Commence our service this evening
by singing hymn number 889. The tune is Samuel 2, number
561. Say, is thy heart well broke,
and feels the plague of sin, and hateth Satan's yoke, its
sweetly once true in? Give Christ the praise, he broke
thy heart, and taught thee how to fill this part. O let the
Lord bestow that broken heart on me, which feeleth well its
woe, and blushing, looks to thee, amazed to see myself so vile,
and Jesus smiling all the while. In number 889, tune Samuel 2,
number 561. May this house proclaim, that
we are suffering of sin, ? And nate, dear Satan, you dear
sweet thing, don't fear me. ? ? In Christ I praise thee,
Lord my God, and hold thee high. ? to feel the storm. Oh, dearness, why do I struggle? Should I fumble or stumble? Can my weak stomach So that they
may not be denied Because the virtues of youth
do, Refresh and teach forevermore. Victims are in the way to Jesus'
heavenly light. He told the ghost of day, He
sent the light of night, And wonder, the old voice of night,
The Christ is King, O Lamb of God. O Holy, Holy, Lamb of God, He'll be too gracious if what
steals himself move away. We God's member, with Thee here
I am, And with Thee there shall nature flow. O let the moon be still, let
earth and God all be, with Thee ever exult, and worship You to
be. Amazed to see Christ the Lord,
and Jesus, Lord, in full accord. May we be helped to read this
evening from the Book of the Acts, Chapter 10 and the first
verse in Chapter 11. The Book of the Acts, Chapter
10 and the first verse in Chapter 11. There was a certain man in Caesarea
called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian
Band. a devout man, and one that feared
God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people,
and prayed to God all the way. He saw in a vision, evidently,
about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to
him, and saying unto him, Cornelius? And when he looked on him, he
was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him,
Thy prayers and thine arms are come up for a memorial before
God. And now send men to Joppa and
call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. He lodges with one
Simon Tanner, whose house is by the seaside. He shall tell
thee what thou oughtest to do. And when the angel, which spake
unto Cornelius, was departed, He called two of his household
servants and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually. And when he had declared all
these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. On the morrow,
as they went on their journey and drew nigh unto the city,
Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour. And he became very hungry, and
would have eaten, but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as
it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let
down to the earth, wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts
of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls
of the air. And there came a voice to him,
rise Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, not so, Lord,
for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And
the voice spake unto him again the second time, what God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice,
and the vessel was received up again into heaven. Now while
Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen
should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius
had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate,
and called and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter,
were lodged there. While Peter thought on the vision,
the spirit said unto him, behold, three men seek thee. Arise therefore,
and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I
have sent them. Then Peter went down to the men
which were sent unto him from Cornelius, and said, Behold,
I am he whom ye seek. What is the cause, wherefore
ye are come? And they said, Cornelius the
centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good
report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God
by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear
words of thee. Then called he them in, and lodged
them, and on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain
brethren from Joppa accompanied him. and the morrow after they
entered into Caesarea, and Cornelius waited for them, and had called
together his kinsmen and near friends. And as Peter was coming
in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet and worshipped
him. But Peter took him up, saying,
Stand up, I myself also am a man. And as he talked with him, he
went in and found many that were come together. And he said unto
them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that
is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation. But
God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore came I unto you without
gainsaying, As soon as I was sent for, I ask, therefore, for
what intent ye have sent for me? And Cornelius said, Four
days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour
I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright
clothing, and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine
arms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. Send therefore
to Joppa and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter. He is
lodged in the house of one Simon of Tanna, by the seaside, who,
when he cometh, shall speak unto thee. Immediately therefore I
sent to thee, and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here
present before God. to hear all things that are commanded
thee of God. Then Peter opened his mouth and
said, of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons,
but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness
is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel, preach in peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. That word,
I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea and began
from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached. How God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power,
who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed
of the devil. For God was with him. And we
are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the
Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day
and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses
chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with
him after he rose from the dead. and he commanded us to preach
unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained
of God to be the judge of quick and dead. To him give all the
prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake
these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. and they of the circumcision
which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because
that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy
Ghost. For they heard them speak with
tongues and magnify God, therefore answered Peter, can any man forbid
water, that these should not be baptized which have received
the Holy Ghost? as well as we. And he commanded
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they
him to tarry certain days. And the apostles and brethren
that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received
the word of God. We leave the reading there friends. May the dear Lord bless his own
word to each of us. May he help and teach us how
to pray. Oh Lord, as we come before thee
at this evening hour, Lord thou hast made thy people to need
thee. Thou hast made them hungry and
thirsty. Thou hast made them, dear Lord,
as we view it, sick of self and fond of him. So as we come this
evening, Lord, to the throne of grace, oh may we prove once
more that power from on high to fill our hearts. May we be
enabled, dear Lord, and accepted in the beloved as we come before
the mercy seat. Oh Lord, not just an empty throne,
but a throne where our gracious Lord sits, waiting to hear from
his people. I will be inquired of them. O
Lord, help us now to come to thee in a right spirit, Lord. Oh, how sacred it is to be enabled
to draw near to the throne of grace, to draw near to Jesus. Lord, we do thank thee so much
for all that thou hast given to us so freely. Lord, Help us
not to take things for granted. Oh, so often we are in that spirit,
Lord, but we pray that it might not be so. That we might appreciate
those things that thou hast given to us. And Lord, when we ask
for things, when we need things, may we never forget the giver.
