He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
An angel appeared to Cornelius in Caesarea while he was praying, called him by name, told him his prayers and alms had come up for a memorial before God, and directed him to send men to Joppa for Simon called Peter. The message located Peter as staying with Simon a tanner whose house is by the seaside, giving his host, occupation and dwelling place to make him certain to be found. It promised that Peter would tell Cornelius what he ought to do and speak in order to be saved with his household. The exactness of the direction shows that God knows every person by name and dwelling place, trade and daily work, and every act of life, from the humble laborer to the king on his throne. Heaven did not have the angel preach Christ to the seeker directly, but joined heavenly and human agencies by putting Cornelius into connection with a human minister to teach him the crucified, risen and ascended Saviour. Because Cornelius lived up to all the light he had in devotion, prayer and almsgiving, God gave him greater light through Peter, and his conversion became the first great opening of the gospel to the Gentiles as equals without the barrier of circumcision.
Verse Setting and Wording
The message belongs to a vision given to Cornelius in Caesarea while he was praying, when a celestial messenger sent by God addressed him by name. In that vision he was told that his prayers and alms had come up for a memorial before God. He was then directed to send men to Joppa and call for Simon whose surname is Peter. That direction is part of a wider pattern in the chapter of divine guidance given through visions.
The direction identifies exactly where Peter could be found, as lodging with one Simon a tanner. The host is named by name and occupation, and his house is located by the seaside. These particulars gave definite, exact directions for the messengers to find him in Joppa. The same account places Cornelius’s vision in this specific setting of being told where Peter was staying.
With the place named, the promise was added that Peter would tell Cornelius what he ought to do. That meant Peter would explain what he should do and instruct him and his household in how they might be saved. The instruction shows God teaching by vision what men should speak and what they ought to do, with the instruction repeated again and again.
While Peter was in Joppa, God called him to take the gospel to Cornelius in Caesarea. Cornelius told Peter of the vision when they met in Caesarea, after messengers had been sent and Peter had been commanded to go to the Gentiles. Peter later recounted that interview to the brethren in Judea as proof that his visit to a Gentile house was in direct fulfilment of the plan of God.
The chapter shows God dealing with Peter by vision when He was about to send him to preach to the Gentiles. Such visions are given for the comfort of His people and to correct those who err from Bible truth. They are not given for a new rule of faith, for the Word of God remains the rule of faith and practice by which all are to be judged.
God Knows Every Person
The exactness of the direction, naming not only Simon as Peter's host but his occupation as a tanner and his house as by the seaside, shows that heaven is acquainted with the history and business of men in every station of life. God is familiar with the experience and work of the humble laborer just as He is with that of the king upon his throne, and He knows the circumstances and daily employment of people in every grade of life.
He knows every person by name and just where they live, down to the house by the seaside, including what their trade or business is, where they live, what their experiences are, the spirit they possess, and every act of life. That personal knowledge guides earnest seekers into contact with those who can teach them more, and Christ knew Cornelius and knew exactly what to do for him.
Nothing is hidden from God, for He knows men's avarice, cruelty, secret crimes, and selfishness as well as their good deeds, charity, liberality, and kindness. He knows whether a person is clearing the King's highway from all rubbish and hindrance so souls can be beckoned onward and upward, or filling the path with rubbish and blocking his own way and placing stumbling blocks in the way of sinners to hinder the salvation of precious souls for whom Christ died.
Ministering angels are passing through the churches noting faithfulness in each individual line of duty.
Heaven Works Through People
The angel sent to Cornelius was not commissioned to explain the story of the cross himself, but to put the seeker in contact with a human minister who was subject to human frailties and temptations. That man was to teach the crucified, risen, and ascended Saviour and to show Cornelius how he and his household could be saved. In this arrangement God honored the gospel ministry and His organized church.
It is God's plan and appointed way not to instruct seekers directly by angel when He can place them in connection with those who have been receiving knowledge from on high. The light already given to Peter was to be given by Peter to Cornelius and his family, because one person must communicate with and instruct another. Those who have received light are to reveal it to those in darkness, and heavenly and earthly instrumentalities thus unite. God could have taught Cornelius directly and enabled him to understand the Scriptures, but He ordained communication of truth through human agents.
