Two Are Better Than One

(From: ACTS #16 - 10:1-23a)

XII. 10:1-11:18 GOD EXPANDS THE GOSPEL NET TO INCLUDE GENTILES

A. 10:1-48 GOD ENLARGES THE GOSPEL NET

1. 10:1-8 THE KIND OF MAN GOD LIKES TO HONOR

a. 10:1-3 GOD GIVES A VISION TO CORNELIUS

A-NER de tis en Kai-saRIa, oNOma-ti KorNEli-os,

Now a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name,

he-ka-tonTARches [1543]ek SPEIres [4666]tes ka-louMEnes I-ta-liKES

a centurion of the band called the Italian

(eu-seBES [2152]kai phoBOUme-nos ton TheON sun panTI toOIko auTOU,

2(devout and fearing :God with all his :house,

poiON e-le-e-moSUnas [1654]polLAS to laO, kai deOme-nos [1189]tou TheOU diA panTOS),

giving much alms to the people, and praying to :God alway),

EIden en hoRAma-ti [3705] pha-neROS [5320], hoSEI peRI HOran eNAten tes heMEras,

3saw in a vision openly, as if about theninth hour of the day,

AGge-lon tou TheOU ei-selTHONta pros auTON, kai eiPONta auTO, KorNEli-e.

and angel of :God coming in unto him, and saying to him, Cornelius.

b. 10:4a And he, fixing hiseyes upon him, and being frightened, said, What is it, Lord?

ho de, a-teNIsas [816]auTO, kai EMpho-bos[1719]geNOme-nos, EIpen, TI es-tin, KUri-e?

c. 10:4b GOD'S ANGEL REASSURES HIM

EIpen de auTO, Hai pro-seuCHAI sou kai hai e-le-e-moSUnai [1654]sou

And he said to him, Your :prayers and your :alms

aNEbe-san [305]eis mneMOsu-non [3422]EMpros-then tou TheOU.

are gone up for a memorial before :God.

d. 10:5-6 ANGEL BIDS CORNELIUS TO SEEK PETER

kai nun PEMpson ANdras eis IOPpen, kai meTApem-psai SImoNA ti-na, hos e-pi-kaLEItai PEtros:

And now send men to Joppa, and fetch one Simon, who is surnamed Peter:

HOUtos xeNIze-tai [3579] paRA ti-ni SImo-ni burSEI [1038], HO es-tin oiKIa paRA THAlas-san.

6HE lodges with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by thesea.

e. 10:7-8 CORNELIUS OBEYS THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE

hos de aPELthen ho AGge-los ho laLON auTO,

And when the angel that spoke to him was departed,

phoNEsas [5455]DUo ton oi-keTON [3610],

he called two of the household-servants,

kai stra-tiOten [4757]eu-seBE ton pro-skar-teROUNton [4342]auTO;

and a devout soldier of those waiting on him continually;

kai e-xe-geSAme-nos [1834]HApan-ta auTOIS, aPEstei-len auTOUS eis ten IOPpen.

8and having rehearsed all thingsto them, he sent them to :Joppa.

2. 10:9-16 SOVEREIGNTY: GOD PREPARES HIS SERVANT

a. 10:9-12 PETER ALSO RECEIVES A VISION

Tede ePAUri-on [1887], ho-doi-poROUNton [3596]eKEInon,

Now on the morrow, as they were on theirjourney,

kai te POlei eg-giZONton [1448], aNEbe PEtros

and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up

ePI to DOma [1430]proSEUxas-thai, peRI HOran HEKten:

upon the housetop to pray, about thesixth hour:

eGEne-to de PROspei-nos [4361], kai Ethe-len GEUsas-thai [1089]:

10and he became hungry, and desired to taste food:

pa-ra-skeu-aZONton de auTON, eGEne-to ep' auTON EKsta-sis [1611];

but while they made ready, he fell into a trance;

kai the-oREI ton ou-raNON a-ne-ogMEnon [455],

11and he beholds the heaven opened,

kai ka-taBAInon [2597] SKEU-OS [4632] ti, hos oTHOnen [3607]meGAlen,

and a certain vessel descending, as if a great sheet,

TESsar-sin arCHAIS [746] ka-thiEme-non [2524] ePI tes ges:

let down by four corners upon the earth:

en ho huPERchen PANta ta teTRApo-da kai her-peTA [2342]

12in which were all the fourfooted beastsand creeping

tes ges kai pe-teiNA [4071]tou ou-raNOU.

thingsof the earth and birds of the heaven.

b. 10:13 And a voice came unto him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat.

kai eGEne-to phoNEpros auTON, A-naSTAS, PEtre; THUson kai PHAge [5315].

c. 10:14 But :Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything :common and unclean.

ho de PEtros EIpen, Me-daMOS, KUri-e; HOti ouDEpo-te Epha-gon pan koiNON kai aKAthar-ton.

d. 10:15 GOD REBUKES PETER

kai phoNEPAlin ek deuTErou pros auTON,

And a voice came unto him again the second time,

Ha ho TheOS e-kaTHAri-sen [2511], su me KOInou.