May we trace, Lord, whatever it is that we have, back to that
kind hand. Oh, we do pray, Lord, that our
hearts might be right before thee. Oh, often, Lord, we feel
so far off, thou knowest. And yet thou hast said, am I
a God that is afar off and not a God that is near? Lord, it
is our fault. It is us that come in guilty. Thou art a God ever near thy
people. And Lord, help us not to stray.
Help us not to wander, Lord. When things look brighter in
another place, Lord, may we cast our eyes upwards unto him who
leads and directs us. Oh, come Lord Jesus, this evening
we do pray. May what we have just read be
a word in season. May it be spoken by thy Holy
Spirit into our hearts. Lord, may we know that a true
blessing from on high. One cried of old, give me a blessing
indeed. And Lord, may there be some indeed
blessings this evening. We come, we have providential
needs, each of us in our providential pathway. There are those things,
dear Lord, that thou dost see thy fit that thou dost withhold
from thy people and how thou dost cause them to pray. But
we want more than this. Lord, we want thy grace in our
hearts, renewed, restored, refreshed there. We need more than providential
things, Lord. We need something for our hungry
soul. Who can keep alive his own soul,
Lord? We prove it time and time again
that we cannot. We need something from thee.
We need a crumb of thy mercy. Oh Lord, come this evening and
feed us, we do beg. Give us to drink, O Lord, thou
hast said at the last day of the feast, if any man thirst,
O Lord, may there be some thirsty sinners here this evening. If
any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. O may we each
have a sip of that glorious fountain, Lord. So do help us, thou hast
brought us safely through the days of another week until now.
We have much to be thankful for. Thou hast gone before thy people.
Thou hast not cast off Israel, spiritual Israel. Thou art still,
dear Lord, quickening and enlivening thy people, and thou art still
working. Oh, we have so much to be thankful
for. Lord, really, praise should be on their lips all the day
long that we are out of a much-deserved hell. Whether we know it or whether
we don't know it, dear Lord, we're still out of it. and we're
still on praying ground. We're still in the place where
hope and mercy can reach us. And so, Lord, as we come this
evening, we pray for thy presence to be known and found. We do
pray that thou would bless this people. Do remember them each,
dear Lord, in whatever path they're walking in. Bless and help them,
uphold them in it, and may they prove, dear Lord, that thou art
the lifter-upper of their heads. We pray for the deacons here
to remember them and help them with all their responsibilities,
all those things that they have to deal with dear Lord, do help
them and especially help them to continually pray and uphold
their pastor's hands. Lord may they truly be pillars
in this church. We pray Lord that thou hast raised
them up for this cause, dear Lord, and we pray that it might
be so that prayer is heard. And do help their dear pastor,
we pray for him, bless him indeed, be with him where he is in America,
take care of him, Lord, and at the appointed time, bring him
home to this people. Oh, that he might minister once
again from this pulpit. May he be refreshed in his soul,
and may he bring forth those things, dear Lord, that thou
has taught him, while away. And we do pray that there might
be those things, those signs following the preaching of the
word here and elsewhere. Oh, we do pray that they would
show to us that God is with us. Lord, continually do it for us.
Thou knowest we are such leaky vessels. Lord, we cannot hold
anything that is precious. We seem to be unable to hold
everything that is vile. everything that is wrong we can
hold for those things that are so precious we cannot hold them
and so pour in dear lord we pray continually pour in as thou dost
see fit and we pray for all thy servants that have come here
uh that uh while their past has been away and we pray for those
that shall come uh lord even on the lord's day if it be thy
will and we do pray that Thou wouldst help us each, Lord. Oh,
go before us, do remember us, Lord, and build up Zion. Oh,
we pray, may there be those unashamed of Thee. Dear Lord, we pray that
Thou wouldst bring in those whom Thou hast everlastingly saved,
whom Thou dost love with that eternal love, and send forth
men, Lord, into the vineyard, we pray, labourers, that they
might labour for Thee. Oh, Lord, do come then and bless
Zion once again. Lord, we pray for that building
up, even in our own hearts. Lord, there is so much that tries
to tear down everything. Often we look into our own hearts
and it looks like a ruin. There's nothing we can really
lay hold of in the flesh at all. It is thy work, dear Lord, and
oh, do raise it again, we pray. the dear Nehemiah said there
is much rubbish and oh we find it so Lord so much rubbish and
yet though we believe that deep down in where the gold and the
silver and the diamonds are found deep in the earth is where thy
people have those treasures deep in their hearts and so do come
and bless us this evening with a sweet blessing from on high
Help thy people, Lord, whatever path they're treading, whatever
they're in, and there may be those praying this evening for
a special word. Speak it to them, Lord, and oh,
we pray that thou would lead them on in the right way. Oh, may they hear thy voice,
go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. Oh, Lord Jesus, we
pray so earnestly that thou would come and bless us each. There's
much to be thankful for. Lord, thou dost supply our needs. We are so unworthy, so undeserving,
and yet thou dost still continually supply our needs. Lord, help
us to return thanks to thee and mean it. Lord, how often we return
thanks to thee and we don't mean it. Oh, we pray for that real
heartfelt thanks, heartfelt praise for what thou dost do for us.
