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Tag: gentiles

An Antioch Blueprint of Church Evangelism
Antioch – a Crossroads Church of the Gospel

And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Acts of the Apostles 11:26 ESV – [CLICK HERE for other versions]

‘Christians’ – an all-too-familiar label ‘christians‘ don’t understand

Hundreds of disciples of Jesus Christ were first mocked in Antioch as ‘Christians.’ The Church now claims this defining label as our connection to Christ.

You know this Scripture concerning the label ‘Christians.’ But do you know the significance of Antioch, this place where the church was first called ‘Christians?’

Gentiles and Jews Regenerated in the Holy Spirit

IF you have been following our series in Acts from Luke’s historical account of the first century Church you will have noticed a new testament of the Holy Spirit beyond Jerusalem.

The resurrection of Jesus becomes a New Testament of Good News to the world; grace to gentiles in various places — fellow sinners who now identify in Him and by the power of the Holy Spirit with a regenerated remnant of faithful Jews who worship their Messiah Jesus.

Let us continue in Acts of the Apostles where we left off as Peter defends his actions in Jerusalem.

Can anyone withhold Baptism from Gentiles?

“..who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” – defense of Simon Peter in ACTS 11:17b NASB

Acts 11: continued in Antioch
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Listen to a very Jewish glance at this same response of Simon Peter to the Jews. (Of course Peter is a jewish disciple of Yeshua [יְהוֹשׁוּעַ].)
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17 “If then Hashem gave the same matanah to them as also to us after believing in Moshiach Adoneinu, who then was I to stand in the way of Hashem?”
Gevurot 11:17-30 [LINK to: NASB;KJ21;OJB;SBLGNT]
Orthodox Jewish Bible
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Did you get that, you goyim 'christians' who did not know the significance of Antioch in calling you Christians along with our remnant saved by our Messiah? 

JESUS came in Person, was sacrificed on a gentile Roman Cross and rose from the grave in Body and Spirit for YOU as well! 

You gentiles are also CHOSEN! Simeon Petros has witnessed this amazing new sign.

So from Antioch -- we too proclaim Christ to the Nations and your world as well.
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When they heard these things they fell silent.

And they glorified God, saying,

“Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Acts of the Apostles 11:18 ESV
Ἀντιόχεια (Antioch)

A Roman crossroads of cultures

Antioch was third largest city in the Empire, behind Rome & Alexandria

It’s population is estimated to be a half-million people (some free and some slave)

Comparabl population to 21st c. Atlanta GA US or

Latur India 501,664

Xuancheng China 500,734
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This Ancient Roman road connected Antioch and Chalcis.
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Diaspora, (Greek: “Dispersion”) Hebrew Galut (Exile)

Seleucus founded a number of new cities during his reign, including Antioch (300 BC), Edessa and Seleucia on the Tigris (c. 305 BC), a foundation that eventually depopulated Babylon. (source: wikipedia)

The Jews of Israel (Samaria) culturally had changed since its defeat eight centuries Before Christ.

The Jews of Judah (Judea) also changed culturally when forced east six centuries before Christ.

Before Rome, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Egypt and especially various Greek empires influenced Jews living throughout the world.

Kingdoms of Alexander the Great
356-323 Before Christ included:

Macedonia, Egypt, Persia & Asia
Cultural History of 323 BC

This is RECENT HISTORY to the JEWS of every land, including Hasmonean Judea under the rule and control of the powerful military of Rome. The tolerance of culture in Antioch looked back to the golden age of Alexander much in the way as any city in the US would look back to our recent cultural history, including those with similar populations such as: Atlanta, Kansas City, Mesa, Sacramento, Omaha, Colorado Springs, Raleigh and Virginia Beach.

