and sets circumstances in motion to bring honest, inquiring souls into connection with those of His people best fitted to meet their individual needs. He sent messengers and set circumstances in operation to bring Peter by angel ministration into cooperation with Cornelius so Cornelius could learn the truth and receive advanced light. From that household a widespread work of grace was carried on in a heathen city, calling for earnest, devoted, determined efforts for honest souls outside who are seeking light.
Call to Present Mission
The tenth chapter of Acts is to be read, prayed over, and understood until understanding is opened, and then earnest work is to begin for souls in the home field, giving the gospel as freely to Jews as to Gentiles with no barriers erected. Failure to arouse to this home mission duty will leave workers wanting in the day of God. The cleansing means that God has cleansed Gentile men and women once called common, so no people are to be shut out or counted unfit for the gospel.
The experience shows the way God works on human minds for one who feared His name, His arm breaking the power of oppression and tyranny and dispelling the dark clouds of ignorance and superstition. Heaven is much nearer to the Christian engaged in soul-saving than is supposed, as seen in the ministration of heavenly angels resulting in the conversion of Cornelius and his company. Because of God's regard for every human being, each is to treat his fellow man as one of the Lord's instrumentalities for accomplishing His work in the earth.
A larger work was to be done for the Gentiles, many of whom were living in closer accordance with Old Testament principles than the Jewish leaders, and by His own methods God would bring them to belief in His Son. That work calls for the conversion of men like Cornelius, men of ability and influence who fear God and are to act a prominent part in warning the world. Men of nobility and influence await the call to stand for God in true integrity, and if they heed the message for this time God will give them strength to conquer and to testify by purity and nobility of character to the power of unadulterated principles. Special care and heavier, determined labor must be given to reach such stewards in trust because of the responsibilities they bear and the temptations of their positions, acting as Christ's representatives to the higher classes, and the work must not drift into securing only the poorest and lowly ones. Such men have spiritual discernment and are true, sanctified and ennobled through the truth.
God has many thousands who have not bowed the knee to Baal, God-fearing men in the fallen churches who must hear that Babylon is fallen and come out of her. As God worked for Cornelius, so He works for these true standard-bearers in every age and sphere, whose lives are a clear, pure, undefiled testimony for truth and righteousness and bright lights even among worldly men. He prepares the way for them to take the place of those who have been given a knowledge of Bible truth but have disappointed the Saviour. They will obtain a knowledge of God as Cornelius did through the visitation of angels from heaven.
Those who have more truth must place themselves in readiness to make personal efforts for sincere Gentiles who serve God with earnest purpose though they have not yet received the whole truth, to bring them to the full light of truth. Heavenly agencies are ever ready to cooperate with human agencies in this work, and angels will guide God's servants to these precious jewels who are walking in all the light they have received and are much nearer the kingdom of heaven than is supposed. Sincere seekers should be approached with patient, loving effort so they can be taught and gathered to the truth, and God's works can lead them to join themselves with Christ's disciples, to receive Christ with gladness when He is revealed, and to become witnesses who share the truth with others.
One person must not measure another by a human standard and pass judgment on him for not taking part in religious services, because such judgment can discourage a brother and imperil his soul. God forbids calling common or unclean those for whom He cares, as Peter learned when he went with the men who came for him and pointed Cornelius to Jesus as the sinner's only hope. God is watching over some who today are not actively engaged in His work but who will in time take up the work He calls them to and become faithful, reliable workers. Though their voices may not be heard in religious meetings, their good example of an unselfish life of honesty and integrity under God's keeping power will be recognized in the great day when crowns of glory are placed upon the faithful.
God directs people to those who need divine help and guidance, and the place to which they are sent may be where their service is needed, as Peter was sent to the Roman centurion. God sent a special message from heaven to Cornelius and instructed Peter by an angel to visit him and give him light, showing compassion and tender love for those seeking and praying for light. This gives great encouragement in working for precious souls and in holding prayer meetings to ask the Lord to open the way, so that truth may enter the strongholds where Satan has set up his throne and dispel the shadow he has cast across the path of those he seeks to deceive and destroy.
The same principle that what God has cleansed must not be called common or unclean applies to the General Conference. When it keeps to its proper sacred work and follows incorruptible principles, its influence may regain its sacredness and God's people may be addressed as cleansed rather than common.
The voice did not make unclean animals fit for food, but declared that the Gentiles had been cleansed through the death of Christ and must no longer be called common or unclean. The sheet of clean and unclean beasts was only a symbol to rebuke Jewish prejudice that Gentiles were an inferior, excluded race unfit for fellowship. God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation accepts those who fear Him and work righteousness, making believing Gentiles fellow-heirs with Israel and purifying their hearts by faith. So the command prepared Peter to carry the gospel beyond the Jews to Cornelius and his household, and the gift of the Holy Spirit to those uncircumcised believers proved the lesson concerned people, not diet.
