"He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly."
-Acts 10:2
The human temperament is a self-centered one. It takes, steals, and restricts others from sharing in the material blessings bestowed upon it. Contrast this egocentrism with the nature of God, which is benevolent, charitable, and generous. In relinquishing control of our lives to God through faith and accepting God’s value system, we receive access to the Holy Spirit’s giving disposition. We discover the pursuit to enlarge personal holdings, or obstinately fence in what is currently in one’s possession, becomes less and less appealing. The stronger and more active our relationship with God becomes the more our character is divinely influenced. When we draw near to God and let His precepts govern us we become tenderhearted people, rather than tightfisted people.
Several months ago my family underwent a rough stretch financially. Although our family had long employed sound fiscal planning, including a disciplined budget and the incorporation of an emergency fund, we could not seem to avoid some financial hemorrhaging. The accumulation of numerous medical bills temporarily derailed our money management system and took a considerable portion out of our emergency fund. For a season, it seemed as though every week someone in our family needed to see a specialist or have a prescription refilled. It got to the point that my wife, Dawn, and I dreaded opening the mailbox, lest we find another payment invoice from a doctor’s office.
Dawn and I were apprehensive as to how we would pull ourselves out of the financial pit. Caught up in the barrage of medical bills, we momentarily forgot that God is our great Deliverer and neglected to place our faith in the God Who knows no impossibilities. One morning, I awoke and entered into a time of biblical study and prayer. Although this was, and is, my daily habit, I approached this particular study with a sense of desperation, a longing to know God’s comfort. The emotional ache caused by the financial hardship demanded relief in God’s Word and produced a need for intense worship, which I experienced that day. Searching for reassurance, God showered me with it. The Holy Spirit convicted me to quit worrying and exercise trust instead. My fretfulness was overshadowed by the calming, supernatural belief that God would provide for my family.
Later that morning, I told Dawn about the encouragement and insight the Holy Spirit had given me. We both had been in a stressful state as a result of the medical bills, but it was time to let the stress go. We needed to stop looking at numbers and start looking to God. I sensed a peace about the matter and felt sure that we would find a way to a level financial footing. That very afternoon, one of Dawn’s friends came by our house and dropped off an envelope. Inside the envelope was $500. Unbeknownst to us, Dawn’s friend and her husband felt burdened for our family. They knew we had amassed several medical bills and had been praying about how they could help us, which led to their incredible act of generosity.
That event was one of the most powerful movements of God’s hand I have ever experienced. My family had a need and God responded to that need by moving in the heart of another family, a family who assisted us in my family’s dark hour. The generosity we received not only provided us a timely financial blessing, it provided us a spiritual blessing, powerfully signifying that generosity is superior to greed and giving is greater than receiving.
Serving God generates a generous spirit and yields a supreme satisfaction, a satisfaction than cannot be found by conceitedly serving ourselves. The Holy Spirit-inspired desire to give characterized many of the first century Christians. As was previously reviewed in Acts 4, some believers went so far as to sell their homes and property in order to present all of the proceeds to the apostles, entrusting God’s messengers to distribute it appropriately. Modern-day Christians can glean much from the example of generosity that characterized the early church. In Acts 10, Luke introduces us to a man who resided in Caesarea named Cornelius, a man, consequently, who was renowned for his generosity.
Luke’s commentary is very complimentary of Cornelius. According to Acts 10:1, Cornelius and his family diligently served God. Cornelius gave generously to those in need, and he prayed to God regularly. He was a man who exercised spiritual discipline and consistently sought to honor God in his conduct. Luke also records that Cornelius was a Roman centurion, which meant that he was a career soldier, and a senior officer. Such military responsibility was not handed out liberally in the Roman government; it was reserved for the courageous, skillful, disciplined, and proven warriors. If Gentiles were viewed with disdain by Jewish community, then Roman military were disliked even more so. After all, their presence constantly reminded the Israelites that they were a conquered people, living under the framework and demands of the Roman government. In essence, the Roman military represented Israel’s oppression. And yet somehow Cornelius had become a devout follower of God.
Although Philip went to Caesarea and preached the gospel there for many years (Acts 8:40 and Acts 21:8), it did not appear Cornelius had received the entirety of Jesus’ story from Philip or any other Christians. What Cornelius knew of Jesus ended in Christ’s death and was therefore incomplete, as would be revealed in his exchange with the apostle Peter later in Acts 10. It would seem that Cornelius was a proselyte of the Jewish faith, which would explain his God-fearing designation and devotion to orderly prayer (observed daily during precise times).
