Acts 10:1-8
Thy prayers and thine alms are come up
The angel comes to the soldier first. He is told to send to Joppa for a man lodging with a tanner by the sea, and his errand starts before Peter knows anything.
People of the Bible
Cornelius
A Roman officer whose prayers were heard before anyone was willing to walk into his house.
He is a centurion of the Italian band stationed at Caesarea, a devout man who feared God with all his house, gave much alms, and prayed always. Every one of those things is said of him before he hears a word about Jesus, and none of them makes him acceptable at a Jewish table. He is a Gentile, and the wall between his household and the church is not indifference but law, custom and a thousand years of separation.
Scroll down to the storyThe movements, in the order the text gives them.
The story of Cornelius
- 01
- 02
Acts 10:9-16
What God hath cleansed, call not thou common
Peter, hungry on a rooftop, is shown a sheet of animals and told to kill and eat. He refuses three times, which is a habit of his.
- 03
Acts 10:24-29
He fell down at his feet
Cornelius has gathered his kinsmen and near friends, and kneels to a fisherman. Peter lifts him and admits out loud how unlawful this visit is.
- 04
Acts 10:34-43
God is no respecter of persons
The sermon starts with the discovery rather than the doctrine. In every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.
- 05
Acts 10:44-48
While Peter yet spake
The Spirit falls before the invitation is given, and the Jewish believers are astonished. Can any man forbid water is a question with no available answer.
Why it matters
The story is told twice because the church could not believe it the first time. An angel tells Cornelius to send for Peter; a vision on a rooftop tells Peter to stop calling common what God has cleansed; the two meet in the middle and Peter says a thing no one in the book has said yet, God is no respecter of persons. Then the Holy Ghost falls on everyone listening before Peter has finished his sentence, and the only question left is whether anyone can forbid water.
2 songs
The music
Every song in the catalogue whose passage falls inside these chapters.