The direction joins heaven and earth in cooperation of heavenly agencies with human instrumentalities. God communicates His will through heavenly intelligences, employing angels to communicate with human beings and to instruct men. Angels are guides to God's messengers on earth and powerful helpers to His chosen messengers. Heaven is much nearer to the Christian engaged in the work of soul-saving than many suppose, and the ministration of heavenly angels resulted in the conversion of Cornelius and his company.
God also prepared Peter to receive the messengers, showing that He guides workers to those seeking truth and opens the way for the gospel. He knew exactly where Peter was to be found and told Cornelius every particular where to look for him, and it was all worked out as told. His purpose was to bring Peter and Cornelius into connection with each other so that the light He had imparted to Peter would be imparted by Peter to Cornelius and all his family. In this God works by connecting His church together, so believers must come into close connection with one another and unify instead of standing aloof, and must impart to one another what God has given them instead of working alone or against one another. This requires unity and honest, just, true, loving dealing with one another.
Cornelius obeyed the instruction to send for Peter and received further light through a human messenger. His example shows that God's people should not refuse such help or assume they must be taught directly without human guidance.
Cornelius and His Memorial
Cornelius was a Roman centurion and officer at Caesarea, a man in a high position of trust and responsibility and stewardship, devout and fearing God with all his house, giving much alms and praying always, serving God with integrity to the best of his ability and knowledge and living up to all the light he had and walking in it, yet without full knowledge of Christ and the fulfillment of the promise of a Messiah, obedient to Old Testament instruction but without a theoretical understanding of truth while living out its true principles. He prayed and gave offerings and deeds of charity, but did not yet fully understand Christ's work, and clearer light was to come to him through a human agent working with divine guidance. His household followed his integrity and example.
His prayers together with his alms, gifts, and offerings came up as a memorial before God, and the sending of the angel with direction to send men to Joppa for Peter lodging with Simon the tanner by the seaside proved God had not forgotten Cornelius and his family but had received them with commendation. That direction was the answer to his prayer while he was praying, when a celestial messenger addressed him by name and he in fear asked what was wanted. Honest seeking for truth, prayer, and generous, self-sacrificing liberality thus come up before God with commendation, and He supplies the necessities of those who call upon Him.
Because he followed on to know the Lord and lived up to the light he had, God did not leave him in darkness but commissioned heavenly angels to connect him with the apostle Peter for additional light and further truth, taking special notice of those who serve Him, keeping watch over the work to be accomplished, and not withholding words of encouragement from those who do well. God answers those who ask Him for wisdom with further light, and Cornelius received special directions in answer to his prayers for more light and knowledge so he could serve the Lord more perfectly. This joining of His children on earth with angels in heaven encourages all to do their best according to the knowledge they have, and shows God's compassion, tender love, and personal interest for those seeking and praying for light.
Though his devout piety, prayers, and alms were acceptable as far as his knowledge went, neither prayer nor almsgiving could take the place of Christ in whom all fullness dwells and in whom alone all is made complete, so he still needed an advance in faith and a new experience to receive the fulfillment of the Messiah he believed promised and to do his work intelligently through Jesus Christ. Obedience to the direction to receive further light through a human messenger won the salvation of all his house, led to uniting with the church and the newly formed church, and to becoming a useful and influential laborer together with God. Through Peter, Cornelius and his family would receive the truth and help bring others to it, and as a man of influence joined with believers in Jesus he could accomplish a great work in gospel missionary work.
He illustrates men in high positions and stewardship whose sympathies are with God's people but who are held by worldly ties and pressures and lack moral courage to take their position with the lowly, showing the condition of those who need special labor because of the responsibilities they bear and the temptations that come to them. God's care reaches such high-position seekers who are seeking and praying for truth, and special determined personal effort must be made to reach them as Christ's representatives to the higher classes, even though it is a heavier cross to work for them than for the poorer and more lowly. Those converted can then use their influence and resources to share the truth with others.