Vision Setting and Details
The voice came to Peter while he was praying on the housetop at Joppa, very weary and hungry, immediately after the angel had visited Cornelius. While he prayed heaven was opened and a vessel like a great sheet knit at the four corners was let down to earth. That sheet contained all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls of the air. A command came to him to rise, kill and eat, and he refused because he had never eaten anything common or unclean. Then the voice answered him the second time that what God had cleansed he must not call common.
This exchange was done three times, and then the vessel was received up again into heaven. It left Peter doubting what the vision should mean until the men sent from Cornelius stood at the gate. At that moment the Spirit told him to arise and go with them, doubting nothing.
Cleansing Means Gentile People
What God has cleansed is not to be called common, and the cleansing is of people, not of food, for through the death of Christ the Gentiles have been cleansed and must no longer be treated as common or unclean. By this God showed that He is no respecter of persons, but that in every nation he who fears Him and works righteousness is accepted with Him. Through Christ the heathen nations are made partakers equally with the Jews of the blessings and privileges of the gospel, fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, fellow heirs with Israel and of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ, no longer strangers and foreigners excluded from the promises of God. The gift of the Holy Spirit to uncircumcised Gentiles as to circumcised Jews confirmed this, for faith in Christ purified their hearts and they needed not take on circumcision or the rites of the ceremonial law. The message belongs to the directing of Cornelius to seek further light through human messengers, bringing the gospel to the Gentiles and beginning the first work among them while removing prejudice among Jewish Christians.
The sheet let down with four-footed beasts and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls of the air, with the command to kill and eat, was only a symbol and illustration of the true position of the Gentiles. The word was spoken to Peter a second time in the housetop trance and then a third time before the vessel was received up again into heaven, leaving him doubting its meaning until the men sent from Cornelius stood at the gate and the Spirit told him to arise and go with them doubting nothing, with angels directing at every step toward the house. By that figure Peter was to comprehend the world-wide extent of God's plan, beginning in importance with the conversion of Cornelius as the firstfruits among the Gentiles.
The voice was both reproof and instruction to lay aside settled Jewish prejudice, the prejudice put in his mind by all his Jewish training that the Gentiles were an unclean race excluded from the promises of God. It rebuked him for confining his labors to the Jews and for belittling those who had no opportunity to hear the truth, and it corrected his still regarding as common what God had cleansed. So taught, he was to convert from that exclusiveness and no longer exclude Gentiles by the old barrier between Jews and Gentiles, but to recognize them as people who may receive the gospel.
Its command means he must not call any man common or unclean, must not regard people from other nations as spiritually unclean, inferior, or unfit for fellowship with Jews, and must not refuse fellowship with them. God accepts men and women from every nation who fear Him and do what is right, and the blood of Jesus can cleanse all from uncleanness. Therefore Peter was to carry the gospel beyond the Jews, going without gainsaying to Cornelius with his kinsmen and friends to preach peace by Jesus Christ, giving it as freely to Gentiles as to Jews with no erected barriers. In this Gentiles who accept the gospel stand on equal terms with Jewish believers, not to be treated as inferior or excluded from God's blessings.
Not Permission for Unclean Food
The voice did not lift the divine ban on flesh formerly pronounced unclean, and it did not make swine's flesh or any other unclean animal fit for food. The distinction between clean and unclean for eating remained, for the sheet of clean and unclean beasts was only an illustration of the true position of the nations.
To read the declaration as permission to eat unclean animals is a narrow and erroneous interpretation. That reading is contradicted by the scriptural account of the vision itself and by its outcome and consequences.
Peter himself understood the meaning only when he was sent to teach the Gentile centurion. The gift of the Holy Spirit to uncircumcised Gentile believers, just as to circumcised Jewish believers, confirmed that the lesson concerned people and fellowship, not food. It showed that God accepts in every nation those who fear Him and work righteousness, that the blood of Jesus can cleanse all from uncleanness, and that their hearts are purified by faith. It therefore supported the conclusion that Gentiles must not be regarded as inferior or unfit for fellowship with Jews and need not take on circumcision and the ceremonial law.
God Accepts All Equally
God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that fears Him and works righteousness is accepted with Him. Jew and Gentile alike are precious in His sight, and none who reverences Him and does right is to be counted inferior or unfit for fellowship. The cleansing declares that Gentile men and women have been opened to the gospel, overcoming Jewish exclusiveness and training in prejudice against those without opportunity to hear the truth. Its meaning became clear when the Holy Spirit was given to uncircumcised Gentile believers as to circumcised Jewish believers, confirming that God made no difference between them.