Put your witness as Christians into this parallel context to Antioch:
- AD 40 – Peter in Antioch (AD 2022)
- Jesus earthly ministry (AD 2010’s)
- 323 BC – Death of Alexander (AD 1600’s)
  - (The 1600’s in the US include familiar cultural history like: Jamestown VA Colony (of England), Hudson River exploration by Dutch; various wars between European empires and local native nations; several colonies and cities founded; Harvard University founded by a Congregational minister; Salem witch trials by the Puritans)
Antioch, at the crossroads between the nations, stood as the place where Christians could take the Gospel in any direction into all the world.
Talk of Jesus .com

The Church in Antioch

.. and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts of the Apostles 11:25b NASB

The Cultural Richness of Antioch

ACTS 11:

19 So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia [21st c. Lebanon], [island of] Cyprus, and [in 21st c. Turkey] Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene [coast of 21st c. Libya], who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks [Hellenists or Greek-speaking, racially and culturally gentiles traditionally separated from jews] as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus.

21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

The Antioch Blueprint

An Antioch-like church gets involved with people. We must learn how to live with and speak winsomely to unbelievers.
Tony Merida – LOVE YOUR CHURCH + 8 Great Things about being a Church Member
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Due to the doctrinal importance of this Antioch model for the Church, I will quote extensively at this juncture from LOVE YOUR CHURCH [also linked above] and CHRIST-CENTERED Exposition - EXALTING JESUS IN ACTS also by Tony Merida. - RH
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- Gospel Intelligibility – verse 20
“We don’t read here about ‘Christ Jesus,’ ‘Messiah Jesus,’ or ‘the anointed King Jesus.”

Why? This isn’t a Jewish crowd. This is a Gentile crowd, unfamiliar with the promises that God made.. to send his anointed Messiah King.
Tony Merida – LOVE YOUR CHURCH; p. 146
- The title kurios,Lord, was commonly spoken in Antioch
  - The titles Messiah or anointed King (Christ, in Greek) only spoke to Jews familiar with Scripture.
- The Lord’s Sovereignty – verse 21
The Lord Jesus is the hero of the (gospel) message.. and the source of power.. Jesus was building his church right in hedonistic Antioch.
CHRIST-CENTERED Exposition – EXALTING JESUS IN ACTS; p. 159 – Tony Merida
- Accountability – verse 22
22 The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.
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Note that accountability comes before encouragement in the Apostolic model of the Church.
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- Encouragement – vs. 22-24
They weren’t Jewish. Antioch had no Apostles to lead them. So the Apostles sent Barnabas, a trusted and faithful disciple of the Apostles’ teaching to Antioch and he could verify the faith of these gentile believers of the Lord Jesus.

23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith.

And considerable numbers were added to the Lord.
- Instruction (Teaching or Doctrine) – vs. 25-27
25 And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.

Barnabas, a Levite familiar with priestly Jewish Law and resident of nearby Cypress, seeks out Saul, an expert in Jewish Pharisaical teachings of the Law and Prophets who he had earlier encouraged after Paul encountered the risen Jesus on his way to persecute disciples of The Way in Damascus.

And for an entire year they [Barnabas & Paul] met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people
Acts 11:26b – NASB

Jews discipling Gentiles! In Antioch, a huge hedonistic Roman city!

Teaching is a critical component of disciple making. Listening to music alone will not disciple new believers. Neither will merely attending church services. Christians need to know and learn how to apply Scriptures. Each of us needs faithful instruction in God’s Word.
Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary, p. 162

ALL came to know that these growing crowds of Antiochians who gathered with Barnabas and Saul spoke of the Lord Jesus. Yet these new gentile disciples came to understand this Lord as the same Christ Jesus, King of the Jews (as Pontius Pilate had said).
- Fruit – v. 26
‘The saints in Antioch so identified with Jesus that fellow Gentile observers called them, “little Christs.”
- Does anyone, my fellow follower of Jesus, call you a ‘little Christ?”
Tony Merida points to this key ‘turning point’ in history: [p.162–3]

The followers of Jesus were so different from the culture around them that citizens had to develop a third classification of people — something new beyond the Jew or Gentile distinction..

