The household of Cornelius were ready with open hearts to receive all that God had for them, and while Peter spoke the word of God to them "the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word." This experience was identical in character with that of the Jewish saints at Pentecost. Peter's Testimony In rehearsing this wonderful event to the brethren and apostles at Jerusalem he testified to the unquestionable leading of the Spirit to this company of believers. He said (Acts 11:15, 17), "And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?" Upon another occasion at Jerusalem Peter again spoke of the same event, saying, "And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith."--Acts 15:8, 9. But Peter testified to the fact that the Gentiles are placed upon a level with the Jews, not only in the reception of the Holy Spirit, but in the experience of cleansing. He testified to these two phases of sanctification, equally wrought in the hearts of the Jews and Gentiles, making "no difference between us and them"; and in this same testimony he plainly states that "purifying their hearts" was an experience co-incident with the reception of the Holy Ghost--"giving them the Holy Ghost," "purifying their hearts," "even as he did unto us." Opposers of this truth have argued that Peter's statement, "purifying their hearts," in the Greek text reads, "having purified their hearts," the word "having" signifying that their hearts were purified previous to the event of their reception of the Holy Ghost; but this objection has no foundation in scripture, history, or experience. If there could be a shadow of meaning in this form of this word in the Greek text, to signify that the "purifying their hearts" occurred prior to the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, it simply has reference to the order of these two phases of sanctification, which were effected within them upon this occasion. It is evident that in the divine order of sanctification purifying the heart by faith is preparatory to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He must have a pure heart in which to make his abode. However, there is no lapse of time perceptible between the =negative= and =positive= phase of sanctification. How easily this is understood by those who have truly received the Pentecostal experience. How the "anointing" teaches us and witnesses in our hearts to the testimony of Peter; but to those who have not yet had their Pentecost, and especially such as are blinded by theory and the doctrines of men, there is likely to be discussion and argument of words. The apostles and brethren at Jerusalem had no argument to make when Peter rehearsed his experience. They simply "glorified God."