His life is an example of the devout, true, sanctified men taught of God found in every age, who fear God and follow principles of righteousness in every sphere of action even though not fully informed in regard to truth, whose clear, pure, undefiled testimony for truth and righteousness makes them bright and shining lights even in high positions of responsibility among accomplished worldly men. Such men keep spiritual discernment and are ennobled through the truth, which merely professing all a lifetime does not produce, showing that not all forget God in investigation of true science but remain true to pure, holy principles in investigating the laws which rule the world. As God worked for Cornelius through the visitation of angels and by placing him in connection with men of superior knowledge regarding His Word that he might obtain advanced light and a knowledge of God, so He works for true standard-bearers now, preparing the way for them to take the place of those given Bible truth who disappointed Him.
Gospel Opened to Gentiles
The direction to the seaside home of Simon the tanner where Simon Peter was lodging was part of God's work to open Cornelius's mind to receive the gospel and to send Peter with the message of salvation to a Gentile. That meeting set in motion the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, and the conversion of Cornelius was the first major and important conversion among them. It was the opening of salvation to the wider world, no longer restricted to the Jews. The instruction led Cornelius and his household to hear the words by which they would be saved.
Gentile believers were to receive the gospel as equals with Jewish believers, without having to be circumcised. The barrier that had excluded Gentiles from the privileges of the gospel, though still present in the apostles' minds, had been broken down by Christ's death. Ceremonial distinctions and prejudice against Gentiles as unclean were to be utterly destroyed by the gospel. God does not favor one people over another.
Peter undertook the duty laid on him by divine command with reluctance at every step. He defended his action afterward not on general principles but as an exception done because of divine revelation. The result was a great surprise to him.
The telling of what Cornelius ought to do led to the conversion of Cornelius and his household. That conversion was only the firstfruits of a harvest to be gathered in from the world. From that home in a heathen city a widespread work of grace was carried on.
By God's own method of dealing with human minds, those who had been strangers and foreigners were brought to belief in His Son and made fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. This was part of a larger work to be done for the Gentiles, many of whom were living in closer accordance with the principles of the Old Testament Scriptures than were the Jewish leaders. It is the pattern for working for the conversion of men like Cornelius, men of ability and influence who are to act a prominent part in warning the world.
Pattern for Work Today
The direction given in Acts 10:1-35 is to be read and prayed over until understanding is opened, for it shows the Lord working for one who feared His name and reveals the way He works on human minds. When its meaning is realized, workers whose understanding is opened will begin earnest work for souls in their home field and arouse to duty for home missions. That work gives the gospel freely to Jews as well as Gentiles with no barriers erected, breaking the power of oppression and tyranny and dispelling ignorance and superstition. Unless they arouse to this home mission duty they will be found wanting in the day of God.
Daily prayers for light and guidance will surely be answered in this same way, by bringing seekers into connection with human messengers. There are many today like Cornelius, a Roman centurion not counted a disciple yet having faith according to the light he had and reaching out for more, living up to the best light he had though not having received full truth. Such thinking people are walking in all the light they have and are nearer the kingdom of God than is supposed, precious jewels in this dark world of sin to whom He will guide His messengers. They are all ready, and when those who have greater light and greater advantages come into connection with them as representatives of Jesus Christ and Christ's representatives with words of hope and cheer that revive and comfort the weary, the next page of light, the great light of present truth including the Sabbath truth, will be opened to them and they will walk right in it into clearer and still clearer light.
In every age God sends messengers to set in operation a train of circumstances that brings honest hearts into connection with those of His people who can best reach their individual needs. He uses servants with special knowledge and training adapted to each class of inquirers, bringing Peter into connection with Cornelius so Cornelius might learn the truth and what he ought to do. Peter undertook the duty laid on him by divine command with reluctance at every step, defending it afterward not on general principles but as an exception done because of divine revelation, and the result was a surprise to him. The conversion of Cornelius and his household was only the firstfruits of a harvest to be gathered from the world, with a widespread work of grace carried on from that home in a heathen city. As He worked for Cornelius, who feared God and followed principles of righteousness in every sphere though not fully informed, so He works for true standard-bearers now, preparing the way for them to take the place of those given Bible truth who disappointed Him, placing them in connection with men of superior knowledge of His Word that they may obtain advanced light through visitation of angels from heaven.
