<p>11:17 <i>If then <em>God gave to these the same gift as He also gave to us- </em></i>I suggest the gift they all essentially received was that of the purification of their hearts by the Spirit (Acts 15:9). And this is the same promise of the Spirit which is available to us too. It is true that both the apostles and the Gentile converts spoke in tongues, but I suggest that this was the external manifestation of the more essential internal change which was being effected.</p><p><em>When we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ</em>- This reading may not be correct. The AV is equally faithful to the Greek in omitting the idea of 'when...': &quot;us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ&quot;. If the idea of 'when we believed...' is indeed correct, the suggestion would therefore be that the apostles only fully believed in the Lord Jesus at Pentecost. It could be argued that as Jesus was only made Lord and Christ at His ascension (Acts 2:36), and therefore the disciples could only believe in Him as Lord and Christ after that point. Pentecost was the time chosen for them to make public their faith; I would not be surprised if they were all baptized in water at Pentecost, and then the Spirit came upon them in their hearts, and was publicly manifested in terms of the miraculous gifts. If this were indeed the case, the power of Peter's appeal to be baptized and receive the Spirit would've been so much more powerful- if indeed the preachers had themselves just been baptized and received the Spirit. Receipt of the Spirit is connected with water baptism throughout the New Testament; it comes at the point of belief. And the disciples received it at Pentecost. The implication would therefore be that this was when they were baptized. But admittedly the record is strangely silent about their baptism. Remember that Christian baptism, into the Lord's death and resurrection, could only have been performed after His resurrection. Indeed, His command to be baptized was only given after His resurrection. So at some point after His resurrection, the disciples would have been baptized. Pentecost seems a reasonable option; otherwise, they would have been baptized but apparently not received the gift of the Spirit until Pentecost. The objection that their baptism isn't recorded is fair enough; but that problem remains, whichever view one takes of the timing of their baptism.</p><p>Growing appreciation of the excellency of the Lord Jesus was also a feature of Peter's spiritual growth; he was the first to coin the phrase &quot;the Lord Jesus Christ&quot; (Acts 11:17); although <em>never</em> did he call the Lord simply &quot;Jesus&quot; (indeed it seems that none of the disciples addressed and rarely spoke about Jesus without giving Him a title). Trace through the path of Peter's growth on appreciation of the Lord's greatness: Mt. 16:22 (<em>arguing</em> with Him); Acts 2:36; 10:36; 11:17. When Peter realized he was looking at the risen Christ standing on the shore, he exclaimed, with evident appreciation: &quot;It is <em>the Lord</em>&quot; - not 'Jesus' (Jn. 21:7). And even though he had to swim to meet Him, Peter cast his fisher's coat about him to cover his bare arms and legs. He realized the greatness which attached to the Man from Nazareth on account of His resurrection. After the pattern of Peter, some of the early brethren likewise reached this appreciation of the Lord's excellence <em>and the importance of it</em> as the climax of their probations; for many were slain simply because they insisted on calling Jesus of Nazareth &quot;Lord&quot;, when Nero had insisted that <em>he</em> be called 'Lord' (cp. Acts 25:26). Those brethren (and sisters) died with the confession of Jesus as <em>Lord</em> on their lips- and more importantly, deep in their hearts. &nbsp;</p><p><em>Who was I, that I could oppose God</em>- Peter challenged the legalistic brethren of his day with the question: &ldquo;Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized?&rdquo; (Acts 10:47). The Greek word translated &ldquo;forbid&rdquo; presents a theme worth paying attention to. Peter uses the same word when he says later that if he had not baptized those Gentiles, then he would&rsquo;ve been &ldquo;withstanding&rdquo; s.w. &ldquo;forbidding&rdquo; God Himself (Acts 11:17). This is serious. By forbidding people baptism we are forbidding God, because it is ultimately God through His Son who is the baptizer of people, thus inducting them into His people. This thought alone should make it very difficult for any of us to ever forbid baptism to someone who wants it. Great judgment is stored up for those who forbid others to preach the Gospel (1 Thess. 2:16). Diotrephes forbad brethren from fellowshipping with other brethren (3 Jn. 10)- and was roundly condemned for doing so. The disciples were rebuked for forbidding children to come to Jesus (Mt. 19:14)- this was &lsquo;much displeasing&rsquo; to Jesus (Mk. 10:14, Gk. &lsquo;much much-grieved&rsquo;); for forbidding the disciples of John the Baptist, with their alternative understandings of some things (Mk. 9:38); no man who works in Christ&rsquo;s Name should be forbidden, although the disciples evidently thought such a person should be forbidden (Mk. 9:39);&nbsp; the Jews are condemned for forbidding s.w. &ldquo;hindered&rdquo; men to enter the Kingdom (Lk. 11:52; note that to make the way to entry hard and difficult, creating hoops which must be passed through, is effectively forbidding a man entry); the Eunuch&rsquo;s question as to what forbad him to be baptized was answered by Philip eliciting a simple confession of faith from him, that Jesus was the Son of God (Acts 8:36).</p><p>The grace of God is manifested to the world through the preaching of the ecclesia; and in this sense, God has allowed His ability to manifest this Grace to be limited according to our effort in witness. Peter could have chosen not to baptize Gentiles; and if he had done so, he would have withstood God, like the Pharisees he would have frustrated the counsel of God (Acts 11:17). As in the Song of Solomon (1:8), the bride the church follows the sheep believers to find the shepherd Jesus. The sheep lead others to the shepherd. God has &ldquo;manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me&rdquo; (Tit. 1:3).</p>