magnify God
Acts 10:46
10:46 magnify God. Just as had occurred with the Jewish believers on the day of Pentecost, the new Gentile believers were miraculously enabled by the Holy Spirit to “magnify God” in other languages than their own. Unlike the case at Samaria (see note on Acts 8:17), there were probably people in this Gentile crowd who knew various languages, especially Latin, Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew (Cornelius had invited his friends and relatives—Acts 10:24), so the sudden manifestation would be recognized by all as supernatural, and as a duplicate of that which had occurred in Jerusalem. This was clear confirmation of the truth revealed to Peter in his dream, namely, that there was no longer to be any distinction in the church between Jews and Gentiles. The same special outpouring had been given at the spiritual baptism of both “local churches,” and therefore the same water baptism followed in both cases. Another important principle may also have been illustrated here. Because of the faith and concern of one man who responded to the limited light he had, God sent a messenger not only to lead him to full saving knowledge of Christ, but also to lead many of his friends and relatives to the Lord as well.