Each person should treat his fellow man as one of the Lord's instrumentalities for accomplishing His work in the earth, for heaven is much nearer to the Christian engaged in soul-saving than many suppose. Work and place are God's choice, and the duty lying nearest is to be accepted and done whether pleasing or unpleasing. God has reasons for directing feet to that very place, because there is someone there who needs the help His sent worker can give, as Peter was sent as God's representative to the Roman centurion in need of divine help and guidance. Going to a different place when sent to a specific one is not pleasing to Him.
The same pattern requires earnest, devoted, determined work for associations where honest seeking souls may be gathered out to receive light. God's care reaches people in high positions who are seeking and praying for truth, as He directed Cornelius the Roman officer to Peter for further light, and they may need personal effort to be connected with His people despite ties and pressures of the world. Through angel ministration Peter was brought into cooperation with inquiring souls who had all things in readiness to hear the truth and receive advanced light. Cornelius's conversion illustrates that God seeks people in influential and responsible positions, and workers who faithfully carry the gospel can help bring them to Christ, after which those converted can use their influence and resources to share truth with others.
In the last days many will prize the wisdom of God above any earthly advantage and obey the Word of God as the supreme standard. Led by the wonderful works of God to bring their energetic, faithful life into connection with the disciples of Christ to learn what they ought to do, they will be led to great light and come to the knowledge of the truth. Then, themselves constrained by the love of God, they will become conscientious light bearers who constrain others, seeking to place that light before acquaintances anxious for truth, improving every opportunity to invite and urge others to come and see its beauty and to give their abilities to advance God's work.
God in providence knows those who are His and directs sincere seekers to truth as He directed Cornelius, and everywhere there are those who will take their stand for present truth with all heaven interested in the proclamation to reach them. Therefore workers must labor more intelligently and earnestly as God's helping hand for those who need help, with the Bible as Guide and Counsellor, sowing seeds of truth beside all waters and proclaiming present truth in an impressive and acceptable way. They must have increased faith and trust in God, believing seeming impossibilities will become easy, and must never be controlled by hopelessness because God's work will be done. Though weak, they will receive God's enduring strength if they believe.
An angel appeared to Cornelius in Caesarea while he was praying, called him by name, told him his prayers and alms had come up for a memorial before God, and directed him to send men to Joppa for Simon called Peter. The message located Peter as staying with Simon a tanner whose house is by the seaside, giving his host, occupation and dwelling place to make him certain to be found. It promised that Peter would tell Cornelius what he ought to do and speak in order to be saved with his household. The exactness of the direction shows that God knows every person by name and dwelling place, trade and daily work, and every act of life, from the humble laborer to the king on his throne. Heaven did not have the angel preach Christ to the seeker directly, but joined heavenly and human agencies by putting Cornelius into connection with a human minister to teach him the crucified, risen and ascended Saviour. Because Cornelius lived up to all the light he had in devotion, prayer and almsgiving, God gave him greater light through Peter, and his conversion became the first great opening of the gospel to the Gentiles as equals without the barrier of circumcision.
Verse Setting and Wording
The message belongs to a vision given to Cornelius in Caesarea while he was praying, when a celestial messenger sent by God addressed him by name. In that vision he was told that his prayers and alms had come up for a memorial before God. He was then directed to send men to Joppa and call for Simon whose surname is Peter. That direction is part of a wider pattern in the chapter of divine guidance given through visions.
The direction identifies exactly where Peter could be found, as lodging with one Simon a tanner. The host is named by name and occupation, and his house is located by the seaside. These particulars gave definite, exact directions for the messengers to find him in Joppa. The same account places Cornelius’s vision in this specific setting of being told where Peter was staying.
With the place named, the promise was added that Peter would tell Cornelius what he ought to do. That meant Peter would explain what he should do and instruct him and his household in how they might be saved. The instruction shows God teaching by vision what men should speak and what they ought to do, with the instruction repeated again and again.
While Peter was in Joppa, God called him to take the gospel to Cornelius in Caesarea. Cornelius told Peter of the vision when they met in Caesarea, after messengers had been sent and Peter had been commanded to go to the Gentiles. Peter later recounted that interview to the brethren in Judea as proof that his visit to a Gentile house was in direct fulfilment of the plan of God.
