Acts 10:41, commentary and pictures

After rising, Jesus did not appear to everyone but only to those God had selected beforehand to see him. Those selected, including Peter and the other apostles, shared food and drink with him, proving by close personal fellowship that he was truly alive again. Peter declared this to Cornelius and his household as part of his account of Jesus empowered to do good and heal, put to death on a tree, raised on the third day, and appointed Judge of the living and the dead who gives forgiveness to all who believe. That declaration marked the opening of the good news to the Gentiles, breaking down the barrier between Jew and Gentile and placing believing Gentiles on full equality without circumcision. God joined the seeking Gentile to the chosen messenger rather than letting the angel preach, showing that light given to one is to be passed on by that one to another.

Chosen Witnesses and Resurrection Proof

After God raised Jesus on the third day He displayed Him in the open not to the whole population but to eyewitnesses selected in advance by God. Those selected eyewitnesses included Peter and the apostles with him, and the risen Christ appeared to those God had chosen. They ate and drank together with Him after He came back from the dead, so that shared table fellowship gave public evidence through personal contact that He was truly alive. Peter himself was one of those witnesses appointed beforehand who had that fellowship with Christ after the resurrection.

Peter declared this to Cornelius and his household, that God raised Jesus the third day and openly displayed Him to the appointed witnesses who ate and drank with Him after He rose. That declaration stands between the account of Jesus anointed with the Holy Spirit and power going about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, and His being killed by hanging on a tree. It stands before the charge to preach and to testify that He was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead, through whom all the prophets promise forgiveness of sins to everyone who believes in His name. Peter preached that resurrection to Cornelius and his household, and the Holy Spirit fell on those Gentile hearers as they received the gospel and were then baptized in the name of Jesus.

The chapter also carries the broader lesson that God answers the prayers of seekers by bringing them into contact with human messengers who can impart further light. God answered Cornelius by directing him to human messengers, and His plan was to connect chosen people with those needing the gospel, including the Gentiles. In that use the emphasis falls on God sending Cornelius to Peter so he could receive further instruction and be joined to the church, without unfolding the specific detail about chosen witnesses eating and drinking with Jesus after His resurrection. Likewise the account of Peter's divinely directed visit to Cornelius stresses that his preaching to the Gentiles was directed by God, and that the gift of the Holy Spirit to them showed God had accepted them and granted them repentance and life, without explaining the verse's detail about chosen witnesses who ate and drank with the risen Jesus.

Gospel Opened to Gentiles

The conversion of Cornelius and his household was the first major opening of the gospel work among the Gentiles. It began an entirely new phase of the Christian church, in which the door that had been closed against the Gentiles was thrown open. The death of Christ had broken down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles. The apostles still held a prejudice that excluded Gentiles, but God opened the privileges of the gospel to them. God showed Peter that Gentiles like Cornelius were serving Him as acceptably as Jews.

Gentiles who accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ were placed on perfect equality with the Jewish disciples. They were to share equally in the blessings of the gospel. This standing required no circumcision and laid no necessity of circumcision upon them. Peter's visit to the Gentiles was directed by God. Six disciples accompanied him as witnesses to what he said and did, helping to show that God had directed the visit and welcomed the Gentiles into the gospel.

The gift of the Holy Spirit falling on the Gentile hearers showed that God had accepted them. It showed that God had granted them repentance and life. As they received the gospel the Spirit fell upon them, and they were then baptized in the name of Jesus. Through this divinely guided opening to Cornelius, a God-fearing Gentile, the message of salvation was extended beyond the Jewish people to the wider world. The conversion of Cornelius and his household was only the firstfruits of a harvest to be gathered from the world. From that home a widespread work of grace was carried on in a heathen city.

God Works Through Human Messengers

God brings people who are seeking light into contact with human messengers who can give them further instruction and advanced light, and the sending of Cornelius to Peter is the pattern of this joining seekers to the church and bringing them to learn the truth. Cornelius was to meet Peter to receive the fulfilment of the promise of the Messiah and to advance to intelligent work through Christ, for though he was accepted of God in devout piety with acceptable prayers and alms, neither prayer nor almsgiving can take the place of Christ Jesus in whom all fullness dwells. God set circumstances in motion by angel ministration to bring Peter into connection with Cornelius so that Cornelius could learn the truth and receive advanced light, and through that cooperation Peter was brought to inquiring souls who had all things in readiness to hear the truth. In every age God thus brings honest hearts into connection with those of His people best fitted to reach their individual needs, and the same lesson calls for earnest, devoted, determined efforts for associations like the W.C.T.U., that light may shine to honest souls like Cornelius and those seeking light may be gathered out.

Though an angel visited Cornelius, the angel did not preach the gospel message directly, for that is not God's way. The light God had given to Peter had to be given by Peter to Cornelius and all his family, so that the light given to one is given by that one to another and God's church is connected together. The gospel message was entrusted to God's ministers rather than delivered by the angel, and Cornelius and his household were to learn from a human minister about Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension and how to be saved.

God knew just where Peter was to be found, lodging in Joppa with Simon a tanner by the seaside, and told Cornelius every particular by an angel, directing him to send men to Joppa for Peter to tell him what he ought to do. Heaven knew every particular, including just where Peter lived with one who was a tanner, yet the angel directed Cornelius to Peter instead of telling the message directly. The Lord knows every person by name, just where they live, the spirit they possess, and every act of life, and ministering angels pass through the churches noting faithfulness in each one's individual line of duty. Believers must therefore come into close connection with God and with one another, unify, love one another, and deal honestly, justly, gently, truly and righteously, giving God room among them instead of manifesting hatred, false weights and measures, or pointing at another's wrong to cover their own.

