Good morning. They heard them all speaking with tongues; so Peter said, surely no one can refuse the water for those to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he? As we will see in a minute, this was a very big deal for the Jews. He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Hopefully you have been shielded from this; but there is a big controversy among some people about the formula for baptizing someone as far as into what name you baptize them. One would think that everyone would be excited about this happening when the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. When Peter came to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him, saying, you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. Seriously? The Gentiles had just received salvation, and all they can think about is Peter eating with uncircumcised men? So Peter told them all that had happened with Cornelius. And as I begin to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Therefore if God gave them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way? Sadly even today some people believe that certain people cannot receive salvation. They quieted down and glorified God, saying, well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life. Even though they had this dramatic account of the Gentiles receiving salvation, still most of them did not witness to the Gentiles, but only to the Jews. Father thank You that You chose for the Gentiles to receive salvation. Help us to bring salvation to those around us, regardless of who they are or what group they belong to.

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