Through the death of Christ the heathen are made partakers equally with the Jews of the blessings and privileges of the gospel. They are made fellow heirs with Israel and with the Israel of God, no longer excluded from the promises of God but of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. The sheet of clean and unclean animals was only a symbol and illustration of their true position, rebuking the settled view that they were an unclean race and revealing the world-wide extent of God's plan of salvation to all nations.
The blood of Jesus can cleanse people from every nation from all uncleanness. God purifies their hearts by faith, accepting without distinction those who fear Him and work righteousness. This was confirmed when Peter was sent to the Gentile centurion and saw the Spirit fall on Gentile believers as on Jewish believers.
Gentile believers who accept the gospel stand equal with Jewish disciples without being required to undergo circumcision. They are accepted on equal terms, as precious to God as the Jews, and the rites of the ceremonial law were never to be forced upon Gentile converts. The command marks the opening of the church's work to the Gentiles and the end of the barrier that had kept them from fellowship with Jewish disciples.
Gospel Opened to Gentiles
The voice prepared Peter to go without objection to Cornelius, gathered with his kinsmen and near friends, to preach peace through Jesus Christ, and that visit began the first work among the Gentiles while breaking down prejudice among Jewish Christians so that the rites of the ceremonial law were never forced upon Gentile converts. The barrier between Jew and Gentile was taken away so that Jews and Gentiles by faith might be joined to Christ, and Peter himself advanced in conversion as he was appointed to become the human instrument through whom heaven and earth were united in the work. God used the vision to open the way for Cornelius and others like him to be connected with the church, marking the opening of the gospel no longer restricted to the Jewish people.
Cornelius, though devout and accepted of God for piety, prayers and almsgiving, still needed an advance in faith and a new experience that could only be complete in Christ, since neither prayer nor almsgiving can take the place of Jesus in whom all fullness dwells. He believed the promise of a Messiah yet needed its fulfillment made plain so he could do his work intelligently through Christ, and therefore the angel did not preach the gospel to him directly but directed him to send men to Joppa for Peter that the two might become acquainted in gospel missionary work.
Peter undertook the duty laid on him by divine command with reluctance at every step, afterward defending it not on general principle but as an exception done because of divine revelation, and the result was a great surprise to him. God sent messengers and set circumstances in motion to bring Peter by angel ministration into cooperation with Cornelius as an inquiring soul ready to hear and receive advanced light.
The conversion of Cornelius and his household was the first important and major conversion among the Gentiles, yet only the firstfruits of a harvest to be gathered from the world, revealing the world-wide extent of God's plan by which through the death of Christ the heathen were made partakers of the blessings and privileges of the gospel equally with the Jews as fellow heirs with Israel no longer excluded from the promises. From that home in a heathen city a widespread work of grace was carried on. The meaning became clear when Peter was sent to teach the Gentile centurion and saw the Holy Spirit given to uncircumcised Gentile believers as to circumcised Jewish believers, confirming that God accepts in every nation those who fear Him and work righteousness, makes no difference between them, purifies their hearts by faith, and cleanses people from every nation from all uncleanness by the blood of Christ, so that Gentiles need not take on the ceremonial law. By this the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem were convinced that God had granted the Gentiles repentance and life.
God Guides Through Agents
Divine direction can be given in visions, including guidance about what to speak, with the message repeated again and again. The account belongs to instruction given to Peter through vision, showing what to say and repeating it until received.
Visions are not given to establish a new rule of faith but for the comfort of God's people and to correct those who err from Bible truth. The voice to Peter corrected his error as he was about to be sent to preach to the Gentiles, teaching him not to regard as common what God had cleansed. The Word of God remains the rule of faith and practice by which all are to be judged.
God employs angels as powerful helpers of His chosen messengers, and instruction is often given to men by immortal messengers. Angels directed at every step toward the house of Cornelius, through the housetop trance, the sheet let down by the four corners holding four-footed beasts and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls, the word spoken a second time and three times before the vessel was received up, and the Spirit bidding Peter arise and go with the men from Cornelius doubting nothing. Heaven is much nearer to the Christian engaged in soul-saving than is supposed, with heavenly intelligences constantly communicating with inhabitants of earth. This ministration of heavenly angels resulted in the conversion of Cornelius and his company, showing God's regard for every human being and giving great encouragement in working for precious souls and holding prayer meetings so truth may enter strongholds where Satan has set up his throne and dispel his shadow.
God knew each man by name and every action of life. He told Cornelius that his prayers and alms were come up in remembrance before God and told him in every particular to send men to Peter lodging by the seaside with Simon the tanner, and He told Peter that three men were seeking him. He knew exactly where Peter was to be found and worked every detail out, directing Cornelius to send for Peter with full particulars including just where Peter lived.
