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One cannot but be struck with the attitude of Peter. He does not preach directly to the Gentile audience, he
rehearses in their hearing the word which God sent to Israel, saying nothing of a purely gospel character until the
very end.
But for the further intervention of God we cannot tell how long Peter would have continued in this way. lt is
doubtful whether he would have got so far as inviting Cornelius and his fellows to be baptised, as his own words
indicate:
`Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as
we' (Acts 10:47).
The upshot of this work at Cæsarea was that even Peter was called upon to give an account of himself:
`The apostles and brethren that were in Judæa heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And
when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, Thou
wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them' (Acts 11:1).
We find no remonstrance from Peter to the effect that seeing that the Church began at Pentecost, the conversion
of Cornelius should have been anticipated and be a matter for rejoicing. No, Peter patiently, and humbly, and
apologizingly, rehearsed the matter, even to the pathetic conclusion: `What was I, that I could withstand God?'
(Acts 11:17). Why should Peter ever think of withstanding God, if he knew that the Church began at Pentecost? It
is abundantly evident that neither Peter, the other apostles, nor the brethren at Jerusalem had the remotest idea of any
such thing:
`When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying,
hath God
to the
THEN
ALSO
Gentiles granted repentance unto life' (Acts 11:18).
We shall learn when we come to Acts 15 that the response of Peter to the call of Cornelius played a considerable
part in stopping the extremists at Jerusalem in their attempt to shackle the Church of the Gentiles, and how it proved
to be a preparation for the great ministry of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. In this we rejoice, and see how the
purpose of grace gradually unfolds as the narrative proceeds.
The abundance of material in these passages makes it difficult either to select or to stop, but needs must, and so
we leave the reader to the profitable employment of studying this passage in all its bearings, being confident that in
the atmosphere of the Scriptures, truth will blossom and the tradition of the elders wilt and die.
Antioch: The centre of the second section of the Acts
(Acts 11 and 12)
No student of Scripture needs to be told that a knowledge of the history of Jerusalem is essential to the
understanding of the Old Testament. This is so whether the point of view be the chronicles of Israel's history, the
prophecies of the minor or major prophets, the rise and dominion of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, or, to come
to the New Testament, the record of the Gospels, the Acts, many of the Epistles, and lastly the book of the
Revelation. This city dominates the opening section of the Acts. Whether it is the preaching of repentance to Israel,
or the evangelizing of Judæa and Samaria, Jerusalem is the divinely appointed centre. However, the second section
of the Acts, which we are now to consider, takes us outside the `promised land'. Another city now comes into
prominence. With this city the evangelization of the Gentile world, the ministry of Paul and the name, `Christian'
will for ever be associated.
What do we know of Antioch? With our present information, what sort of answers should we give to a general
knowledge paper covering its history and geography? Antioch has been called the third city of the Roman Empire
and its importance to all Gentile believers is such that no apology is needed for the present section, which seeks to
bring before the reader something of the character and position of a city so intimately associated with all that we as
`Christians' hold dear.