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Fall on Me from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Around 22 BC, Herod the Great built a major port city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It was a grand city named for Caesar Augustus. They called it "Caesarea Maritima."

This was over 2,000 years ago, yet forward-thinking Roman engineers built it. Caesarea had well-planned streets, an underground sewage system, an aqueduct that brought fresh water, a Roman temple, and an amphitheater. 

There wasn't a natural harbor on the coast, so the engineers carved one into the coastline, creating the world's first artificial harbor. One that rivaled Athens in Greece. They used hydraulic concrete made from volcanic sand, which could harden underwater. After the fall of the Roman empire, this technology was lost for centuries. The harbor allowed huge Roman warships to dock safely, and a channel allowed cargo ships direct access to the warehouse district. 

Caesarea Maritima replaced Jerusalem as the Roman civilian and military capital and became the official residence of its governors. The Roman rulers like Pontius Pilate and Felix lived in Caesarea and only visited Jerusalem when needed.  

Caesarea was a European city in the Middle-East. It grew quickly to a population of over 125,000. It became the largest city in Judea, and most people living there were non-Jewish. After all, it was the Roman military headquarters. 

The city was full of debauchery, the kind that sailors on shore leave would enjoy. Caesarea was considered a pagan city by the Jews, who wouldn't even enter the house of a Gentile. It was cultural pollution of the highest order and turning the promised land into Los Vegas.

About thirty-two miles south of Caesarea, there's another port city called Joppa. It's an old city where the prophet Jonah boarded his fateful voyage to Tarsus. At noon one day, the Apostle Peter was in Joppa praying on a rooftop when he suddenly fell into a trance. He saw a vision of a sheet being let down to Earth filled with all sorts of unclean animals that Jews were not permitted to eat. 

(Acts 10:13–16 NKJV)  And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

An interesting and timeless statement: “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” When Peter awoke from the trance, three men knocked on the house's door and asked for him. The Holy Spirit spoke to Peter: 

(Acts 10:19–20 NKJV)  While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”

Peter must have had mixed feelings about being summoned by Romans to the military city of Caesarea, but the Holy Spirit reassured him. So they traveled the thirty-two-mile journey to the house of a Roman Centurion named Cornelius. 

Peter had no idea what he was doing there in this pagan city. Even entering the house of a Gentile was considered unclean, and even more so the home of a Roman occupier. This was awful behavior for a Jew, and Peter wouldn't have wanted others to see him there. It would have been the equivalent of a Southern Baptist caught in a bar. 

A Roman Centurion commanded one-hundred soldiers, so Cornelius knew many people. He had gathered a crowd of close friends and family together to hear the Apostle Peter speak. Meanwhile, Peter realized what the rooftop vision meant, and the message came to him.

(Acts 10:34–35 NKJV)  Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

Peter began to share the message the Holy Spirit had given him for these pagans. Then something amazing happened. 

(Acts 10:44–46 NKJV)  While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

The Holy Spirit suddenly fell on a group of Gentile pagans who heard Peter preaching. On all of them. The Jews who had come with Peter were astonished. Here was a crowd of unbelievers suddenly magnifying God with the gift of tongues. They didn't ask for anything. It doesn't say they even prayed. But they believed and received right where they were. 

Consider where this group was and what they were doing. They lived in a pagan city where the main religion was to worship the Roman Emperors. They knew little or nothing about Scripture. They had never been to a church building. Yet, the Holy Spirit fell on them right where they were while they listened to an anointed message. 

(Acts 10:46–48 NKJV)  Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.

This group of Gentile believers was baptized in the Holy Spirit, spoke in tongues, and afterward were baptized in water. Isn't that amazing? You cannot set limits on what the Lord will do, where He will send you, predict how He will do it, or know who He will invite into His kingdom.

“What God has cleansed you must not call common.”  

Holy Spirit, fall on us. 

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please let Your Holy Spirit fall in my house as you did that day at Cornelius' house. We don't deserve it, have not earned it, but we desire it. I choose to believe in You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!