What things :God has cleansed, Don't YOU make common.

e. 10:16 And this was done thrice: and straightway the vessel was received up into heaven.

TOUto de eGEne-to ePI tris: kai euTHUS a-neLEMPHthe [353] to SKEUos eis ton ou-raNON.

3. 10:17-23a GOD'S TIMING

a. 10:`17-18 SERVANTS OF CORNELIUS SEEK PETER AT THIS SAME TIME

Hos de en he-auTO di-ePOrei [1280] ho PEtros ti an EIe to HOra-ma

Now while :Peter was perplexed in himself what the vision meant

ho EIden, iDOU, hoi ANdres hoi a-pe-stalMEnoi huPO tou Kor-neLIou,

which he had seen, lo, the men :sent by :Cornelius,

di-e-roTEsan-tes [1331] ten oiKIan tou SImo-nos, ePEste-san ePI ton puLONA [4440],

having made inquiry for the house of Simon, stood before the gate,

kai phoNEsan-tes ePUthon-to [4441] ei SImon, ho e-pi-kaLOUme-nos PEtros, enTHAde xeNIze-tai.

18 and called and asked whether Simon, :surnamed Peter, were lodging there.

b. 10:19 THE SPIRIT REVEALS TO PETER THEIR COMING

Tou de PEtrou di-en-thu-mouMEnou [1760] peRI tou hoRAma-tos [3709],

And while :Peter thought on the vision,

EIpen to PNEUma, I-DOU, ANdres DUo zeTOUN-TES [2212] se.

the Spirit said, Lo, two men seek you.

c. 10:20 PETER IS REASSURED

alLA a-naSTAS, kaTAbe-thi, kai poREUou sun auTOIS, meDEN di-a-kriNOme-nos [1252]:

But arise, and get down, and go with them, nothing doubting:

HOti eGO aPEstal-ka auTOUS.

because I have sent them.

d. 10:21 PETER RECEIVES THE MEN

ka-taBAS de PEtros pros tous ANdras, EIpen,

And Peter went down unto the men, andsaid,

I-DOU, eGO ei-mi hon zeTEte: tis he aiTIa [155] di' hen PAres-te?

Lo, I am he who you seek: what is the cause for which you are come?

e. 10:22 THEY REPORT THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE TO CORNELIUS

hoi de EIpan, KorNEli-os he-ka-tonTARches, aNER DIkai-os kai phoBOUme-nos ton TheON,

And they said, Cornelius a centurion, a man righteous and fearing :God,

mar-tuROUmeNOS [3140] te huPO HOlou tou ETHnous ton IouDAIon,

and well reported of by all the nation of the Jews,

e-chre-maTISthe [5537] huPO agGElou haGIou me-taPEMpsasTHAI se eis ton OIkon auTOU,

was warned by a holy angel to send for you into his :house,

kai aKOUsai 'REma-ta paRA sou.

and to hear words from you.

f. 10:23a He therefore called them in andlodged them.

eis-ka-leSAme-nos oun auTOUS eXEni-sen.

NOTE: - 10:1-8 - Cornelius is a most unusual man. Oftentimes a non-Jew like him exhibits more faith and devotion to God than Jews themselves. Jesus commended another Roman centurion for such faith - because of the manner he honored Him - by requesting just a word from Him for the healing of a valuable servant - not asking for His presence!

See too how in peak times of God's Visitations, angels are prominent so often. This happened in the 1920's with H. A. Baker and his orphan and beggar home in Kunming. The angel to Cornelius gave very detailed instructions. There was no occasion for misunderstanding.

10:9-16 - At the same time as an angel was visiting Cornelius, a voice from heaven in a vision was preparing Peter to enter into God's plan for the Gentiles to be brought into His Kingdom. The 3-fold vision of the sheet let down from heaven - made no sense to Peter until the Gentile visitors came for him from Caesarea to Joppa. Peter's vision here was much like Jesus' parables. They both required interpretations.

10:17-23a - God is like a Master Chess-player. All He does is perfectly timed and meshed together! How greatis our God, and how greatlyto be praised! The Holy Spirit assured Peter that all that was happening was of Him - and that he should walk in God's purposes in full confidence. Thiswas the way God led David through the Urim and Thummim - in full confidence! J.A.W.