14 Who will say words to you through which you and all your family may get salvation.
And when she and her family had had baptism, she made a request to us, saying, If it seems to you that I am true to the Lord, come into my house and be my guests. And she made us come.
And they said, Cornelius, a captain, an upright and God-fearing man, respected by all the nation of the Jews, had word from God by an angel to send for you to his house, and to give hearing to your words.
And they said, Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have salvation. And they gave the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And that same hour of the night, he took them, and when he had given attention to their wounds, he and all his family had baptism straight away. And he took them into his house and gave them food, and he was full of joy, having faith in God with all his family.
It was clear then to the father that this was the very time at which Jesus said to him, Your son is living. And he had faith in Jesus, he and all his family.
But these are recorded, so that you may have faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that, having this faith you may have life in his name.
If we take the witness of men to be true, the witness of God is greater: because this is the witness which God has given about his Son. He who has faith in the Son of God has the witness in himself: he who has not faith in God makes him false, because he has not faith in the witness which God has given about his Son. And his witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who has not the Son of God has not the life. I have put these things in writing for you who have faith in the name of the Son of God, so that you may be certain that you have eternal life.
And I gave baptism to the house of Stephanas; but I am not certain that any others had baptism from me.
Because, if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation: For with the heart man has faith to get righteousness, and with the mouth he says that Jesus is Lord to get salvation.
For I have no feeling of shame about the good news, because it is the power of God giving salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first, and then to the Greek. For in it there is the revelation of the righteousness of God from faith to faith: as it is said in the holy Writings, The man who does righteousness will be living by his faith.
And Crispus, the ruler of the Synagogue, with all his family, had faith in the Lord; and a great number of the people of Corinth, hearing the word, had faith and were given baptism.
To him all the prophets give witness, that through his name everyone who has faith in him will have forgiveness of sins.
Send, then, to Joppa, and get Simon, named Peter, to come to you; he is living in the house of Simon, a leather-worker, by the sea. So, straight away, I sent for you; and you have done well to come. And now, we are all present before God, ready to give attention to all the things which the Lord has given you to say.
Who is living with Simon, a leather-worker, whose house is by the sea.
A serious-minded man, fearing God with all his family; he gave much money to the poor, and made prayer to God at all times.
And I will make between me and you and your seed after you through all generations, an eternal agreement to be a God to you and to your seed after you.
And I have knowledge that his order is eternal life: so that the things which I say, I say them even as the Father says them to me.
The spirit is the life giver; the flesh is of no value: the words which I have said to you are spirit and they are life.
For the Son of man came to make search for those who are wandering from the way, and to be their Saviour.
And I will give them one heart and one way, so that they may go on in the worship of me for ever, for their good and the good of their children after them:
For I, the Lord, take pleasure in upright judging; I will not put up with the violent taking away of right; and I will certainly give them their reward, and I will make an eternal agreement with them. And their seed will be noted among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples: it will be clear to all who see them that they are the seed to which the Lord has given his blessing.
He will send blessings on the worshippers of the Lord, on the small and on the great. May the Lord give you and your children still greater increase.
His seed will be strong on the earth; blessings will be on the generation of the upright.
The law of the Lord is good, giving new life to the soul: the witness of the Lord is certain, giving wisdom to the foolish. The orders of the Lord are right, making glad the heart: the rule of the Lord is holy, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, and has no end; the decisions of the Lord are true and full of righteousness. More to be desired are they than gold, even than much shining gold; sweeter than the dropping honey. By them is your servant made conscious of danger, and in keeping them there is great reward.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 11
Commentary on Acts 11 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 11
In this chapter we have,
Act 11:1-18
The preaching of the gospel to Cornelius was a thing which we poor sinners of the Gentiles have reason to reflect upon with a great deal of joy and thankfulness; for it was the bringing of light to us who sat in darkness. Now it being so great a surprize to the believing as well as the unbelieving Jews, it is worth while to enquire how it was received, and what comments were made upon it. And here we find,
Act 11:19-26
We have here an account of the planting and watering of a church at Antioch, the chief city of Syria, reckoned afterwards the third most considerable city of the empire, only Rome and Alexandria being preferred before it, next to whose patriarch that of Antioch took place. It stood where Hamath or Riblah did, which we read of in the Old Testament. It is suggested that Luke, the penman of this history, as well as Theophilus, to whom he dedicates it, was of Antioch, which may be the reason why he takes more particular notice of the success of the gospel at Antioch, as also because there it was that Paul began to be famous, towards the story of whom he is hastening. Now concerning the church at Antioch observe,
Act 11:27-30
When our Lord Jesus ascended on high he gave gifts unto men, not only apostles and evangelists, but prophets, who were enabled by the Spirit to foresee and foretel things to come, which not only served for a confirmation of the truth of Christianity (for all that these prophets foretold came to pass, which proved that they were sent of God, Deu. 18:22; Jer. 28:9), but was also of great use to the church, and served very much for its guidance. Now here we have,