Lord, help us as we look into thy word continually. In our
private meditations, Lord, we pray that thou wouldst be there
then. And in our public ministrations and the reading of thy word,
Lord, be there then. Oh, may we prove that word even
there this evening, that the Lord is there. And so do help
us as we gather once more. May there have been much prayer
for thee to come to us this evening. And may we have those sweet answers. We pray for thy servants that
are preaching this evening. We know of one and another, Lord. We pray earnestly that thou would
help them and be with them and uphold them as they declare the
unsearchable riches of Christ to poor dying sinners. And Lord,
we pray for those that are joining churches, those that are making
a public profession, those dear Lord that are coming forward. to declare thy name we thank
thee for these great things but carry on this wondrous work lord
we do pray until every sinner saved by grace save to sin no more help us now
lord help with the singing of thy worthy praise and may we
sing from our hearts for thy dear name's sake amen Continue our service by singing
hymn number 768. The tune is Buckland, number
450. Jesus, shepherd of the sheep,
thou thy flock dost feed and keep. Sweetest pasture dost prepare,
watches them with tender care. Thee the sheep profess and own,
Thee they love and Thee alone, Thee they follow in the way,
Strangers will they not obey. Hymn number 768, tune Buckland,
number 450. It's such a harrowing scene,
the life of a dear and mean. Jesus, Lord God of hosts, Heaven
and earth, Lord Jesus, King of all. Viva! Viva! Viva! Viva! Viva! Viva! Viva! ? Saviour, have mercy on us today
? ? Thou that o'er death by death ? ? Didst die for us ? O'er the
land of the free and the home of the brave? ? God, I hope you see me now ?
? In heaven, in heaven now ? ? All my troubles
will have passed away ? O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, ? And thy lovely faces to see ?
? Bring back to earth some texture ? ? Where one may be full of
heart ? May the dear Lord help me to
say a few things from the chapter that we read, Acts chapter 10,
and there's two really verses, two words rather, in verse 20. Doubting nothing. But if we read
the whole verse, the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10, verse
20. Arise therefore and get thee
down and go with them, doubting nothing. For I have sent them."
These two words, doubt in nothing. Now you might have wondered why
I read that one verse in chapter 11. It's because we have some
good news here. Just to start with, bad news,
it travels fast. And there are those that are
willing to carry bad news. And they go out looking for news
so that they can carry it to somebody else. This is our human
nature. I'm not pointing at anybody.
This is our human nature. If there's something to listen
to that we can take to someone else, we will listen. And that's
why this verse in chapter 11 is so beautiful. The apostles
and the brethren that were in Judea heard. Isn't that beautiful
news, friends? They heard that the Gentiles
had also received the Word of God. Listen. Read that again. Received the Word of God. Now, I'd like to just say to
you and me, friend, have you ever really, I know you've got
a hope, I know you really hope and pray the Lord has, but have
you ever received the Word of God? Received it? You think, friends, actually
received the Word of God from his own heart? I know people
glibly say the Lord spoke this and the Lord spoke that and they've
got about 15 times the Lord has spoken to them. I know that,
friends. I'm talking about this. Have
you really received something of God? It comes on a different
plane altogether. Because only the child of God
that one day will be found around his feet ever receives the word
of God. It is not just our mouths that
speak these things, friends. Our heart has got to go with
the words we say. If they don't, it's just like
banging on a drum or a cymbal, Paul says, doesn't it? It's just
absolutely empty. Completely empty. So, straight
away we see what God's decrees were in chapter 10. Have you
ever, and I've said this before at home at Staples, but have
you ever thanked the Lord that you're a Gentile. You had no say in it. No say
in it at all. It was his eternal decree to
allow you to be born a Gentile and to come into Zion's walls,
come into the chapels. You could have been a Jew, friends.
You think he came unto his own and his own received him not.
That's why this word is so precious. They've received the word of
God. The Gentiles He actually came unto his own and they wouldn't
receive him. As a man, they wouldn't receive him. But the word, the
Gentiles receive him, because it's from God. So it's a lovely
way to start. The Gentiles and the Jews are
very different. Their cultures are different. Their way of life
is different. The Jews live under the old circumcision
law. And they also, if you're not
one of the tribes, they feel that you are not a Jew. Whereas
the Gentile race, and it is the believers, friends, there are
many in the Gentile race that think that they are Christians.
I'm not pointing the finger at anybody at all, because I know
a little bit of my own heart. But it is the believer, and only
the believer, it is only the believer, friends, that can understand
these words, that can receive the word of God. It's only the
believer. It's only the Gentile believers There's so much going
on in their world, isn't there? There's so much going on in their
own nation. A glib religion. They've not received the Word
of God. I'm not judging them, friends. But you can see by their
outward manner they haven't received the Word of God. You can see
by their fruits. Jesus said it's by their fruits
you know them. You think of an apple tree, a
pear tree. You know that's an apple and
pear tree, don't you? So it is in the believer's heart,
friend. So it is in the walk before God. They took knowledge
of them that they had been with Jesus. So this is just a foundation
and because the Jews and the Gentiles are so different, they
are so different. Jesus said in chapter 14 of John's
Gospel, verse 1, he says this, he believe in God. That's what
the Jews believe in. They believe in God. Now listen,
believe also in me." They couldn't. They couldn't receive the Word
of God. Thank Him if He's done this for
you and praise Him when He does do it for you. Because it might
be years to come when you receive the Word of God. You may have
already received it, but we must thank Him. We must thank Him
daily for His wondrous mercy to us. Because, I want to say
this honestly, you didn't want his word. You didn't want his
word. There's nothing in here for the
flesh. Nothing. All there is in here, if your
knowledge is good, is pride. That's all you're going to get
out of this if your knowledge is good. Because we're proud
that we know a few chapters. We're proud that we can have
a few hymns in our head. We're proud that a few verses
run off their tongue. We're proud of it. It's got nothing
to do with God at all. Nothing. It's as far from God
as if you had another book in. But what I want to say to you
is, friend, the beauty of this little chapter, there's something
that stands out in this chapter. And what is it? The descent of
the Holy Ghost. There is no substitute. No substitute. You could have a thousand people
here and a tremendous orator. Yes, he will feed the flesh.
