Acts 10:24-33 (NIV)

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along. The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself." Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?" Cornelius answered: "Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, 'Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.' So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."

“But God has shown me…”

Peter declares that God has given him a vision and that vision includes the Gentiles. Has God given you a vision? Does it include something that is hard to swallow? Grafting the Gentiles into the Gospel wasn’t something that sat well with Peter, thus his hesitation. Still Peter left his comfortable seaside getaway to pursue the will of God. What is your pursuit? I hope it is the will of God, because everything else is temporal and perishable.

Maybe we don’t acknowledge God-sized visions because of the God-sized weight it comes with. We look at the weight of a God-sized vision and immediately feel overwhelmed. That is the point, though, isn’t it? A God-sized vision can only be accomplished by God. That is what makes the accomplishments we see happening so much more grand and magnificent. The fruits of a God-sized vision are the visible evidence in an invisible God.

“Now that we are all here…”

What now? That is the overwhelming response of Cornelius to Peter. Cornelius did as he was told. He didn’t hesitate. He was hungry. He wanted whatever God wanted to give. His heart was open and he was humbled at the coming of the Apostle Peter. That is when it happens. It finally hits Peter. Peter knows now what God was trying to tell him. No more hesitation. Can you imagine the emotional magnitude of this situation? Cornelius is ready to receive the Gospel. His heart is open and reverent. It is time.

Acts 10:34-48 (NIV)

Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. "We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

So Peter preaches. That is what preachers do.

Romans 10:14-15 (NIV)

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Peter gives them the straight up unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ. This isn’t your seeker sensitive message either. It is a straight dose of blunt honest truth. Over and over Peter tells Cornelius, “you know”. There is Peter’s strong suit. Peter’s greatest niche in preaching is applicating the crucifixion of Christ to every believer. Peter makes people own up to their sins, not dance around them.

Peter doesn’t have to preach long before the Holy Spirit shows up. The Jews that are with Peter are amazed and astonished. This was the last thing on the mind. God saving the Gentiles was the farthest thing on their mind and yet before their very eyes is the living proof that God can redeem and reconcile all things. Jews didn’t hang out with Gentiles thus the reason Peter brought them in the first place. It was Peter’s accountability, so to speak.

The astonishment of the Holy Spirit showed up in the form of tongues. That becomes a defining point for the Holy Spirit. In all circumstances in the Bible tongues are the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit filling a believer. It is biblical. There is no need to debate on the issue it is resolved here and many other places in the Bible.

Cornelius and his house get baptized…

Notice that they were saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, and then baptized. That is important because it shows that there is no certain formula to follow. You can’t formulate God. You can’t place God in a box because you don’t have a box big enough. Don’t get distracted in the order of things. God is always doing a new thing. Don’t get trapped in thinking God only works one way. As if we have to do this and that to make God move. God moves whenever He wants to and doesn’t need your advice or opinion to do so. Maybe we need to come out of our box? Some of us need to let our boxes go.