And God which knoweth the hearts
Of all men; he being omniscient, the searcher of the hearts, and
the trier of the reins of the children of men, knew with what
sincerity Cornelius sent for Peter; and with what vehement desire
and longing expectation he and his family and friends waited for
his coming; and with what earnestness, diligence, and affection
they attended to what he said:
bore them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he
did unto
us;
God bore a testimony, and showed his well pleasedness in the
whole of this affair, by bestowing upon them not only the
regenerating and sanctifying grace of the Spirit; but his
extraordinary gifts, such as speaking with divers tongues, even
in like manner as these were bestowed on the apostles themselves,
on the day of Pentecost, though they were uncircumcised persons;
for the drift of Peter's oration is to show, that circumcision
was not necessary to salvation.