Yes, you'll go home and say he gone on well. But that's it. That's it. No speaking to the heart. There's
none. The Holy Ghost has got to come
upon the subject the word, the hearers. We've got to have the
Holy Ghost. Paul said otherwise all the preaching
is in vain, all the hearing is in vain. It's all in vain, friends. It comes right down to actually
being of no good to us at all. Yes, it's nice to be found in
the way, but friend, if you've got, and I want to say this honestly,
and I want to say it lovingly, But if you're going out to listen
to men without the Holy Spirit in your heart and him speaking
the Holy Spirit, there's nothing on earth without the Holy Spirit.
Nothing. You prove it, don't you? There's
absolutely nothing. There's no connection between
your soul and God. Nothing. People think there is. People think there's something
else. There's something else. The Holy Spirit doesn't have
to lead you. You can go yourself. Well, it's
totally, it's total, it's wrong, completely wrong. We see it so
clearly here and it's such a lovely passage, isn't it? Peter stood
up to preach. Now, the wonderful thing is,
the approbation of God was upon Peter's preaching. It was there. Look, who was Peter? We have
his testimony here, but who was Peter? He was a poor old rugged
fisherman who loved fishing. He loved fishing. Because after
Jesus had gone to come up resurrected, what did Peter do? He went back
to what he knew. He loved it. But he loved the Lord more. He
loved the Lord more, friends. And this poor old rugged fisherman He had a lovely testimony, didn't
he? You know, friends, in chapter
11 he tells them that's his testimony. Here's what's actually happening
to him. He lived close to the Lord. That's one thing. One thing,
friends. He lived close to the Lord. The
second thing is the Lord lived close to him. These things are
so vital. They are absolutely necessary
and they are vital. You cannot mix the world with
godliness. Try it. Try it. You can't mix
it. People say you can. People say,
he doesn't mind me doing this, he doesn't mind me doing that.
Because they don't know God. That's the bottom line friends,
they don't know him. You cannot mix godliness and the world Peter,
dear Peter, he was a fallen sinner and he knew it. He knew he was
a sinner. The Lord had restored him and
now his one aim was to live near the Lord. That was his one aim,
to be as close as Jesus to Jesus as he could. You think he goes
up onto the housetop. What for? What for? What do you do in your relaxing
times? What did Peter, he's waiting for them to prepare dinner, what
does he do? He's on his knees, friends. Every spare moment of the day,
he's on his knees. He needs to be near Jesus. He
needs to hear from him. And so we can see close, so clear
here, can't we? That the Lord came to him. Peter
fell into a trance. The old sinner was still there
though. The old man was still there. The Lord allowed Peter
to see one of the greatest visions that a man has ever seen of the
election of grace, the remnant. He saw them, not by people, he saw them as animals. And if you ever read the scriptures
and see why God does this, because it's the easiest thing for him
to explain to poor simple minds. That's why. We are ignorant. We do not know what God is talking
about. Until he shows us. So he shows
to Peter, and remember Peter was deeply taught He wasn't just
a stranger. He hadn't just come up as a novice.
He was deeply taught. He was grounded. Having passed
through the earth with the Lord Jesus, the Lord taught him a
lot. I know he learnt a lot afterwards
because he didn't understand at the time. But the Lord taught
him. Now Peter, there's these creeping
things. There's a fowl. He shows them
all the different characters. We're not all the same. We're
not all the same, friends. We've got the same God. We will
need the same Saviour. We will be brought to the same
Saviour's feet that everybody else is brought to. But we're
not all the same. No. All different. All different
temperaments. All different natures. All different
people. Yes, we're all humans. But there's
so much about us that is different. Our personalities. the way we
live. And Peter had to learn this.
He was a strict Jew. And if you know anything about
the Jews, they are strict. They are very, very strict. And
Peter was one of them. He'd been brought up in it. He
could never leave it. How could he leave being a Jew?
And as for going to the Gentiles, it wasn't something that they
ever did. He could never go to the Gentiles. That's why Peter
resisted the Lord. When you think about it, I don't
know if you are resisting the Lord today, but the Lord had
the last say. He had the last say, friends.