Before delving into the rest of the account in Acts 10, Cornelius’s spirit of generosity presents three aspects that bear examination. One, generosity is evident in its activity. Cornelius intentionally and humbly set aside some of his income in order to offer it to those who were starving, downtrodden, hard-pressed, and broken. This account does not indicate Cornelius’s generosity was a one-time charitable act; it implies his giving was an ongoing, systematic display of God’s love. It was proof that he possessed a spirit of thanksgiving.
Cornelius had a healthy fear and respect of God. It dominated his heart. Rather than pass by or turn a blind eye to those suffering, Cornelius did something about it. He became a charitable vessel, extending the needy assistance and hope. Mankind does not naturally exercise a giving spirit. We tend to view this life as a means to a selfish end. We have expectations and demand entitlements. Truth be told, we are not owed anything. Everything we have comes from God. Our Maker graciously entrusts us with life so that we will come to know Him, enjoy Him, be fulfilled in Him, and honor him. Cornelius grasped this better than most. He mirrored the generous nature of God through his wholehearted activity.
Two, generosity is evident in its abundance. Cornelius not only gave to those in need, but he gave generously to them. Although he could have donated the bare minimum offering (tithe), Cornelius chose to exceed the bare minimum contribution because the joy God had lavished on him was not a bare minimum gift. As a result, he did not ignore opportunities to relieve the burdens of others; he embraced them. Cornelius was so enamored with God’s all-encompassing love that he felt compelled to offer an all-encompassing response.
Cornelius was a man of distinction, who did not seek distinction. He gave generously because he recognized his personal fortune was not his to begin with; it was God’s. He did not exhibit a desire for public recognition or have a self-serving through the distribution of his gifts. He gave regardless of whether or not anyone was watching. His legacy speaks to a caring work done for God’s glory, not his own. Much like love, God’s generosity is plentiful and longs to not only be appreciated by believers, but replicated by believers.
Three, generosity is evident in its attentiveness. No doubt Cornelius’s faithfulness to prayer provided him a sensitivity and consciousness of those who were poverty-stricken. As a result, he did not neglect their dire condition; he purposefully met them where they were and assisted them. He was attentive to the struggles and pain that plagued the world around him and endeavored, in some small part, to remedy it through his generosity. Clearly, a heart that beseeches God generates hands that are benevolent towards others. Because he knew God, Cornelius was compelled to serve God. He refused to be a spectator. Encouraged and equipped to make a difference in the lives of the destitute and impoverished, Cornelius strove to help the hurting, save the dying, and love the despised. Is this undertaking no less vital today?
Returning to the narrative in Acts 10, Cornelius was engaged in one of his daily prayer sessions when he was interrupted by the appearance of an angel. The angel of God called Cornelius by name, informing him that his prayers and generous gifts had gone up to heaven as a memorial offering before the Lord. The angel told Cornelius that he needed to send men to Joppa to retrieve the apostle Peter, who was staying in the home of a tanner named Simon. Immediately after the angel of God left Cornelius, Cornelius asked two of his servants, as well as a trustworthy soldier in his regiment, to inquire of Peter and bring him back to Caesarea. The men quickly departed for Joppa.
As Cornelius’s messengers neared Joppa, Peter went on top of Simon the Tanner’s house to pray. As Peter entered into prayer he became famished. As a meal was being prepared inside the house below him, Peter fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened up and something like a sheet being lowered to the earth by its four corners. Peter was shown various animals and asked by an unidentified voice to kill and eat. Peter refused the command because he would not eat anything that had been deemed unclean by Scripture (Old Testament). The divine request was repeated two more times, but Peter would not partake of eating ceremonially unclean animals. Thereafter, the sheet was lifted back to heaven.
Unlike Cornelius’s vision of an angel, which yielded direct, literal correspondence, Peter’s vision possessed a figurative application, which required his heart and mind to deeply ponder what he had witnessed. Acts 10:17 reveals Peter was still trying to interpret the meaning of his vision when Cornelius’s messengers arrived at Simon’s house. The Holy Spirit told Peter three men were looking for him and that he did not need to fear going with them for they had been sent by God. Peter went downstairs and met Cornelius’s men. After Cornelius’s couriers explained how Cornelius had come to call upon Peter, Peter invited the men into Simon’s house as guests.