The chapter shows God dealing with Peter by vision when He was about to send him to preach to the Gentiles. Such visions are given for the comfort of His people and to correct those who err from Bible truth. They are not given for a new rule of faith, for the Word of God remains the rule of faith and practice by which all are to be judged.
God Knows Every Person
The exactness of the direction, naming not only Simon as Peter's host but his occupation as a tanner and his house as by the seaside, shows that heaven is acquainted with the history and business of men in every station of life. God is familiar with the experience and work of the humble laborer just as He is with that of the king upon his throne, and He knows the circumstances and daily employment of people in every grade of life.
He knows every person by name and just where they live, down to the house by the seaside, including what their trade or business is, where they live, what their experiences are, the spirit they possess, and every act of life. That personal knowledge guides earnest seekers into contact with those who can teach them more, and Christ knew Cornelius and knew exactly what to do for him.
Nothing is hidden from God, for He knows men's avarice, cruelty, secret crimes, and selfishness as well as their good deeds, charity, liberality, and kindness. He knows whether a person is clearing the King's highway from all rubbish and hindrance so souls can be beckoned onward and upward, or filling the path with rubbish and blocking his own way and placing stumbling blocks in the way of sinners to hinder the salvation of precious souls for whom Christ died.
Ministering angels are passing through the churches noting faithfulness in each individual line of duty.
Heaven Works Through People
The angel sent to Cornelius was not commissioned to explain the story of the cross himself, but to put the seeker in contact with a human minister who was subject to human frailties and temptations. That man was to teach the crucified, risen, and ascended Saviour and to show Cornelius how he and his household could be saved. In this arrangement God honored the gospel ministry and His organized church.
It is God's plan and appointed way not to instruct seekers directly by angel when He can place them in connection with those who have been receiving knowledge from on high. The light already given to Peter was to be given by Peter to Cornelius and his family, because one person must communicate with and instruct another. Those who have received light are to reveal it to those in darkness, and heavenly and earthly instrumentalities thus unite. God could have taught Cornelius directly and enabled him to understand the Scriptures, but He ordained communication of truth through human agents.
The direction joins heaven and earth in cooperation of heavenly agencies with human instrumentalities. God communicates His will through heavenly intelligences, employing angels to communicate with human beings and to instruct men. Angels are guides to God's messengers on earth and powerful helpers to His chosen messengers. Heaven is much nearer to the Christian engaged in the work of soul-saving than many suppose, and the ministration of heavenly angels resulted in the conversion of Cornelius and his company.
God also prepared Peter to receive the messengers, showing that He guides workers to those seeking truth and opens the way for the gospel. He knew exactly where Peter was to be found and told Cornelius every particular where to look for him, and it was all worked out as told. His purpose was to bring Peter and Cornelius into connection with each other so that the light He had imparted to Peter would be imparted by Peter to Cornelius and all his family. In this God works by connecting His church together, so believers must come into close connection with one another and unify instead of standing aloof, and must impart to one another what God has given them instead of working alone or against one another. This requires unity and honest, just, true, loving dealing with one another.
Cornelius obeyed the instruction to send for Peter and received further light through a human messenger. His example shows that God's people should not refuse such help or assume they must be taught directly without human guidance.
Cornelius and His Memorial
Cornelius was a Roman centurion and officer at Caesarea, a man in a high position of trust and responsibility and stewardship, devout and fearing God with all his house, giving much alms and praying always, serving God with integrity to the best of his ability and knowledge and living up to all the light he had and walking in it, yet without full knowledge of Christ and the fulfillment of the promise of a Messiah, obedient to Old Testament instruction but without a theoretical understanding of truth while living out its true principles. He prayed and gave offerings and deeds of charity, but did not yet fully understand Christ's work, and clearer light was to come to him through a human agent working with divine guidance. His household followed his integrity and example.
His prayers together with his alms, gifts, and offerings came up as a memorial before God, and the sending of the angel with direction to send men to Joppa for Peter lodging with Simon the tanner by the seaside proved God had not forgotten Cornelius and his family but had received them with commendation. That direction was the answer to his prayer while he was praying, when a celestial messenger addressed him by name and he in fear asked what was wanted. Honest seeking for truth, prayer, and generous, self-sacrificing liberality thus come up before God with commendation, and He supplies the necessities of those who call upon Him.