You resist him if you dare resist him, because in nature does,
but he had the last say, didn't he? And he will at the end of
your life and mine, he'll have the last say. You'll have nothing
to say before him. He will speak last. But here,
dear Peter, poor Peter, Look at him. The Lord shows him this
great vision, this great, beautiful sheet of people. Peter should
have rejoiced and said, there's all sorts in there, Lord. But
there's people in there. There's a remnant in there. But
look what he said. Not so, Lord. Not so. He knew what the Lord was saying
to him. The Lord didn't have to talk to Peter in such a way
and manner. Peter knew what the Lord was
saying. He said, straight away, I haven't eaten anything that's
unclean or common. Think how his heart sunk. The
Lord was telling him to do something that was completely against his
tradition. It was completely against everything
that he had learned and known. Rise Peter and eat. He said,
no, no. It's a mercy, it's such a mercy
the Lord comes three times. You can see there that the Lord
loved Peter. How many times did he speak to
Samuel? Three times he loved Samuel. How many times did he
speak to Paul? Paul thrice asked him to remove
the thorn from his flesh. He said, my grace is sufficient
for that he loved him. We must be very careful if we
resist the Lord. He may only come once. Then you'll
know whether you're a child of God or not, friends. He may only
come once. To his own people he comes more than once. Not so, Lord. We come to our
text. Oh, these words are so beautiful
to my own heart. Nothing. Doubting nothing. Doubting
nothing. Peter had something now in his
heart that he could go with. Whenever anybody would come against
him, and he knew they would, He was going against the Jewish
tradition. He could say, the Lord told me, doubt him, nothing. I will just tell you this little
personal thing. I may have said it before, but
I can't remember, but when we were going to be baptized or
we had heard a sermon and we had spoken to the deacons and
the deacons, no, the pastor and the deacons were coming to see
us. And Satan got hold of me. And I went upstairs and I said
to Sarah, I said to Maura, I said, you're going to have to go on
your own, you're going to have to tell them yourself, so I can't go. I said, there's no way I can speak
to any person about what the Lord has done for me. Yeah, he's
done so much. The Prince, he's done so much.
And yet, because Satan was there in my old flesh, I had nothing. I fell down by the bed on my
knees and I was begging of the Lord to help. And Sarah came
up and she opened the Bible and she read those words. Arise,
therefore, and get thee down and go with them, doubting nothing. Friends, I've never felt so bold. And I didn't know what it was.
I didn't know, friends, to go and speak a testimony to people
so that they would know my inmost thoughts, so that they would
find out my relationship to God. It was these words, doubting,
nothing. Isn't that beautiful? What does
it do? It takes away all doubt. Everything's gone. Why? It's an easy thing to say, isn't
it? Don't doubt. It's an easy thing to encourage
others that we shouldn't doubt about things, we should be firm
in the faith. We should understand what we
understand and we should believe what we believe. Yes, till Satan
takes hold of you. Then it's a different story,
friends. Completely different. Because if he can hinder you,
if he could hinder poor Peter going to the Gentiles, he would
have done. He would have done all the way there. Do you think
Peter lived in that? Do you actually think that he
lived in this? Yes he did for that moment. He came down and
three men were waiting, that was the answer that the Lord
had given him and then he went off with them the next day and
then the next day. Do you think Satan left him alone?
He didn't go straight there. He went straight there but he
had stopovers and If you think how Satan got hold of him, Peter,
what are you doing? What are you doing? Now, perhaps
you're in something and Satan's saying to you, what are you doing?
What are you doing? You remember these two words,
beautiful words. I know if Satan doesn't come
into you. I know, friends, if you're not tempted. I know if
you don't have the Buffeting of Satan. I know it's hard to
understand these things But but if you do and I really believe
every believer does in their lifetime over a period of time
It may be suddenly it may be over years But do you get you? He's not gonna let you go to
heaven easy He's not he's not gonna let you go to chapel easy
He's not gonna let you hear the gospel easy he's not going to
let any human preach the gospel easy because he's trying to stop
it he's trying to stop it and what is sometimes so heart-wrenching
is sometimes it's the godly that he works in against other Christians
he works in them Why? Because he wants to set them
against each other, he wants to stop the gospel as hard as
he can and he can't stop it. He can't stop it. Think of your pastor, and I'll
speak to this personally friends, but you think of your pastor
when he comes into this pulpit, do you think he's on his own? Do you think that man hasn't
been through the sieve? Hasn't been buffeted? Do you think he just stands up
and preaches? There's somebody trying to pull him backwards.
There's somebody trying to pull him down. There's somebody trying
to make his mind go blank. There's somebody trying to fill
his head and his heart with everything else but preaching. That's why
the beauty of this chapter, and may you often know it here, Holy
Ghost descended. Totally different. Satan's not
there. It's gone. It's completely gone.
You know, where the Holy Ghost is, there is no room for the
flesh and there's no room for Satan. Why? Because he feels
everything. He feels absolutely everything. But where the Holy Spirit is,
there's a lot of flesh and there's a lot of room. There's a lot
of room. There's a lot of pride. There's a lot of, I am something.
And Satan, I want to say this rightly friends, Satan's not
small. He's not small. He can fill your
heart easily. He can fill your head easily.
So we have this truth here, and it's a wonderful truth, isn't
it? Doubting nothing, and really I know it's only by the grace
of God. It is only by the grace of God
you can live here. But this is how we should be
living. You believe in God, then don't doubt. Remember, it's only because his
grace is sufficient for us that we could come into this. And I do, and we all do, Have
those doubting times. But do you think that's putting
the crown on the Lord's head? It's taking it from him. Because
you don't think he's capable. You don't think he's able. You
think he's like you are. You do. You think he's just like
me. We read that Jesus went into
the wilderness and Satan tempted him, that he wasn't the son of
God. You read it, don't you? You read
it, and then you go on to the next verse, and you read that,
you've forgotten what you've just read. Satan took him into
the wilderness, and he tempted him that he wasn't the son of
God. That Jesus wasn't the person
who he said he was. Think of the power of Satan.
