Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-04-14
LESSON FOR APRIL 16l
PETER AND CORNELIUS.
SON TExT-Acts 1O:1-23.

tion between Jew and Greek; for the
same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto
all that call upon him.-Rom. 1O:12.
Thus far Christianity had to do with
Jews and Jewish proselytes only. Now
it's circle begins to widen so as to in.
clude the Gentiles. The central fig
ure of this lesson, Cornelius, was
captain commanding one hundred men
in the Roman army. The chasm be-
tween blacks and whites, which so
widely exists in America, is nothing
compared to that which divided the
Jew and Gentle. We take the whole
story of Cornelius in today's lesson
and consider the Easter story next
week.
1. A Prepared Convert Tvs. 1-S). %
His position. Caesarea was on the
great sea and was the political capital
of Judea. 1t was about seventy miles
from Jerusalem and thirty from Joppa
Cornelius, who was captain of band
of men born in Italy, was a Roman
citizen, and perhaps had been connect
ed with the great Roman general
Scipio. (2) His character. He was a
man of promptness, appreciation and
obedience, ". 33). He was also
God-fearing man, whose piety included
his whole household. He was man
of prayer and generosity Tvs. 81, 32),
for he gave much aims" to both Jews
and Gentiles. The result was that he
was honored greatly by all, especially
Cornelius was proselyte to the Jewish
faith Tvs. 28-11:3), and he certainly
was not as yet saved man GLIB,
14. Cornelius was man of a vision,
not of dreams or of frances, for this
vision came in the open daylight ".
! 30), when an angel, looking like man,
| appeared unto him. His fear was
calmed and he was informed that his
! prayer for he was a seeker after
Cod" had been heard. The memorial
". Al spoken of was that part of the
meal offering which the priest burned
upon the altar and which ascended un-
to the Lord as a sweet SAVIOR (See
also Nal 3:16). Cornelius is put to
strange test. He is to send for an
The angel was not to enlighten him, as
it is mans province to witness for
God. There is not a recorded Bible
conversion without some human in
strumentality. Cornelius, soldier that
he was, at once obeyed instructions
and sent out two devout retainers
after Peter. Man alone could finish
| 1n - A6o
II. The Prepared Preacher Tvs. 9-23)
Tanning was considered an unclean
occupation, but in Simon's house was
the man God wanted to use on this
occasion. No matter how poor q
preacher, or unlikely the situation, il
we obey God we can preach better
than Gabriel. God laid, as it were, his
right hand on Cornelius, and his left
upon Peter, and drew them together
Again God uses a dream, linking the
natural and the supernatural A hun
CRY man dreams of food, very com
mon occurrence, and God gave super
natural direction to a natural dream
God knows the right time to do the
right thing. We do not need dreams
for our guidance as we have full an(
sufficient revelation in the Word fo
our guidance. Many confused, uncer
tain and often mistaken voices ar
often related to us as the spirits ut
terances, yet the practical test tha
Peter was given ought to warn ant
teach us regarding all such claims
Here are Cornelius servants, come il
obedience to Gods revelation and com
mand; here is Peter confronted by al
opportunity of presenting the gospe
to those whom he had considered "un
clean" Peter was a spirit-enlightene,
and guided man, and so it was easy TO
him to interpret his own dream in tn
light of tnls evident opportunity; wit
ness Dr.. A. ]. Gordon's famous dream
But the spirits directions were ful
and explicit, arise, get thee down, an
go with them nothing doubling" N
vagary or mysticism about that
men of today would as readily ODE
the plain command of the word @
God, like results would accrue.
III. The Prepared Ones Meet ":
23-33). Cornelius had his whole house
hold ready when Peter arrived ". "a
perhaps more people than on the da
of the first great Pentecost. He saiC
1--WE are all here present in the sigh
Of God to hear all the things that hav
been commanded thee of the Lord.
> This is a great statement if we COZ
slider it's full content. Peter refused t
!, accept worship, that alone belongs t
Christ ". 25) and he explained no,
God had thrust him outside of the ci
: Gle of Jewish believers. He then r.
hearsed what God had done and a.
: serted that ''He is no respecter of pc
:! sons and that in response to thos
= in every nation who work righteou
= ness God had sent forth Jesus for tn
= salvation of men, 1) That men migI
: have peace through him w. 36); e
That he might be Lord over all; "a
That he had been anointed with th
Holy Spirit and power; (4) That b
had been crucified Il Pet. /; 18, Is
2:24; (5) That God had raised hi
t from the dead; (6) That he is to b
!. the judge, and CD That because
d what he had done-"through the nam
8 of Jesus"-all that believe shall hay
j. remission of sins" (This is a goo
/ sermon outline) Following this wo
t derful sermon, there occurred the Ge1
r tile Pentecost Tvs. 44-46).
The manifestations of this Penteco
we're similar to the first amazemen
tongues, the magnifying of God an
!, the exaltation of Jesus.
: Peter and the six Jews who accor
> panied him we're amazed" at thes
= Pentecostal manifestations, and the
were the ones who administered ba
tism to those who had believed.
Practical. Cornelius had a lac
and he went to God to have it su
= piled ". A.. Peter found his enligh
a eminent in prayer.
= God revealed his regard for all ma
kind, and that Jesus Christ can ar