Because he followed on to know the Lord and lived up to the light he had, God did not leave him in darkness but commissioned heavenly angels to connect him with the apostle Peter for additional light and further truth, taking special notice of those who serve Him, keeping watch over the work to be accomplished, and not withholding words of encouragement from those who do well. God answers those who ask Him for wisdom with further light, and Cornelius received special directions in answer to his prayers for more light and knowledge so he could serve the Lord more perfectly. This joining of His children on earth with angels in heaven encourages all to do their best according to the knowledge they have, and shows God's compassion, tender love, and personal interest for those seeking and praying for light.
Though his devout piety, prayers, and alms were acceptable as far as his knowledge went, neither prayer nor almsgiving could take the place of Christ in whom all fullness dwells and in whom alone all is made complete, so he still needed an advance in faith and a new experience to receive the fulfillment of the Messiah he believed promised and to do his work intelligently through Jesus Christ. Obedience to the direction to receive further light through a human messenger won the salvation of all his house, led to uniting with the church and the newly formed church, and to becoming a useful and influential laborer together with God. Through Peter, Cornelius and his family would receive the truth and help bring others to it, and as a man of influence joined with believers in Jesus he could accomplish a great work in gospel missionary work.
He illustrates men in high positions and stewardship whose sympathies are with God's people but who are held by worldly ties and pressures and lack moral courage to take their position with the lowly, showing the condition of those who need special labor because of the responsibilities they bear and the temptations that come to them. God's care reaches such high-position seekers who are seeking and praying for truth, and special determined personal effort must be made to reach them as Christ's representatives to the higher classes, even though it is a heavier cross to work for them than for the poorer and more lowly. Those converted can then use their influence and resources to share the truth with others.
His life is an example of the devout, true, sanctified men taught of God found in every age, who fear God and follow principles of righteousness in every sphere of action even though not fully informed in regard to truth, whose clear, pure, undefiled testimony for truth and righteousness makes them bright and shining lights even in high positions of responsibility among accomplished worldly men. Such men keep spiritual discernment and are ennobled through the truth, which merely professing all a lifetime does not produce, showing that not all forget God in investigation of true science but remain true to pure, holy principles in investigating the laws which rule the world. As God worked for Cornelius through the visitation of angels and by placing him in connection with men of superior knowledge regarding His Word that he might obtain advanced light and a knowledge of God, so He works for true standard-bearers now, preparing the way for them to take the place of those given Bible truth who disappointed Him.
Gospel Opened to Gentiles
The direction to the seaside home of Simon the tanner where Simon Peter was lodging was part of God's work to open Cornelius's mind to receive the gospel and to send Peter with the message of salvation to a Gentile. That meeting set in motion the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, and the conversion of Cornelius was the first major and important conversion among them. It was the opening of salvation to the wider world, no longer restricted to the Jews. The instruction led Cornelius and his household to hear the words by which they would be saved.
Gentile believers were to receive the gospel as equals with Jewish believers, without having to be circumcised. The barrier that had excluded Gentiles from the privileges of the gospel, though still present in the apostles' minds, had been broken down by Christ's death. Ceremonial distinctions and prejudice against Gentiles as unclean were to be utterly destroyed by the gospel. God does not favor one people over another.
Peter undertook the duty laid on him by divine command with reluctance at every step. He defended his action afterward not on general principles but as an exception done because of divine revelation. The result was a great surprise to him.
The telling of what Cornelius ought to do led to the conversion of Cornelius and his household. That conversion was only the firstfruits of a harvest to be gathered in from the world. From that home in a heathen city a widespread work of grace was carried on.
By God's own method of dealing with human minds, those who had been strangers and foreigners were brought to belief in His Son and made fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. This was part of a larger work to be done for the Gentiles, many of whom were living in closer accordance with the principles of the Old Testament Scriptures than were the Jewish leaders. It is the pattern for working for the conversion of men like Cornelius, men of ability and influence who are to act a prominent part in warning the world.