God instructs His chosen witnesses by vision, showing them in the night season what they should speak and repeating the showing again and again, and that same way of instruction by vision continues now. The ministration of heavenly angels resulting in the conversion of Cornelius and his company shows that heaven is much nearer to the Christian engaged in soul-saving than many suppose, and that God regards every human being and would have each treat his fellow man as one of the Lord's instrumentalities for accomplishing His work in the earth. The simplicity of God's plans for advancing His work is seen in the readiness of the agencies of heaven ever to cooperate with human agencies to bring to the full light of truth those who are walking in all the light they have received, for God has many precious jewels in this dark world to whom He will guide His servants. The whole transaction is simple: the angel works to bring the seeker who has received and improved all the light given him into connection with the human agent through whom greater light comes.

God gives clear direction about what should be spoken, and Acts 10 is an example of people receiving such instruction from Him. God gave Peter a vision when He was about to send him to preach to the Gentiles, showing that God gives visions in the last days not for a new rule of faith but for the comfort of His people and to correct those who err from Bible truth. The Word of God remains the rule by which faith and practice are judged, and by which all will be judged.

Peter undertook the duty laid on him by divine command with reluctance at every step, and afterward defended it not on general principles but as an exception done because of divine revelation, and the result was a great surprise to him.

Witness to Christ's Saving Work

The risen one was not shown to everyone, but only to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, including those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. Their testimony confirms him as the risen Saviour. Their witness to him as risen is set forth as the ground on which faith in the truth may rest. The apostles were witnesses of his crucifixion and resurrection and ascension, and the Holy Spirit rested especially upon them as they bore testimony to these truths, which were the hope of Israel.

He is the risen Saviour in whose name forgiveness of sins is received. Peter declared this to Cornelius and his household, that God raised Jesus the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people but to witnesses chosen beforehand, even to Peter and those with him who ate and drank with Jesus after he rose. That open proof by personal fellowship after the resurrection stands between the account of Jesus anointed with the Holy Ghost and power going about doing good and healing all oppressed of the devil, and his being killed by hanging on a tree. It stands joined also to the command to preach and testify that he was ordained of God to be Judge of the living and the dead, through whom all the prophets promise remission of sins to whoever believes in his name.

Call to Reach Honest Seekers

Cornelius stands as an earnest seeker among the nations who longed and prayed for light from heaven, devout and honest in piety, and when Christ was revealed to him he received Him gladly. His prayers and alms were acceptable before God, yet he still had to send men to Joppa to meet Peter and receive from him the fulfillment of the promise of the Messiah, advancing to intelligent work through Christ. Neither prayer nor almsgiving can take the place of Christ Jesus, in whom all fullness dwells, and only in Him is all complete. Heaven and earth were united in this appointment of a human instrument instead of an angel, taking away the barriers between Jew and Gentile so that Jews and Gentiles by faith might be joined to Jesus Christ. Earnest, devoted, determined work is to be done for people like him, that those seeking light may be gathered out from among those bitterly opposed to the message and light may shine forth to such honest souls.

The account reveals God's compassion toward people seeking light and teaches readiness to make personal efforts for those who have not received the whole truth yet are serving God with sincere, earnest purpose. Angels cooperate with God's servants to bring to the full light of truth those who are walking in all the light they have received, setting circumstances in motion to bring the messenger into connection with inquiring souls who have all things in readiness to hear the truth and receive advanced light. God has many precious jewels in this dark world to whom He will guide His servants, and the same lesson requires earnest, devoted, determined efforts for associations of sincere reformers that light may shine to honest souls like Cornelius. The conversion of Cornelius and his household was only the firstfruits of a harvest to be gathered from the world, from which a widespread work of grace was carried on in a heathen city.

Special efforts must be made to reach those in high positions, for Cornelius the Roman officer whom God directed Peter to visit and teach shows the need to labor especially for men in positions of stewardship and responsibility. Such men are in need of special labor because of the responsibilities they bear and the temptations that come to them in their positions of stewardship, so special care and more determined effort must be made to reach the higher classes rather than drifting the work into securing only the poorest. The threads binding them to the world hold them there because they lack the moral courage to take their position with the lowly ones. If converted they become agents who share the gospel and help others take their stand for Christ, giving strength and solidity to the cause instead of bringing in untransformed traits that would introduce objectionable elements into the church.

As God worked for Cornelius, who feared God and lived by principles of righteousness without full knowledge, so He works for devout men in every age who are bright lights in high positions of responsibility. He prepares the way for them to take the place of those who were given a knowledge of Bible truth but disappointed the Saviour. They obtain a knowledge of God as Cornelius did, through the visitation of angels from heaven, and to give them advanced light God connects them with men of superior knowledge of His Word. The Lord calls men of nobility and influence into His work to stand for Him in true integrity and testify by purity and nobility of character to the power of unadulterated principles, conquering fearful odds and falsehood after falsehood by clinging to Infinite Wisdom and pressing on in the narrow way cast up for the ransomed of the Lord.

God regards every human being and would connect such men with the church, and each should treat his fellow man as one of the Lord's instrumentalities for accomplishing His work in the earth. Heaven is much nearer to the Christian engaged in soul-saving than many suppose, and the agencies of heaven ever cooperate with human agencies in working out the simplicity of God's plans. That cooperation requires believers to come into close connection with God and with one another, to unify and love one another and give God room among them. They must deal honestly, justly, gently, truly and righteously with one another instead of manifesting hatred and false weights and measures or pointing at another's wrong to cover their own. Lifelong profession does not make true men, and those who are right in their own eyes while building upon the sand will perish in the tempest for want of foundation upon the solid rock, whereas Cornelius was a man taught by God, a true man sanctified and ennobled through the truth, and such men are called for now.