The church in Antioch was like an embassy of the kingdom of God.
Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary, p. 163

ACTS 11:26c
..and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
July 2, 2022
Can anyone withhold Baptism from Gentiles?
Acts of the Apostle Peter 11:
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link above to NASB, KJ21, Orthodox Jewish Bible, SBL Greek New Testament; MOBILE Friendly LINK to ACTS 11 21st Century King James Version only
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Peter has no sooner returned to Jerusalem from his first mission trip to Joppa, Lyda and Caesarea when traditional worshipers of the Lord question what he has done.

Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

This is a VERY BIG DEAL to the Jews!

I remind us here (and now in this 21st century A.D.) that followers of Jesus (by now, hundreds of them) were Jews, a chosen people of the LORD.

Furthermore, due to centuries of division after Israel and Judah fell to foreign empires from both East and West a partially-restored Judea claimed faithfulness to Abrahamic covenants formerly abandoned by most Jews.

Peter is leading a diverse and large group of believers in Christ Jesus. Judea and Jerusalem will soon be crushed by its Roman captors.

And when Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the Circumcision contended with him, saying, “Thou wentest in to uncircumcised men and didst eat with them.”
Acts of the Apostles 11:2-3 KJ21
- περιτομή – peritomē
  - the circumcision
    from περιτέμνω peritemnō
    since by the rite of circumcision a man was separated from the unclean world and dedicated to God, the word is transferred to denote the extinguishing of lusts and the removal of sins
Contending for the faith

Once again, Peter will tell his story and orders from the Holy Spirit not to contend with gentiles who led him to Caesarea.
- Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting G1252 nothing: for I have sent them. – Acts 10:20
These men of Jerusalem who Peter led were Jews from varying religious traditions: Pharisee, Sadducees, Esenes, Hellenists (Greeks), proselytes worshipping as Jews and even men of little consequence unsought by any jewish traditions of worship.

Yes, they contended with the faith while some zealously contended for the faith. BUT which ‘jewish’ faith?

ALL, however, would agree that ‘gentiles’ had NO place among men and women who worshiped the Lord God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴But Peter began and explained at length to them in an orderly sequence, saying,
- “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision.
  - A certain vessel descended as though it had been a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners, and it came even to me.
  - I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky.
- I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’
  - “But I said, ‘By no means, Adoni, because nothing common or tameh (unclean) has ever entered into my stomach.’
  - But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.’
  - This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky.
Is there any contention in your church?
- Who should worship?
- What evidence does the Holy Spirit provide that something new is from the Lord?
  - Or that some tradition we have held near no longer applies?
JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED AND RISEN IS AN ENTIRELY NEW TESTAMENT OF GOD’S WILL FOR WORSHIPERS AND THE WORLD.
Roger@TalkofJESUS.com + on the inclusion of gentiles in the Church

Peter’s summary of events in Caesarea
- Three men (Romans/Gentiles) from Caesarea came up to him at the very moment of his vision. [v.11]
- The Spirit led him to go with these men.
  - Peter saying that the Holy Spirit led him amounts to his reaction to a command of God.
- Seven men including Peter went to the house of Cornelius and witnessed these things. [vs. 12-14]
And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.
ACTS 11:15 of the HOLY SPIRIT

The men and women of the Church in Jerusalem, ORTHODOX in practice or HELLENIST in their return to the faith of Judaism had all experienced the power and signs of the HOLY GHOST!

It is a great mystery of the Lord God the Father and Christ Jesus that is a NEW TESTAMENT of the Gospel of the Resurrection.

So the Apostle Peter (with all these witnesses) continues:

Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.’
Acts of the Apostles 11:16 KJ21

Quoting The Word

Gospel of Luke 20:

On one of the days while He [Jesus] was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him,

(Contention, just like Peter faced now.)

“Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?”

(Their questions about the Holy Spirit coming to the gentiles seem familiar to the Apostle.)

“I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me:

“Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”
Gospel of Luke 20:4 the question of Jesus to doubters in His Authority

They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ “But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

After this Luke’s Gospel records the parable of the vine-growers, a parable now fulfilled by the gentiles replacing jews in the paradise of the Father.
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CLICK to read MORE
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Their first century BAPTISM of John for repentance and cleansing and a temporary forgiveness of sins now regenerated since Pentecost becomes something more — something MUCH MORE + the Baptism of the HOLY SPIRIT promised by the SON of GOD!

