Cornelius, the devoted and good-hearted Roman centurion.

Acts 10:1-8

• God-fearing and kind-hearted Roman centurion.
• Angel of the Lord speaks to Cornelius.

Fearing God and Kind-Hearted.
“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.” Acts 10:1-2

A Roman centurion is a soldier with command over 100 Roman soldiers. Many of the Roman centurions were anything but God -fearing and charitable but were more on the cruel side. Cornelius was God-fearing and charitable. As would be obvious, the Roman centurions were under the command of the Roman Emperor, who would include the infamous Emperor Nero. Cornelius would be what the Jewish people would call a “God fearer” who was a non-Jewish Gentile wanting to serve the God of the Jewish people. Being a “God-fearer”, he was being taught the laws of Judaism not the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit works within the mind, heart, and souls of people to lead them to Jesus Christ and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. There are people in this world who believe in the existence of the Living God, are filled with prayers within their spirit for a better world and are charitable to causes rooted in Christianity. A soul like that would be receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. These are those who would contribute to every community organization that promises to make the community and the world a better place. However, they are not living for Jesus Christ but are living by a secular form of good works without the Holy Spirit. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

A Roman centurion came to our Lord Jesus to ask for a healing for his servant, as described in Matthew 8:5-13

Below is a picture of a roman Centurion.

Angel of the Lord speaks to Cornelius.
“About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” Acts 10:3

At 3 o’clock pm, Cornelius saw clearly an angel of God, there was no fuzziness or doubt whatsoever about what he saw. Cornelius was called by name. When God calls us, the calling is from the Holy Spirit within our heart, soul, and mind, which makes the calling personal and by name. The calling is not from a collective force of community harmony where the group means more than the individual. In fact, God calls us through Jesus Christ to walk on the narrow path not the broad way, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

“And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.” Acts 10:4

Can you envision a Roman centurion being afraid of anything? Fear is something they could not allow within their life because the penalty for cowardice was execution. There was not a human being on this earth that they feared. However, the fear that Cornelius felt was not a worldly fear, but the fear of God. That fear comes as a result of sin being exposed to the Holiness of God, which the Angel of God had. Every person who is sensitive to the Holy Spirit feels the fear and conviction of sin. This Holy fear is what leads us to say “No!” to the beast that gives people what to speak, do, think, and feel, regardless of the pressure, threats, and hostilities to conform to today’s culture. We are truly living this verse, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 7:28

“Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.” Acts 10:5-6

Peter was in Joppa, where he had just raised Tabitha from the dead, and there he was staying with a man named Simon [Acts 19:36-43]. On the map below, Joppa is south of Caesarea, both on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Roman centurion was one to give orders to 100 Roman soldiers, and to receive orders only coming down from the Roman Emperor. Now, an Angel of the Lord is giving him specific and direct instructions to follow. Those instructions were to meet the Apostle Peter, who would give him more instructions of what he must do. Our obedience to God, through Jesus Christ, must be that way. We must be willing to follow the instructions of the Holy Spirit which means to believe the word of God and to follow the instructions to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ and our Lord and Savior. This obedience is above obedience to the beast that instructs people what to speak and do because those instructions lead to atheism, rejection of Jesus Christ, and opposing the presence of the Holy Spirit.

“And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.” Acts 10:7-8

This verse reminds me of the verse, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” Matthew 7:6 The household servants of the Roman centurion would have been sure to follow his instructions exactly as given. The devout soldier was also a “God-fearer” and loyal soldier to Cornelius. The servants and soldier were people Cornelius could trust to follow his word without deviation. To trust anyone else to deliver a friendly message to a leader of the way of Jesus Christ would have been reckless. That would have been giving what is Holy to the dogs and throwing pearls to the swine.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we know how fruitless it would be to give those of today’s culture the instructions of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to deliver to others. The testimony of Jesus would be trampled under their feet. For that reason, we want to deliver the word of God into the hands of those whose heart is willing to receive and transport the Good News. Only the Holy Spirit has the hands to receive the Gospel seed, and those receptive to the Holy Spirit are good soil for planting the instructions of testimony of Jesus.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11