The fact that God gave closely-related visions to both Cornelius and Peter at the same time was in itself a miracle! Sometimes the miracle is in the way things happened; if Peter alone had a vision and went to Cornelius' house, Cornelius wouldn't know why Peter came; if Cornelius alone had a vision and sent someone to invite Peter over, Peter would have turned him down. God, however, gave both of them visions that are different, which taught and guided them according to what needed to happen. Also, we can see that God can reveal visions to people through different channels; God sent angels to reveal the vision to Cornelius, and He guided Peter through the Holy Spirit.
How are the works of the Holy Spirit and angels different? Angels are spirits sent to earth to serve people, as described in Hebrews 1:14. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is God Himself. Work of the angels is usually outwards; they reveal themselves to people and they protect them; work of the Holy Spirit is usually internal, changing people from deep inside their hearts. God sent angels to reveal the plan to Cornelius, and the Holy Spirit changed and transformed Peter's heart, so they complement each other. When visions from God comes upon them, they both need to submit to God. For Peter, he needed to submit to crossing the gap between cultures; for Cornelius, he needed to put down his pride and seek help from a Jew. When they both submit to God, wonderful miracles happened. God is still looking for submissive vessels to accomplish His miraculous work; so, are you willing to participate in it?
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