But the Lord is almighty. He soon put him down, didn't
he? He soon, what did he go back to the devil and say? The word
of God. The word of God. So if the master
went this way, so will the subjects. They'll all go this way, friend. but the dear Lord here to dear
Peter, and it was a word that Peter needed, two little words. Peter needed them. Everything
hinged on these two words. Take them out, Peter wouldn't
have gone. Peter wouldn't have gone. Put them in, we see Peter walking
down the road towards Cornelius' house, doubting nothing. Now what about our lives? Our
lives, dear old Jacob, you know, he sent his boys back down to
Joseph. He didn't know it was Joseph
and he'd hardly treated them and they were so sorrowful. Listen,
doubting nothing, go back to the man. We need food, go back
to him. We're not going back, dear old
Jacob. You'll have to go back. You'll
have to go. But you'll have to go not doubting.
You know, this affects you and me, doesn't it? Have you got
something in your life? Is there something in your life
that you're walking out? And perhaps you're full of doubt.
Perhaps doubt surrounds you. And it does sometimes, doesn't
it? And what is it? The Lord won't hear me. The Lord
hasn't heard me. If I start something, it's going
to collapse. Everything's going to come crashing down around
my ears. Everything's folding in on me. I can't do it. I can't
do it Lord. I can't do it. I can't carry
on. How can I continue when I've got so much doubt? You listen
to the Saviour's voice to every one of his children, not one
outside of it. Do you ever feel sorry for David
that was out in the field? Do you ever feel sorry for him? He's not needed. The very man
was needed. All the sons are tall, handsome,
they're all rugged men. They are too, they are too. That's
the Lord's anointed. Poor David. He was the one the
Lord had chosen from all eternity to be the King of Israel. And
not only to be the King of Israel, the seed of David should flow
through to Christ. Yet he wasn't needed. Until the
Holy Spirit whispered to Samuel, this is it. I really do, from time to time,
appreciate, not enough, and I think none of us do really, that the
Holy Spirit guides the people. The Holy Spirit prompts us. The
Holy Spirit has to do with us. Such vile wretches, such outcasts,
and yet he comes to us and guides us in these things. And this
is what he was doing with Peter Doubt in nothing, Peter. Wherever
I send you, whatever I say to you, do it. You can see things, can't you,
where men have started and our poor old nature can go a long
way. It can't go all the way. It can't
go all the way, friends. It can go a long way. But if
you haven't got the authority of the Holy Spirit, you've got
nothing. It will collapse. It will literally
crumble. That's why Peter knew that if
he had the Lord's Word, he could go with it. And you think where
he was going, he was going into the house of a Gentile. What
would happen if they see me? What's going to happen if I go
into this house? and the Jews are all standing
outside watching me. I'm going to be ostracized. I'm
going to be cut off. They'll say I'm not a Jew anymore. Lovely little account, isn't
it? Heaven touched the earth. Isn't that a lovely thing? And
has heaven touched your soul? Has it? Really? I don't mean
you're resting on those fleshy things. Away with all that. Away
with all that, friends. It means nothing. It actually
means nothing. You might have a good memory.
You might be able to tell a good tale. You might be able to tell
a good story. But if the Holy Ghost isn't there,
why have you come? The Holy Spirit has got to descend
upon us for us to be the anointing of the Holy Spirit so that we
can doubt nothing. So many incases, as you read
your Bibles, I'm not telling you what to do, I'm just saying,
as you read them, you look out those instances where the Holy
Spirit was there. And you look out those instances
where he wasn't there. And there are places where he
wasn't. And the outcome was bleak. But the outcome here, the ending,
is fruit to the account of Jesus. It's another soul saved. Another
sinner that heaven rejoices over. Another one will be put in the
crown on the dear Lord's head. Another one that has been brought
to the Lord. Cornelius, he had an understanding
of God. Being a Gentile, he says he and
his household had the understanding of it. But they hadn't had the anointing
of it. They hadn't had the unction from heaven. These are different
things. These are real. Something from
heaven. It enters into the heart of a
sinner that the sinner cannot produce itself. It doesn't matter
how religious we are, we cannot produce the unction of the Holy
One. We cannot produce that unction. It has got to come from Jesus.
It comes from no other place. That dear lady, when she went...
I often think how low she got. She went to Jesus. She had that
issue of blood, didn't she? She was on the floor. You'll be alright. You'll be
alright. That's what people say to you. You'll be alright. No,
she wouldn't be alright. She wouldn't be alright until
something went from Jesus into her. Then she would be alright. And the moment she touched Jesus,
You think of that word, doubting nothing. You think how the Spirit
prompted her, keep going, keep going. You think how her faith
was enlarged, if I could but touch him. It's a wonderful thing
that we can read it, because they must have been whispers
in her heart. And the Holy Spirit has guided
the apostles to write it. But those whispers in her heart,
if I could just but touch his garment. If she hadn't touched, she wouldn't
have received. Nothing would have come out of
him. She had to make that connection by his grace and she touched
him, nothing flowed out of her. Read it again. Nothing flowed
out of her. What do we need flowing out of
us, friends? Oh, we've got some pride. We got some thoughts of
ourself, we got some high thoughts of ourselves, haven't we? We
got some sin to flow out of us. But no, something flowed in. She was cleansed. All that that
she had that was in her was gone. Because the thing flowing into
her was stronger than what she had. It was virtue from himself. He gave her virtue from his body. Oh, doubt in nothing. Well, I
hope and pray this is a wording season for some poor sinner's
heart that may be listening, that this is how the dear Lord
is speaking to us. Through all our troubles, through
all our trials, keep going, doubt in nothing, keep going. Look,
what did he say to the dear old saints of old? I am with thee. What do you think he was saying?
Keep going, don't doubt, keep going, I'm with thee. Lovely thoughts, aren't they?