Who am I to contend with the HOLY SPIRIT?

ACTS 11:17 – IF, therefore..

Peter closes his testimony in humble obedience to the Word of God witnessed by the Holy Spirit.

If therefore God gave them the same gift as He did unto us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I that I could withstand God?”
Acts of the Apostles 11:17 KJ21
- Would you contend with ALMIGHTY GOD?
- Will you deny the AUTHORITY of the ANOINTED SON JESUS?
- Can any deny the witness of THE HOLY SPIRIT of GOD?
THIS IS SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW! AND GOD HAS CONFIRMED IT + GENTILES WELCOME.

18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying,

“Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
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ACTS of the Apostles - to be continued.. 
(with both Jews and gentiles) ...
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May 20, 2022
The Holy Ghost! Fear of GOD also ignites the Gentiles
Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
Acts of the Apostles 10:47 KJV

The Question of those ‘chosen’

Fact is that many religious men do NOT fear God.

It is true of many ‘christians‘ in this 21st century — it was true of all but a remnant of faithful ‘jews‘ in the first century in which the messiah Jesus lived, died and was risen — and it was true when His Apostles and disciples preached in the Spirit of God. Men and women do not naturally fear what we have been told about the LORD if we have not encountered Him personally.

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Gospel of John 14:26 KJV

They certainly did not know what to expect when the Holy Ghost first came to various jewish disciples of Jesus.

And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
Acts of the Apostles 1:4 KJV

Peter, John and the Apostles have proclaimed Christ boldly, first in Jerusalem.

By the power of the Holy Ghost (KJV) many signs have accompanied the receiving of the Spirit among the faithful jewish followers of The Way of Jesus. Even Saul of Tarsus, zealous persecutor of The Way, has encountered the risen Lord Jesus personally and then retreated to Arabia to reconsider what the LORD has in store for him, returning to meet Peter some three years later.

Everything seems to be looking up for these remnant ‘chosen‘ followers of Jesus as they now obediently ‘GO INTO THE WORLD TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS!’

Beyond Jerusalem

The Apostles had encountered some internal ‘church‘ problems with their new disciples in Jerusalem.

And in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
Acts of the Apostles 6:1 KJ21

However this ministry problem seemed to resolve quickly in spite of jewish cultural differences between Greeks and Hebrew traditions of those whose fathers had returned to Jerusalem from exile to rebuild the temple. Furthermore, at least two of new disciples became powerful preachers of the truth of the Gospel – Stephen and Philip.

⁷And the Word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Acts of the Apostles 6:7

Like Gentiles (sort of)

Samaria (to some jews) and also Galilee, as part of Israel separated from Judah long ago, had an ‘unjewish‘ stigma to some religious Judeans.
Cities visited by Philip the evangelist

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them. The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice.. – Acts 8:5-6a NASB

Note this same sign of expelling UNCLEAN SPIRITS which Jesus had done! (Most 21st centuries don't quite grasp what to make of this, but think 'controlling ghosts' as real evil influences of behavior and you are on the right track. - RH
[KJ21] 9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who earlier in the same city had used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great..
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When Peter and John came to Samaria, Simon asked Peter for this same power the Apostles and some disciples like Philip had demonstrated. 

The Holy Ghost appears with more POWER than any force of darkness dictating the power of evil in mortal flesh.
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But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Acts of the Apostles 8:20 KJV – Peter’s response to Simon the Sorcerer

THEN Philip goes much further than this: He baptizes an Ethiopian (in Gaza) – a gentile!

Luke (our gentile physician) records in ACTS:

But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
Acts 8:40 NASB

Philip (the Hellenist deacon) & Peter (a Galilean Hebrew Apostle)

So WHERE in the WORLD does all of this converge?

Peter had come from Jerusalem to Samaria to meet with Philip when he also met Simon who wanted the power of the Holy Ghost. We have just learned that now Peter’s missionary journeys have brought the Apostle to Joppa, BUT a Roman calls the Apostle to come to the Roman (Herod-built) port of Caesarea.

