24 For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and a great number were joined to the Lord.
And a great number of men and women had faith, and were joined to the Lord;
And the power of the Lord was with them, and a great number had faith and were turned to the Lord.
And there was much discussion about him among the mass of the people. Some said, He is a good man; but others said, No, he is giving people false ideas.
But I have, in some measure, less fear in writing to you to put these things before you again, because of the grace which was given to me by God,
And in this, I do my best at all times to have no reason for shame before God or men.
And so the church through all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was made strong; and, living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was increased greatly.
Take then from among you seven men of good name, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to whom we may give control of this business.
And the watchman said, It seems to me that the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and his news will be good.
And he said to him, Why are you questioning me about what is good? One there is who is good: but if you have a desire to go into life, keep the rules of the law.
The good man out of his good store gives good things; and the evil man out of his evil store gives evil things.
The heritage of the good man is handed down to his children's children; and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the upright man.
A good man has grace in the eyes of the Lord; but the man of evil designs gets punishment from him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 11
Commentary on Acts 11 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 11
In this chapter we have,
Act 11:1-18
The preaching of the gospel to Cornelius was a thing which we poor sinners of the Gentiles have reason to reflect upon with a great deal of joy and thankfulness; for it was the bringing of light to us who sat in darkness. Now it being so great a surprize to the believing as well as the unbelieving Jews, it is worth while to enquire how it was received, and what comments were made upon it. And here we find,
Act 11:19-26
We have here an account of the planting and watering of a church at Antioch, the chief city of Syria, reckoned afterwards the third most considerable city of the empire, only Rome and Alexandria being preferred before it, next to whose patriarch that of Antioch took place. It stood where Hamath or Riblah did, which we read of in the Old Testament. It is suggested that Luke, the penman of this history, as well as Theophilus, to whom he dedicates it, was of Antioch, which may be the reason why he takes more particular notice of the success of the gospel at Antioch, as also because there it was that Paul began to be famous, towards the story of whom he is hastening. Now concerning the church at Antioch observe,
Act 11:27-30
When our Lord Jesus ascended on high he gave gifts unto men, not only apostles and evangelists, but prophets, who were enabled by the Spirit to foresee and foretel things to come, which not only served for a confirmation of the truth of Christianity (for all that these prophets foretold came to pass, which proved that they were sent of God, Deu. 18:22; Jer. 28:9), but was also of great use to the church, and served very much for its guidance. Now here we have,