PRESENT BEFORE GOD
[p. 327] PRESENT BEFORE GOD
“Now therefore we are all present before God to hear all [p. 333] things that are commanded thee of God”. That is the verse I had in mind principally in what I have to say, for it is applicable to this meeting. Cornelius had called together “his kinsmen and his intimate friends” and now they are all together and Peter has come in, and he says, “Now therefore we are all present before God”. The passage is a challenge as to why we are here. Other meetings are not so well attended sometimes, many are missing sometimes, and many are missing here. The principle governing this meeting no doubt most of us know is in 1 Corinthians 14: 23, “If therefore the whole assembly come together in one place”. It is a matter to be considered seriously. In order to accommodate all in this city to be here, much larger accommodation than we have would have to be provided. So that it is obviously of special import that the whole assembly never does come together in one place — I mean those of it in this city who are supposed to know that congregating is meeting together and that it is a great feature of the assembly. Luke says, “We being assembled to break bread” (Acts 20: 7); and as he records earlier, “They were all together in one place”, Acts 2: 1. So we are challenged tonight as to how many absentees there are, and why they are absentees, why many who are numbered with us never appear at these meetings; hence, it is a question as to how much reality there is in the material, for the word in Corinthians is, “If therefore the whole assembly come together in one place”. I thought it would be helpful to call attention to the first gentile assembly known by Luke mentioned in the Acts — what marked them;
[p. 328] not that Caesarea was necessarily a gentile city for it was in Palestine, but it was under foreign domination, and gentile domination was represented here in Cornelius, who is of the Italic band. And what underlying history enters into the passage! — for it is really underlying secret history that counts in assembly formation, and if that be so with us that God has His rights, these meetings will take on spiritual character, more spiritual than perhaps we have been accustomed to think, for the very bigness relatively of the meeting may attract some; the bigger the meeting, the more attraction it has for a certain state of soul.
Cornelius did not think of a big meeting, nor did the visitation he received by the angel suggest to him anything of the kind. Clearly it was a question of quality, and the angel came on account of that; for the angel says to Cornelius, “Thy prayers and thine alms have gone up for a memorial before God”, Acts 10: 4. Think of that from a man who you can hardly say had heard the gospel yet. “Have gone up”, the angel says, “Thy prayers and thine alms have gone up”. The angel would speak from the standpoint of heaven. How conversant angels are with matters of this kind! For they are all cognisant of repentance; there is much joy in their presence on account of that. The transactions in heaven indeed become wonderfully interesting in that way, everyday matters. Heaven, I suppose, is more active than any place on earth. We cannot say how many angels there are, but there are a great many, and they speak feelingly, too, “Thy prayers and thine alms”, the angel says. Let us not forget the alms! Apparently, they should go together, prayers and alms. They “have gone up for a memorial before God”. So that we have remarkable history alluded to in view of the context of the chapter, what underlies these meetings really, or ought to underlie these meetings, history [p. 329] with God. Who in all Caesarea thought that Cornelius had made any such impression in heaven, perhaps more than he had ever made in the army or any other way, for there was no love there?
Well, I mention all this, but wish to dwell on verse 33 that I read; what is heaven thinking about now? The heavenly messenger moved out to this man, so that, dear brethren, we are reminded in this chapter which treats of the gospel going out among the nations and being received among the nations, what it really was, what an assembly was, man having secret history with God, and certain fragrance, as I may say, before God as a memorial, and God saying, This must be kept before Me; it is treasured up here. The angel knew that. No doubt he was charged with his message, but he knew apparently about this great matter that was taking place above, for he appears to speak from that standpoint — “have gone up”. The prayers and alms are properly balanced, for if I pray for people, the next thing is, Can I help them myself? God can help them, of course, but can I do anything to help them? Of course, I cannot do much better than pray for a person, but then the alms are not prayers; they are substantial things that I have got, that Cornelius had; I mean the means of alms, for soldiers usually do not have large pay, but clearly he had the means of alms-giving and used them, for a man is accepted according to what he has, not according to what he has not, it may measure a small amount or a large amount; so that both the prayers and alms went up and were regarded there as a memorial. Think of all the history of the testimony from the beginning, everything carried down in that history, and know it is something that must be, not simply going up to a place in heaven, but that it must have a place in heaven, a memorial before God which must stand. I hardly know of anything so suggestive of spiritual history,