The day after Cornelius’s messengers arrived in Joppa, Peter, some fellow disciples, and Cornelius’s men set out for Caesarea. When they reached Cornelius’s home a day later, Peter was greeted with a significant gathering of Cornelius’s extended family and dear friends. Cornelius rightfully expected what Peter was going to say was important and he wanted anyone close to him to hear it. The centurion was so excited and appreciative about Peter’s appearance that he fell at the apostle’s feet in gratitude and reverence, which revealed something about the state of Cornelius’s heart. He was a decorated soldier who was accustomed to the respect and admiration of others, but he relinquished all form of pretentiousness when he encountered one of God’s esteemed witnesses. Peter asked Cornelius to stand and deferred any praise, citing that he was but a man himself.
Calling attention to the Jewish regulation that convening and dining inside a Gentile home was unpermitted in Jewish belief, Peter asked Cornelius why he sent for him. Cornelius recounted his holy vision of an angel, concluding his testimony with an earnest desire to listen to everything the Lord was going to say through Peter. Peter instantly understood the significance of his vision a few days prior. He confessed to Cornelius that God’s grace was acceptable for all people, Jewish or Gentile. Peter’s worldview was powerfully altered through the work of the Holy Spirit. God wanted to show Peter that the relational barrier the Jewish people had for so long abided by, in regard to Gentile people, needed to be torn down. It was time for God’s covenantal people to share Christ with other races and other nations. Peter then proceeded to teach about Jesus Christ.
Acts 10 intimates Cornelius was somewhat familiar with Jesus’ ministry for Peter twice said the phrase “you know” in his correspondence with him. But what Cornelius lacked was the comprehensive knowledge that Jesus had been raised from the dead and had appeared to several witnesses, including Peter, over a forty day period after His resurrection. This truth confirmed Christ is the Messiah Who can take away the sins of people. As Peter conveyed a life-changing message, the Holy Spirit came upon all those hearing him.
Apparently, the belief and confession that Jesus was the Son of God was an unspoken one on the part of Cornelius and his family for they had not yet outwardly uttered a response to Peter’s message when the Holy Spirit filled them. Acts 10:45 says Peter’s traveling companions were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been granted to the Gentiles. The Gentiles began speaking in foreign languages, an event mirroring what transpired at Pentecost in Acts 2 when tongues of fire fell upon the believers in Jerusalem. Cornelius, his family, and his friends were promptly baptized in Jesus’ name.
Acts 10 marks a pivotal moment in church history: God’s reaffirmation of His desire for all people, Jewish and Gentile, to hear the gospel message. Jesus expressed this sentiment before He ascended to heaven. He instructed the apostles to go into all nations and tell them about Him (Matthew 28:19). But Christ’s redemptive message had not yet been conveyed, for the most part, to Gentiles by the early church. Although there were likely a few Gentiles who either had attended temple worship in Jerusalem where the apostles preached, or were present in synagogue services in Judea or Samaria where the believers proclaimed Christ, Gentiles, by and large, were outside the evangelistic scope until Cornelius and his family burst forth onto the scene in Acts 10.
All prior missionary work prior was directed to people of Jewish nationality (even though the Samaritans intermarried with people of foreign nations over time, their bloodline still possessed some trace of Jewish ancestry). The gospel message was given primarily in the Jewish temple and synagogues throughout Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. Christianity was, therefore, Jewish-centric initially. The apostles and disciples first reached out to their kinsmen, those who shared in Abraham’s covenant, a covenant that marked its men through circumcision (Genesis 17:11). In the eyes of many Jewish people, the Gentiles were not a covenantal people for they were not circumcised. Therefore, Gentiles were viewed as unworthy of God’s blessing.
The evangelistic work to Gentiles started in a most unexpected, but glorious, way in the home of Cornelius the centurion, a man who was noted for his philanthropic nature. Truly, it is remarkable who God can employ in His service. The primary apostles Jesus led and guided during His ministry, James, John, and Peter, were fishermen, hardly a profession known historically for producing giants of faith or world-changers. Then to consider that the illuminating light of Jesus, a light which calls people out of spiritual darkness, began its mission to the Gentile people under the roof of a Roman centurion is quite extraordinary. God has consistently proven His ability to do exceedingly great things through people of assorted backgrounds and trades. All God requires is a godly spirit, and a generous heart.
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