These dear apostles, and especially all the apostles found out what
Peter had done, and here Peter and his men, they find out what
the Lord is, his decrees were unfolding before their very eyes.
It was something that they would have stopped. And there are things
in life, you know, you may be are caught up in something and
you feel that you should stop it, be careful, be really careful. This was the decree of heaven
and had Peter had his own way, the Gentiles would have never
received the gospel. But because Peter didn't have
his own way, and friend, whoever you are, you won't get your own
way. You won't get your own way. The gospel flowed straight into
the Gentiles. Oh friend, when you think of
all these things that we doubt over, because the Lord is really
saying, isn't he, trust me, trust me. Go forward, trust me. Moses standing by the huge sea,
we'll never get across there. I see a poor sinner standing
before death. I'm not gonna be able to swim, I'm not gonna be
able to get over, I'm not gonna be able to do it. Till he looks up, till he looks
up, what's he see? No doubts, no fears. In the one, a lovely hymn wasn't
it? Jesus all the while smiling. Moses standing there, he's only
a little man, and he stands there against a great big amount of
sea, and the Lord says something to him that is so astonishing
to the human mind. Go forward. I can't. I can't go forward. How can I
go forward? Look at the amount of water.
Look at the amount of people. That's not faith, is it? Lived
up by rod over the sea. What did he do? Like Peter here,
no, Lord, no, we're finished. This, we've come to the end of
the road. We're all gonna drown or be killed. If you've got faith,
friends, it is a beautiful gift from God. He said, lift up thy
rod over the sea. Moses had never known this before,
and the people must have just been in awe. The whole of the
sea just parted, all of it. stood on either side of them
like two walls. Now who's doubting? Now who's
doubting friends? Do you know we're such wicked
sinners. We doubt him with blessings in
our hand. Why? Because we haven't got more.
We want more. We doubt him because he hasn't
quite done it the way we thought he would. We doubt him. You go
and stand with Moses and ask him if he's doubting. You go and stand with Moses and
say, how do you feel Moses? His eyes were fixed on his saviour,
friend. He wasn't looking at the water.
He wasn't looking at death. His eyes were fixed on the saviour.
He told me to go forward. And this is it. This is it for
you and I. in all of their life, whatever
you venture into, remember, if he's told you, go forward. If he hasn't told you, it's gonna
be a venture of faith, and then it's a venture. Not blind unbelief,
that's what the hymn writer says in 320, doesn't he? And God does
move in a mysterious way, friends. He really does. His wonders to
perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. We see it with Peter. What's
Peter doing? He's now preaching to the Gentile
race, the enemy, those that he didn't like, those that he would
never have to do with. Isn't it beautiful how Christ
brings together and makes one? Isn't it beautiful? How the Lord Jesus does this
in our own hearts, by his own words. I know the separation, I know
that friends, but here is a beautiful joining together. There they
were, under one roof with God. Under one roof with him. Peter
was used. But I'll tell you there's a few
places where there is no doubt. And if the Lord ever bring you
there, they're beautiful places. But you know, often we go to
the place of doubt, don't we? But the Lord won't lead you there,
friends. That's you going there. He doesn't lead his people to
doubt. No, he leads them to a place
of no doubt at all. That's why when the Holy Spirit
descended here, he was leading Peter away from his own doubts.
Peter preached with the assurance of faith that this is God's work.
But these places, if you go ever led by the Holy Spirit, I don't
mean you can go there, friends. This is the leading and the teaching
of the Holy Spirit to lead you to Gethsemane. And you might
not be able to believe it, but faith will put you on the perimeter
of Gethsemane. You will see there is no doubt
at all When you see a suffering saviour,
how can you doubt? Do you know I really believe
the soul that knows this tells the Lord I'll never doubt again.
I'll never doubt again. Doesn't know what he's saying. Doesn't know what he's saying.
Because the moment the Lord takes that revelation away, however
deep, however by degrees, whatever it is, back to my old sad state
I return. Doubting all the time. So we
have that we have another place where there's no doubt The place of the cross You won't
doubt that French never has anybody doubted that's been drawn to
the cross How could you doubt? As you guys I like that hymn
it is I can't think of the number now, but A second look he gave,
and said, I freely will forgive. Freely will forgive. Can you
doubt when he's forgiven your sin? Can you doubt, friend? No. These are lovely places that
the Lord takes his people. And then that precious blood
that was shed at Calvary for poor, needy sinners to cleanse
them. Can you doubt? Doubt in nothing. There's another place, a special
place. And this dear man went there. We read on the resurrection morn,
Peter and John run to the grave. John outran Peter. But when he got there, Peter
went right in. He went right in, I'm gonna make
sure. I'm gonna make sure that he's gone. I'm gonna make sure
that he's risen, there's no trace of him at all. I'm gonna actually
make sure because my whole salvation rests on him rising from the
dead. He came out of there doubting
nothing. He's risen, he's risen. And Peter had a special word,
didn't he? Peter's such a favoured character, he didn't know it
at the time, but he was such a favoured character, wasn't
he? Go and tell my brethren. Think if the word came to you
tonight, go and tell my brethren, and Peter, and Peter, that I'm
risen. Three places where you won't
doubt Like I say, they're not easy
places to get to. And you'll need to get to them
if the Lord works in you. If he doesn't work in you, you'll
never get there. Because they're not there for
the having, they're there for the giving. This is what's different
in our hearts. The Lord gives these special
times to his people. He wouldn't know where to look.