[p. 330] and how one becomes known in heaven and so known and so valued that a memorial is there; hence the results show that this remarkable product of the work of God so far should be properly instructed and have the right teaching, the teaching he needed; and so for this, the teacher must be prepared. Great indeed as Peter was as a teacher, he had to be specially prepared for this matter. This was important in heaven that the assembly is to reflect the mind of heaven, and this teacher must be there, and he must be there as having come under peculiar divine instruction. He is already in a trance, a highly spiritual man, and then we are told what he saw, and how the Spirit of God takes him in hand. It says in verse 17, “And as Peter doubted in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold also the men who were sent by Cornelius, having sought out the house of Simon, stood at the gate, and having called someone, they inquired if Simon who was surnamed Peter was lodged there. But as Peter continued pondering over the vision, the Spirit said to him ...”, that is, the Holy Spirit comes into this matter, so as to be sure there is to be no miscarriage at all of heaven’s mind. The angel is engaged in it, the vision is engaged in it, and now the Spirit of God Himself is engaged in it, “The Spirit said to him, behold, three men seek thee; but rise up, go down, and go with them, nothing doubting, because I have sent them”. That is an assuring position; there must be no interference with it. You can discern, dear brethren, that there is no other hand here, and so it should be with every meeting like this. For Satan is all ready to come. He came when the sons of God came up to present themselves. It is a question of state, and if there is a wrong state, he comes. Apparently there was none here, and so we are told that Cornelius waited for them, “And on the morrow they came to Caesarea. But Cornelius was looking [p. 331] for them, having called together his kinsmen and his intimate friends”. What marks this man was secret history. He was known in heaven, and now he is waiting for Peter. It is true, indeed, that he would worship him, but Peter debarred the devil there, “But Peter made him rise, saying, Rise up: I myself also am a man”. What beautiful manly qualities are here! The thought is that the assembly is made up of manly qualities. Peter is acting as a true man. He is saying he is a human being, but he is a real man in the matter, and Cornelius must be that, too. He must be delivered from all that would interfere with real companionship among men, “I myself also am a man. And he went in, talking with him, and found many gathered together”.
Now, dear brethren, this is what one had in mind — they were come together. We are told who they were. It is no question of age there; it was a question of persons known as “his kinsmen and his intimate friends”. The matter is very important. We must all get the benefit of this. That would be in his mind, a full result — and what a result, what a widespread result coming down to ourselves, this very night in this very city, this comes out. So without saying much more, Cornelius refers to what happened, “Four days ago I had been fasting unto this hour, and the ninth I was praying in my house”. He did not know it, but undoubtedly that was the hour in which the Lord died on the cross; at least, when He said, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”. Peter and John had gone up to the temple at that hour, the hour of prayer, and Cornelius was not behind in that. What material, dear brethren, we have in the persons in this chapter, and of course the point is a challenge to our hearts as to material and where we are as to these matters we are brought into and whether we are in the current of what we are brought into. So he says, “And lo, a man stood before me in bright clothing” — you can see he is not losing anything but rather gaining — ‘a man’ — “and said, Cornelius, thy prayer has been heard, and thy alms have come in remembrance before God” (not now that they have gone up but they are there), “Send therefore ...”. And then our verse, “Immediately therefore I sent to thee, and thou hast well done in coming. Now therefore we are all present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God”.
So the question is, dear brethren, are we here for this purpose, thirsting for the word of God? Scripture speaks of thirsting for the word of God, and now the gentiles are coming into that. “Now therefore we are all present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God”. It is not what you have learned, but the things that are specially commanded, because it is a special matter. It is not simply what they were saying at Jerusalem. It is a special matter, what is commanded for this time. You want to hear it all. So, dear brethren, that is what is in one’s mind as to how we are here and why we come to this meeting, what is the underlying thought? If it is to break bread, we do that; if it is a care meeting, the apostles and elders come; but this time, it is a company in these remarkable circumstances and the leader here, for God uses leaders. That is a great principle with Him, and Cornelius was the man here, “Now therefore we are all present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God”. Not before Peter. Only a little while before he fell down before Peter. He would not do that again. It is before God now, as the angel in Revelation says, Worship God. “We are all here before God”, he says. He can speak for others, for his kinsmen and friends. Did he know them all personally? Apparently. We are all here, and here for one purpose. It is not a social matter this but to hear what is commanded. We are ready for that, “to hear all things that are commanded thee of God”. You can see as Peter proceeds, the Holy Spirit comes in: “While Peter was yet speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were hearing the word”. He did not wait for Peter to stop. The Holy Spirit takes the matter over. So Cornelius was right in his judgment. They were all there to hear what God commanded, and the Holy Spirit says, Yes, and I will take you on. Heaven is taking them on in the most positive way by the Holy Spirit; not an angel, but the Holy Spirit Himself falling upon those who heard the word. They came to hear it, and they heard it, and the Spirit took account of it, and He fell on them. That is all Peter says, “And the faithful of the circumcision were astonished, as many as came with Peter, that upon the nations also the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out, for they heard them speaking with tongues and magnifying God”. That is the result.