12) And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing
doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the
man's house:
13) And he shewed us
how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men
to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
14) Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
15) And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell
on them, as on us at the beginning.
16) Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how
that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with
the Holy Ghost.
17) Forasmuch then as God gave them the like
gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that
I could withstand God?
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here
are those who confess to being believers in Jesus, yet cannot say that they
have heard of, or much less received, the Holy Ghost. This is partially
explained by the prominence of deceptive teaching. There are not enough
teachers and preachers willing to present the truth of what
is necessary to get to heaven. By not doing so, they show themselves
willing to sacrifice souls for their own selfish means, usually the advancement
of their own program.
The
seal of one belonging to God is the Holy Ghost. Those without this cannot be
certified as belonging to Him. Just as in days of old, a king affixed his seal
to all official documents thereby verifying that they did, indeed emanate from
him.
The
purpose of the Holy Ghost in the life of the believer is the cessation of the
operation of the flesh of that individual. In that the fleshly creature cannot
enter the
The
religious world was in a state of semi-upheaval in the time period portrayed in
our scripture, today. The apostles and other Jews had heard that Gentiles were
receiving the Holy Ghost. Naturally, they began to question Paul, saying that
they had heard that he was eating with Gentiles. What they did not say was that
their problem with him was really that he was helping those “dogs” to receive
salvation.
All
too often, this proves to be what really bothers others. Even though the Lord
proved that His gift was available to all who would seek it, the Jews wanted to
be possessive. Something that can change a life and transform from death to
life should never be converted. As hungry for and needy of hope as is our
world, we need to learn from the example of these Jews and determine to spread
salvation to as many as possible.
Peter,
too, had to be admonished for his way of thinking of those outside of Jewry.
While at the home of Simon the Tanner, he “fell into a trance” and was shown a
sheet come down from heaven, held by its four corners. On it were all manner of
beasts both clean and unclean. While showing Peter this vision, the Lord spoke
to him, letting him know that what He had sanctified, no one could call common
or unclean.
What
is ironic, here, is that Peter was one who made an issue of not eating that
which was unclean, but would have nothing to do with those whom God had
cleansed. We, too, must be careful, for we can feel pride in not doing certain
things, yet not doing what we should.
In
that “God gives the Holy Ghost to all believers,” we must do all that we can to
help others to the state of believing. Because we cannot know who is supposed
to be saved we cannot pick and choose to whom we will witness.
The
Holy Ghost, the power of God , changes for no one. As
His overall plan for mankind, there are no varying degrees of responsibility or
requirements. What is required of one, is required of
all. The Lord is the interpreter of His own word and will and is the only One
Who has the right to be.
Though
the saints of God are here for the service of mankind, even we cannot force
another to receive the Holy Ghost. No language of any people has enough words
to explain the joy that comes with the Spirit of God. For this reason, the
Spirit intercedes with words that can be understood by no one but Him. Whereas,
unregenerate man has nothing but his finite resources, those who have been
granted the Holy Ghost—all believers—can transcend any earthly situation and
partake of supernatural comfort and joy.