Peter and John had remained in Jerusalem for two years after Christ’s resurrection. Once Stephen was martyred most disciples of Jesus fled for other towns. But after Saul met the Lord on the road to Damascus the Gospel began to spread in different directions.

And as we have just learned in the journeys of Peter to Lydda and Joppa, the Apostle now heads north to Caesarea where Philip has been proclaiming the Gospel for sometime now.

Peter, the Hebrew-raised rock anointed by Jesus to lead His church goes to Caesarea after wrestling with the Voice of God telling this faithful jew to obey this new vision which led him to follow these Romans back to Caesarea, where these GENTILES would have worshiped PETER!

Now that you have caught up on these long journeys and Peter is on his way back to Jerusalem you might think that all will go smoothly. It doesn’t.

The HOLY Ghost
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Before we return to Jerusalem with Peter, I thought it important that we consider the NOW-INCREASING ROLE of THE HOLY SPIRIT.
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The "HOLY SPIRIT" AND the "HOLY GHOST" ARE the SAME, translated in New Testament from the SAME words in Greek: ἅγιος πνεῦμα [hagios pneuma]
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- HOLY – ἅγιος hágios, hag’-ee-os; from ἅγος hágos (an awful thing) (compare G53, G2282); sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated):—(most) holy (one, thing), saint.
  - I remind 21st c. christians of the AWESOMENESS of the SPIRIT of Almighty God by referring to the Holy Ghost here) – RH
ἅγιος, -α, -ον, (from τὸ ἄγος religious awe, reverence; ἄζω, ἅζομαι, to venerate, revere, especially the gods, parents [Curtius, § 118]), rare in secular authors; very frequent in the sacred writings; in the Sept. for קָדושׁ;
1. properly reverend, worthy of veneration: τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ, Luke 1:49; God, on account of his incomparable majesty, Revelation 4:8 (Isaiah 6:3, etc.), equivalent to ἔνδοξος.
- Ghost πνεῦμα pneuma From πνέω (G4154)
  - – The KJV translates Strong’s G4151 in the following manner: Spirit (111x), Holy Ghost (89x), Spirit (of God) (13x), Spirit (of the Lord) (5x), (My) Spirit (3x), Spirit (of truth) (3x), Spirit (of Christ) (2x), human (spirit) (49x), (evil) spirit (47x), spirit (general) (26x), spirit (8x), (Jesus’ own) spirit (6x), (Jesus’ own) ghost (2x), miscellaneous (21x).
  - the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son
    Click here for MORE
ACTS of the Holy Ghost

ACTS: KJV – πνεῦμα pneuma
- 1:2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost G4151 had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
- 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost G4151 not many days hence.
- 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, G4151 and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit G4151 gave them utterance.
- 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; G4151 and they shall prophesy:
- 4:18 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,^G4151 and they spake the word of God with boldness.
- 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. G4151
- 8:39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit G4151 of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
ACTS 10:

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things that He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
Acts of the Apostles 8:38-39a NASB

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power,
Acts 10:38 KJ21

43 To Him all the prophets bear witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.”

44 While Peter was yet speaking these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all those who heard the Word.

And the Messianic Jews who had come with Kefa were mishpoyel (standing in awe) that also upon the Goyim the matnat HaRuach Hakodesh has been poured out.
Gevurot 10:45

Orthodox Jewish Bible

46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Peter Baptizes the Roman Gentiles

Then answered Peter,

47 “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Ghost, as well as we?”

48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.

Then they entreated him to tarry certain days.

Gevurot 11 – Orthodox Jewish Bible

And the Moshiach’s Shlichim and the Achim b’Moshiach, the ones throughout Yehudah, heard that also the non-Jews received the dvar Hashem. But when Kefa went up to Yerushalayim, those of the faction of the Bris Milah were taking issue with him, 3 Saying, “You entered into a bais of anashim arelim (uncircumcised men) and you sat at tish with them.”
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Acts of Peter welcoming the Gentiles - To be continued...
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May 13, 2022