But back to Cornelius and his family. Here we have a group of folks who are Gentiles [all people of all nations who were not Hebrews/Jews/Israelites]. Peter goes down there to the city of Joppa to talk to Cornelius and his family. This was after Peter saw the vision of the sheet lowered and raised three times, and he’s wondering what that’s all about. And he finally figures out that this has to do with God’s revelation that you cannot now call anyone “unclean,” that it is now okay to preach to the Gentiles and accept the Gentiles into the Lord’s church.

And in Acts 10, verse 44, we see the Holy Spirit descending upon these Gentiles. They have a baptism of the Holy Spirit, much like on the day of Pentecost for the Jews [in Acts 2]. These are the first Gentiles to be brought into the Lord’s church. “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers [Jews who had been converted to Christ and His church] 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 [speaking in other known and understood languages] 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,’” [Acts 10:44-47].

Now if you stop reading right there, you can kind of “buy in to”—you can kind of accept or believe—what people are going to tell you. Here are some folks who have received the Holy Spirit and been given the ability to speak in other languages just like the apostles did on the day of Pentecost. And that happens before they are baptized! And so some people think, “Well, aren’t they saved then already?” But what does the next verse say? “So he [Peter] ordered that they be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ…” [Acts 10:48]. The older versions of the Bible say that Peter “commanded” that they be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. Cornelius and his family were ordered to be baptized. Baptism followed these events immediately! There was not even a choice offered there, like—“Well, you know, if you really feel good about what has happened to you, you ought to be baptized. It’s your choice.” NO, they were commanded to be baptized! They were ordered to be baptized!

One last thought about our story of Simon the Sorcerer. Simon is someone who didn’t come from the same kind of background, I suppose, as a lot of the Jews had. He was probably a lot more “rough around the edges” [perhaps not as polite or educated as others—perhaps associating with people who were also robbing or cheating other people]. He was used to deceiving people, and living that kind of life. So he offers the money to the apostles so that he may be able to have the same power as the apostles had, and he gets confronted about that. But in verse 24 of Acts 8, “Then Simon answered, ‘Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.’”

We are to repent as we are in the process of becoming Christians. Do we ever need to repent after we become Christians? Yes, we do. And here is man who has been a Christian for just a little while, and he is already repenting. He is already asking for prayers.

From this story, we can learn about salvation. We can learn about signs and wonders that once had a very strong importance. These signs and wonders are still something that we can look back to—by reading and studying God’s Word—and cherish because they confirmed the Word of God, which we can now hold in our hands and read, study and obey. We learn about sin, about repentance and about asking others to pray for us. From God’s Word, we can be SURE that our heart is right before Him.