Pattern for Work Today
The direction given in Acts 10:1-35 is to be read and prayed over until understanding is opened, for it shows the Lord working for one who feared His name and reveals the way He works on human minds. When its meaning is realized, workers whose understanding is opened will begin earnest work for souls in their home field and arouse to duty for home missions. That work gives the gospel freely to Jews as well as Gentiles with no barriers erected, breaking the power of oppression and tyranny and dispelling ignorance and superstition. Unless they arouse to this home mission duty they will be found wanting in the day of God.
Daily prayers for light and guidance will surely be answered in this same way, by bringing seekers into connection with human messengers. There are many today like Cornelius, a Roman centurion not counted a disciple yet having faith according to the light he had and reaching out for more, living up to the best light he had though not having received full truth. Such thinking people are walking in all the light they have and are nearer the kingdom of God than is supposed, precious jewels in this dark world of sin to whom He will guide His messengers. They are all ready, and when those who have greater light and greater advantages come into connection with them as representatives of Jesus Christ and Christ's representatives with words of hope and cheer that revive and comfort the weary, the next page of light, the great light of present truth including the Sabbath truth, will be opened to them and they will walk right in it into clearer and still clearer light.
In every age God sends messengers to set in operation a train of circumstances that brings honest hearts into connection with those of His people who can best reach their individual needs. He uses servants with special knowledge and training adapted to each class of inquirers, bringing Peter into connection with Cornelius so Cornelius might learn the truth and what he ought to do. Peter undertook the duty laid on him by divine command with reluctance at every step, defending it afterward not on general principles but as an exception done because of divine revelation, and the result was a surprise to him. The conversion of Cornelius and his household was only the firstfruits of a harvest to be gathered from the world, with a widespread work of grace carried on from that home in a heathen city. As He worked for Cornelius, who feared God and followed principles of righteousness in every sphere though not fully informed, so He works for true standard-bearers now, preparing the way for them to take the place of those given Bible truth who disappointed Him, placing them in connection with men of superior knowledge of His Word that they may obtain advanced light through visitation of angels from heaven.
Each person should treat his fellow man as one of the Lord's instrumentalities for accomplishing His work in the earth, for heaven is much nearer to the Christian engaged in soul-saving than many suppose. Work and place are God's choice, and the duty lying nearest is to be accepted and done whether pleasing or unpleasing. God has reasons for directing feet to that very place, because there is someone there who needs the help His sent worker can give, as Peter was sent as God's representative to the Roman centurion in need of divine help and guidance. Going to a different place when sent to a specific one is not pleasing to Him.
The same pattern requires earnest, devoted, determined work for associations where honest seeking souls may be gathered out to receive light. God's care reaches people in high positions who are seeking and praying for truth, as He directed Cornelius the Roman officer to Peter for further light, and they may need personal effort to be connected with His people despite ties and pressures of the world. Through angel ministration Peter was brought into cooperation with inquiring souls who had all things in readiness to hear the truth and receive advanced light. Cornelius's conversion illustrates that God seeks people in influential and responsible positions, and workers who faithfully carry the gospel can help bring them to Christ, after which those converted can use their influence and resources to share truth with others.
In the last days many will prize the wisdom of God above any earthly advantage and obey the Word of God as the supreme standard. Led by the wonderful works of God to bring their energetic, faithful life into connection with the disciples of Christ to learn what they ought to do, they will be led to great light and come to the knowledge of the truth. Then, themselves constrained by the love of God, they will become conscientious light bearers who constrain others, seeking to place that light before acquaintances anxious for truth, improving every opportunity to invite and urge others to come and see its beauty and to give their abilities to advance God's work.
God in providence knows those who are His and directs sincere seekers to truth as He directed Cornelius, and everywhere there are those who will take their stand for present truth with all heaven interested in the proclamation to reach them. Therefore workers must labor more intelligently and earnestly as God's helping hand for those who need help, with the Bible as Guide and Counsellor, sowing seeds of truth beside all waters and proclaiming present truth in an impressive and acceptable way. They must have increased faith and trust in God, believing seeming impossibilities will become easy, and must never be controlled by hopelessness because God's work will be done. Though weak, they will receive God's enduring strength if they believe.