Though the angel of God could have told Cornelius the whole gospel message directly, that is not God's way of working. God did not work that way because His church must connect together. The light and truth He had imparted to Peter was to be imparted by Peter to Cornelius and all his family, so that believers unify, love one another, and deal honestly, justly, truly, gently and righteously with one another instead of working apart and against one another or covering wrong by pointing at another's wrong. God may give people light through human agents, and they should accept the help and instruction He provides rather than insist on being taught by God alone.
In every age God sends messengers and sets circumstances in motion to bring honest, inquiring souls into connection with those of His people best fitted to meet their individual needs. He sent messengers and set circumstances in operation to bring Peter by angel ministration into cooperation with Cornelius so Cornelius could learn the truth and receive advanced light. From that household a widespread work of grace was carried on in a heathen city, calling for earnest, devoted, determined efforts for honest souls outside who are seeking light.
Call to Present Mission
The tenth chapter of Acts is to be read, prayed over, and understood until understanding is opened, and then earnest work is to begin for souls in the home field, giving the gospel as freely to Jews as to Gentiles with no barriers erected. Failure to arouse to this home mission duty will leave workers wanting in the day of God. The cleansing means that God has cleansed Gentile men and women once called common, so no people are to be shut out or counted unfit for the gospel.
The experience shows the way God works on human minds for one who feared His name, His arm breaking the power of oppression and tyranny and dispelling the dark clouds of ignorance and superstition. Heaven is much nearer to the Christian engaged in soul-saving than is supposed, as seen in the ministration of heavenly angels resulting in the conversion of Cornelius and his company. Because of God's regard for every human being, each is to treat his fellow man as one of the Lord's instrumentalities for accomplishing His work in the earth.
A larger work was to be done for the Gentiles, many of whom were living in closer accordance with Old Testament principles than the Jewish leaders, and by His own methods God would bring them to belief in His Son. That work calls for the conversion of men like Cornelius, men of ability and influence who fear God and are to act a prominent part in warning the world. Men of nobility and influence await the call to stand for God in true integrity, and if they heed the message for this time God will give them strength to conquer and to testify by purity and nobility of character to the power of unadulterated principles. Special care and heavier, determined labor must be given to reach such stewards in trust because of the responsibilities they bear and the temptations of their positions, acting as Christ's representatives to the higher classes, and the work must not drift into securing only the poorest and lowly ones. Such men have spiritual discernment and are true, sanctified and ennobled through the truth.
God has many thousands who have not bowed the knee to Baal, God-fearing men in the fallen churches who must hear that Babylon is fallen and come out of her. As God worked for Cornelius, so He works for these true standard-bearers in every age and sphere, whose lives are a clear, pure, undefiled testimony for truth and righteousness and bright lights even among worldly men. He prepares the way for them to take the place of those who have been given a knowledge of Bible truth but have disappointed the Saviour. They will obtain a knowledge of God as Cornelius did through the visitation of angels from heaven.
Those who have more truth must place themselves in readiness to make personal efforts for sincere Gentiles who serve God with earnest purpose though they have not yet received the whole truth, to bring them to the full light of truth. Heavenly agencies are ever ready to cooperate with human agencies in this work, and angels will guide God's servants to these precious jewels who are walking in all the light they have received and are much nearer the kingdom of heaven than is supposed. Sincere seekers should be approached with patient, loving effort so they can be taught and gathered to the truth, and God's works can lead them to join themselves with Christ's disciples, to receive Christ with gladness when He is revealed, and to become witnesses who share the truth with others.
One person must not measure another by a human standard and pass judgment on him for not taking part in religious services, because such judgment can discourage a brother and imperil his soul. God forbids calling common or unclean those for whom He cares, as Peter learned when he went with the men who came for him and pointed Cornelius to Jesus as the sinner's only hope. God is watching over some who today are not actively engaged in His work but who will in time take up the work He calls them to and become faithful, reliable workers. Though their voices may not be heard in religious meetings, their good example of an unselfish life of honesty and integrity under God's keeping power will be recognized in the great day when crowns of glory are placed upon the faithful.
God directs people to those who need divine help and guidance, and the place to which they are sent may be where their service is needed, as Peter was sent to the Roman centurion. God sent a special message from heaven to Cornelius and instructed Peter by an angel to visit him and give him light, showing compassion and tender love for those seeking and praying for light. This gives great encouragement in working for precious souls and in holding prayer meetings to ask the Lord to open the way, so that truth may enter the strongholds where Satan has set up his throne and dispel the shadow he has cast across the path of those he seeks to deceive and destroy.
The same principle that what God has cleansed must not be called common or unclean applies to the General Conference. When it keeps to its proper sacred work and follows incorruptible principles, its influence may regain its sacredness and God's people may be addressed as cleansed rather than common.