Study Desk

Staring at the angel and feeling afraid, Cornelius said, "What do you want, sir?" The angel said to him, "God has heard your prayers and has seen your gifts to the poor. He remembers you and all you have done.

But the voice said to him again, "God has made these things pure. Don't say they are unfit to eat."

The men said, "A holy angel told Cornelius to invite you to his house. He is an army officer. He is a good man, one who worships God, and all the Jewish people respect him. The angel told him to invite you to his house so that he can listen to what you have to say."

Peter said to the people, "You understand that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit anyone who is not a Jew. But God has shown me that I should not consider anyone unfit or say they are not pure.

He said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and has seen your gifts to the poor. He remembers you and all you have done.

So I sent for you immediately. It was very good of you to come here. Now we are all here before God to hear everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."

Peter began to speak: "I really understand now that God does not consider some people to be better than others.

God has spoken to the people of Israel. He sent them the Good News that peace has come through Jesus Christ, the Lord of all people.

You know about Jesus from Nazareth. God made him the Messiah by giving him the Holy Spirit and power. Jesus went everywhere doing good for people. He healed those who were ruled by the devil, showing that God was with him.

But on the third day after his death, God raised him to life and let him be seen openly.

He was not seen by everyone, but only by us, the ones God had already chosen to be witnesses. We ate and drank with him after he was raised from death.

"Jesus told us to go and speak to the people. He told us to tell them that he is the one God chose to be the Judge of all who are living and all who have died.

They heard them speaking different languages and praising God. Then Peter said,

"But the voice from heaven answered again, ‘God has made these things pure. Don't say they are unfit to eat!'

God gave these people the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So how could I object to what God wanted to do?"

When the Jewish believers heard this, they stopped arguing. They praised God and said, "So God is also allowing even those who are not Jews to change their hearts so that they can have the life he gives!"

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. When he went to Antioch and saw how God had blessed the believers there, he was very happy. He encouraged them all, saying, "Always be faithful to the Lord. Serve him with all your heart." Many more people became followers of the Lord.

So Peter was kept in jail, but the church was constantly praying to God for him.

The people shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not a man!"

Herod did not give the glory to God. So an angel of the Lord caused him to get sick. He was eaten by worms inside him, and he died.