He wouldn't know where to find him. But the descent of the Holy
Spirit, that's why. Did you notice that whenever
the Holy Spirit descends on the preacher, they preach Christ. Did you notice that? Pentecost,
Christ. Cornelius, Christ. Nothing else. Nothing else. Because
nothing else will do. Nothing else will do, friends. We must have him for ourselves. Ourselves. He must be ours. Yes, I know he's the whole church's,
but he must be ours. It's like when you get married,
isn't it? Your wife-to-be, she's got to
be yours. It's the same with the Saviour. If the church has got to be his,
which it is, as a bride, it is his bride, nobody else's. He
will do anything for that bride. Anything. Friend, he's already done it.
What could you ask him more to do? Because he is going to have her
with him. She's going home to glory. She's
going home to the wedding feast. Now if we just for a few moments
look at the dear Lord Jesus. Did he ever doubt that he could
do it? Did he ever see a sinner that
was too far off? Did he ever see a sinner that
was out of his reach? Did he ever say the lengths are
too far? The burden's too heavy? The pain's
too much? No. No doubts in it, friends. I will bring her home to glory. I will do it. Isn't it a lovely
thing? Isn't it lovely, friends, if
you are a partaker of these things? And to be a partaker of it, really,
the gospel is the invitation not speaking all this invitation
come and get it all that I'm not talking like that I'm talking
about that the gospel is provided as an invitation to the needy
soul and it's spoken clearly into the heart the heart is melted
when it receives the invitation to come to Jesus Might be 80, 90, 100 years coming
to Jesus. But you've got that word from
him, doubt in nothing. I gave it to you, and nobody
will ever take it away. They won't, friend. Every one
of these dear sinners will be found in glory. And so we see
this great, and really, what I was gonna say a bit earlier
was, these two words, so much hangs on small things in the
Bible. These two words, doubting nothing,
brought the Gentile and Jewish church together. They brought
the Gentiles and the Jews together, two words, doubting nothing.
And I was thinking of these small things, and I thought, you know,
on the building, when you have a level, it's not the level that
tells you you're accurate, it's the little bubble. Little bubble. You know, you could have a straight
edge, you could have a mile-long level, No bubble, you wouldn't
know where you were. Put a bubble in there. It brings everything straight
in line. It's the tiniest thing out, isn't it? That little bubble.
But it means so much. Because with that, the building
goes up straight. Take the plumb bob. That's what we called it. And
if you took that off the end, what have you got? It's only
tiny. I think it's in Amos. He dropped the plumb bob down
to see if it was being built straight. Measure yourself against
that, friend. It's only small, but measure
yourself against it. Two little words hinge on everything. The biggest doors in the world
are only hinged on hinges, aren't they? Do you see how God turns
the events? Because it's his decree in whatever
he does, and he doesn't have to use big things. Not in their
lives. And what I want to say to you
is, you younger people, look for the little things where God's
working. It's not all this fanciful stuff that people say. It's not
all that, friends. It's those little things where
the subject is Christ and the Holy Spirit has got the approbation
upon it. Then you know it's real. Then
you know it's right. It's not to look for all great
visions and great words and be able to recite everything so
that everybody's impressed. It's nothing to do with that.
Not in our lives, it's not. It's a small intimation that
I know Jesus. I've seen him. How many words
is that? I've seen him. I've fallen in
love with him. Think of it, friend. It's only
a few words and yet your whole life hinges upon it. Well, you can find out these
small things as you read the scripture. And you can find out
these small things from your own personal experience. You
really can. Sometimes things change, don't
they? Where you think you're sinking,
and something happens so tiny, and it's changed you completely.
Well, I'll leave you with it. We could go on with it, couldn't
we? I'm gonna stop, but I hope and pray the Holy Spirit carries
on working in your hearts so that you can think on these beautiful
things. It'd be lovely wouldn't it if
you spent 10 minutes, but if you spent an hour thinking of
the small things that the Lord uses to change nations, to change
nations, and it's all because he's all-powerful. I'll leave
you with these two words, doubting May the dear Lord forgive anything
that's been said amiss. Amen. Conclude our service by singing
hymn number 92, Junius Meritan, number 366. Who is this fair one in distress
that travels from this wilderness, and oppressed with sorrows and
with sins, on her beloved Lord she leans? This is the spouse
of Christ our God, bought with the treasures of his blood, and
her request and her complaint He is but the voice of every
saint. O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, ? And with thee, O God, in heaven
above ? ? Amen ? ? This is the song of my life ? ? Shadows ? ? Wrought with the
truth ? ? That all of it was ? ? In the rivers ? ? That flowed
there ? It's not the war Don't let that
be true Now that my name Ain't great and sad You hold my hope,
and all I know. Still near or far, I love you
at last. O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? Which was, and was, and ever
shall be. ? To pass you by ? ? Till another
day arrives ? ? But one day I'll be there ? ? Your soul, my heart
? Let me to you, O God, appear. I am there, I am there. Till thou hast drawn me to thy
path. You're eternal and ever young.
I will always be near you, dear. And now, dear Lord, we so thank
thee for thy word. Oh, make it known in our hearts,
dear Lord, these precious truths, we do pray. Leave none out when
thou dost call for thy people. Lord, we do pray then that thou
wouldst help us each in the great journey of life, the unknown
steps of the way, and take us each to our homes in peace and
safety. Now may the grace of the dear Lord Jesus and the love
of God and the sweet fellowship and communion of thy Holy Spirit
rest and remain with us each now and forevermore. Amen.