`In My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if

they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall recover'

(Mark 16:17,18).

After these promises had been made, the Lord ascended and sat on the right hand of God, the apostles went forth

and preached everywhere:

`The Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following'.

1 Corinthians 1:6. The church at Corinth had a super abundance of spiritual and miraculous gifts, so much so

that some regulation was necessary to avoid confusion (1 Cor. 14:26-33). In the opening address to this church Paul

refers to the confirming character of these gifts:

`In every thing ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ

was CONFIRMED in you: so that ye come behind in no gift' (1 Cor. 1:5-7).

Here again we perceive that the Lord was confirming the Word with signs following.

Hebrews 2:3,4. `How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by

the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and

wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will'.

These confirmatory gifts are spoken of in Hebrews 6:5 as `the powers of the age to come' the ignoring of which

made it impossible to renew such unto repentance. These gifts promised in Mark 16, extend to the last chapter of

the Acts, where Paul is bitten by a viper, unharmed, and miraculously cures a case of dysentery (Acts 28:3-8).

These miracles of Mark 16 keep pace with the `hope of Israel' (Acts 28:20), but when the condition foretold in

Isaiah 6:9,10 is entered, Israel `dismissed' and the salvation of God sent unto the Gentiles, miraculous signs cease.

Instead we read such passages as Philippians 2:25-28, 2 Timothy 4:20, and 1 Timothy 5:23 with understanding. The

people of sign and wonder are no longer on the scene, and it had been established on two occasions that miracles

wrought before Gentiles as such, without the explanatory presence of Israel only made them more idolatrous saying

`the gods are come down to us in the likeness of men' (Acts 14:11), or they `said he was a god' (Acts 28:6). `These

signs' DID follow, but `these signs' DO NOT follow them that believe to-day. The answer is that the dispensation has

changed, and with it the characteristic evidences of a past calling. As the present dispensation nears its end, and as

the earlier Church's position temporarily set aside is resumed, we may expect to see a return of genuine miraculous

gifts, but this will make the anti-Christian travesty of 2 Thessalonians 2:9 the more dangerous, for the signs that will

be wrought in support of the Man of Sin would deceive `if it were possible, the very elect' (Matt. 24:24). The only

`confirmation' mentioned in the Prison Epistles is that of Colossians 2:7, `rooted and built up in Him, and

STABLISHED (bebaio) in the faith, as ye have been taught'. All else so far as we are concerned is beside the mark

and leads into by-paths fraught with danger.

CORNELIUS. The vision that Peter had of the great sheet, and his subsequent visit to Cornelius, form part of the

movement that we see taking place in Acts 8 to 11, which prepares the way for the work of Paul, the apostle to the

Gentiles. It will be found that there is nothing in Acts 10 to warrant the idea that Peter had a ministry among the

Gentiles, for the vision of the sheet and the visit to Cornelius were exceptional. They accomplished their purpose,

and Peter was left free to pursue his ministry among the circumcision.

The subject before us falls into four parts:

(1)

THE VISION OF CORNELIUS (Acts 10:1-9).

(2)

THE VISION OF PETER (Acts 10:9-24).

(3)

THE MINISTRY OF PETER (Acts 10:24-48).

(4)

THE EFFECT UPON THE CHURCH (Acts 11:1-18).

Cornelius is described as:

`A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to

God always' (Acts 10:2).