“Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

(Acts 10:33)

How was Cornelius’ household converted?

#1 They were present.  The whole house was there.  They showed up and were ready to learn.  You can’t grow if you don’t show up.  There is no such thing as absentee Christianity.

#2 They were there to hear.  Open ears and open minds are necessary components for the seed to take root.  There is no room for growth in the mind that has already been made up.  Hard hearts need not apply.

#3 They wanted to hear all the commands from the Lord.  Forget opinions; give us the Word and nothing but the Word… and while you’re at it, give us ALL the Word.  Take your time, we’ll wait.  No cherry-picking verses for us.

With those three things, is it any surprise Peter had no trouble teaching Cornelius’ household about Jesus?!

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.”

(Acts 10:26)

An astonishing aspect to the spread of Christianity is the lack of notoriety sought by the apostles.  When Peter had an opportunity to receive veneration by new Gentile converts, he refuses it.  Paul likewise exhibited this aversion to worship and honor.  Unlike almost every other religious movement in the history of the world, the leaders of the early church clothed themselves with humility and equality to those they were teaching and leading.  How did Christianity spread? It spread by honest, servant-hearted leaders who sought to conform themselves to Christ’s character.

Tired of religious corruption and scandals? Me, too.

Let’s just be Christians.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“So he invited them in and gave them lodging.”

(Acts 10:23)

Peter’s faith in God started before he visited Cornelius – it started two days earlier when three servants to a Gentile showed up on the doorstep in Joppa.  Peter knew only one way of life – Gentiles were unclean.  God now told Peter something different.  Peter had a choice. Stick with tradition or follow God.

Peter opened the door and invited them in.  That’s the pathway of the honest heart.

What do we do when truth shows up on the doorstep in the form of a verse we’ve never seen before?  Do we ignore it? Or argue that it must be figurative, not literal? Or wait for a more convenient day? Or declare it is simply a matter of personal interpretation?

Or do we open the door to truth?  It really can be that simple.  Take the Peter path.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“…a devout man and one who feared God with all his household and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.”

(Acts 10:2)

In one sentence, Scripture shows us Cornelius.  Cornelius is described as “devout” and “one who feared God”; those are descriptions of his heart… yet how was his heart manifested?  He “gave many alms” and “prayed to God continually”.  His heart was connected to his behavior.  We could call it the heart-hand connection – what is in our heart is seen in our hands.

Or we could use the picture Jesus did when our Lord referred to the fruit of a tree being how we identify it (see Matthew 7:16).  All trees are of a certain kind, and they bear fruit accordingly.  The fruit cannot be denied and always reveals the nature of the plant.

So, too, our works reveal who we actually are… which is important because we convince our own hearts into believing we are better (or worse) than we actually are.  Check your heart-hand connection – how would truth describe you in one sentence?

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“…this woman [Tabitha] was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.”

(Acts 9:36b)

Tabitha impacted many lives – the widows stood beside Peter, holding the garments that Tabitha had sewn each of them.  Each of those garments had to be sewn individually.  I can just imagine Tabitha sitting by the hearth fire each night with her evening stitching in her lap, one more widow on her heart and each seam sewn with her in mind.

Tabitha was continually doing deeds of kindness and charity, and that is why she abounded in them.  One stitch at a time, she wove together better lives for those around her.  Each piece of fabric mended the holes in someone less fortunate than herself.

Those who abound in good deeds are continually working with busy hands and open eyes for opportunities to present themselves.  I doubt Tabitha waited for the widows to tell her they needed clothes – she met the need before it arose.

Find some small deed of kindness and put your hand to the work.  Even a thimble full of charity is the beginning of abundance.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it [the church] continued to increase.”

(Acts 9:31)

How did the early church grow? Fear and comfort.

Both of these ingredients are necessary.  If we have comfort without fear, we quickly become complacent and will begin to indulge in sinful behavior.  If we have fear without comfort, we slowly devolve into hopeless languor.

However, if we fear Him, we need not fear anything else.  If we find our comfort in Him, we will not seek comfort in darkness.  He is both our warm blanket of hope and the roaring lion of Judah.

The human heart needs both fear and comfort.  Preach accordingly.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“When he [Paul] came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.”

(Acts 9:26)

When we are discouraged because we believe the church is not behaving as it ought or our feelings are hurt by a brother or sister (a feeling all saints will face at some time in their life), we should remember there was a time when NO brethren wanted to have anything to do with Paul.

Did Paul give up? Or complain that the church was hypocrites?  Did he throw up his hands and proclaim he shouldn’t be expected to endure such unloving attitudes?

No.  Because Paul didn’t become a Christian because of the church.  He became a Christian because of Jesus, and then loved the church because Jesus does.

Don’t let struggles amongst disciples affect your allegiance to Jesus.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“He is the Son of God.”

(Acts 9:20)

If you were to summarize Paul’s early sermons, it would be these six words.

He is the Son of God.

Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.  It is that truth that changes everything.  It is why Paul went from persecutor to disciple.  Jesus is the Son of God, and we all ought to follow.

The world has had many good teachers and it has had quite a few philosophers, but only one Man is also God.

We cannot afford to ignore these six words.  The Son of God has spoken.  Will we listen?

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“…and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened.”

(Acts 9:18-19)

When Paul had gone three days without food or drink, the first thing he did was be baptized.  Don’t tell Paul baptism isn’t important.  Paul was more concerned about washing away the sins of his soul then sustaining his body.

He certainly found it to be necessary.  Paul’s behavior makes me think that perhaps the early Christians knew something about the importance of baptism the modern religious world has willfully forgotten.

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites

“for I will show him [Paul] how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

(Acts 9:16)

From the first day of Paul’s conversion, he was warned of the trials that he were ahead.  The apostle Paul would become the champion of the cause of Christ that he once persecuted, and that conversion would cost him everything.  He would be called a traitor by his countrymen, be stoned and left for dead, travel to foreign lands through perilous seas, and find himself the ambassador to the Gentiles he once abhorred as unclean.  When Paul became a Christian, everything changed.

Yet, he never looked back.  All that was lost was considered rubbish in the face of knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord.  Was it hard? Most definitely.  Was it scary? At times, he despaired to the point of death.  Was it worth it? Eternally so.

As Paul languished in prison, he would pen the words, “Rejoice, and again I say rejoice.”

May we set our faces towards Jesus with equal fervor. 

Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites