Brother Walter read to you down
to the first 21 verses. I want to pick up in verse 22
and read down through verse 33. But there's one statement made
in verse 33 that Cornelius made. He said, We are all come. We're
here. To hear. Whatsoever the Lord
commanded thee. That's the only reason we had
to come. It's great to see folks. I enjoy seeing my brothers and
sisters in Christ. But without the Gospel, without
hearing the Gospel, it's no more than a reunion. So let's pick
up here in Acts chapter 10 and verse 22. They said Cornelius
the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of
a good report among all the nations 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, Paul
called those that came to him, he called them in, and lodged
with them. And Peter went away with them,
and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him, and on to Mark,
After they entered into Caesarea, and Cornelius waited for them,
and called together his kinsmen and near friends. He called together
those that he loved. He wanted them to hear this gospel
also. God had told him some words.
Cornelius had heard something. I don't know what he heard or
where he heard it at. The Scriptures don't tell us. But God had revealed
unto Cornelius that he needed to hear the Gospel. And Peter was come in to Cornelius.
And Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped
him. But Peter took him up and said, Stand up. I'm a man also. And he talked with him. He went
in and found many that were come together. And he said unto them,
you know how this is an unlawful thing? Peter was telling Cornelius,
Cornelius, this is something unlawful. This is not to be done
in the Jewish religion, in the Jewish statements. It was unlawful
for a Jew to have any relationship with this dog, this Gentile dog. And he said, it's unlawful for
me to even be here. It's an unlawful thing for a
man that is a Jew to keep company or even come unto another nation
but God. But God has shown me that I should
not call any man common or unclean. came I unto you without gainsaying,
as soon as I was sent for. I asked, therefore, for what
intent ye have sent for me. And Cornelius said unto me four
days ago I was fasting at about 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 prayers is heard, and thine
alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. Send, therefore,
to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter, who is
lodged in the house of Simon the Tanner by the seaside, who,
when he cometh, shall speak unto thee. Immediately Cornelius said,
Therefore I sent to thee, and thou hast well done that thou
hast come. Now, therefore, are we all here, present before God,
to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. Why we gather? Why we gather? We have a story
here that had never took place before. This is something brand
new. Brand new. It's like a soul hearing the
Gospel for the very first time. It's something that enlightens
their hearts. It's something that enlightens
their spirit. It's something that raises them up to a place
that they had never been before. This story of this Gentile dog. That's what the Jews called the
Gentile dogs. This Gentile dog. God by His
almighty grace revealed unto Cornelius. Cornelius, you need
to hear the Gospel. That which is preached by my
Apostle, and Cornelius sent for Peter, without the hearing of
the Gospel, without the declaration of the Gospel, none will be saved. The Scripture tells us it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. If we are to come to the Gospel,
we must hear the Gospel. We must come to a place where
a preacher must come to us. As it did here in Cornelius.
When God has a sheep, He will send that Gospel to that sheep. Or He will bring that sheep to
the Gospel. one way or the other, they will
hear it. Our Lord tells us in Ezekiel
34, verse 11, For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, even I
will both search My sheep and seek them out. That's what He
did. He went into a place here in
a Gentile nation and sought out His sheep. as a shepherd seeketh
out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are
scattered. So will I seek thee out. I'll
seek thee out. This thing of, oh, I felt the
Lord. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. God found you
if you were ever to be found. I was not searching for God.
We was in a false free will Baptist religion. Far from God. Far from God. But God. But God. So will I seek out My sheep,
and will deliver them out of all places where they've been
scattered in the cloudy and dark day. In this day of sin, in this
day of wandering, in this day of rebellion, our Lord seeks
us out. Our God is a great God. I don't
understand the things that happen in this world. I don't understand
many events that take place. But I do know who's in charge.
I do know who's in control. Our God is He who is able to
do all things. Whatsoever He pleases. That He
did both in heaven and in earth. And He tells us, my sheep, my
sheep, hear my voice. And I know them. And they follow
Me. That's the result of hearing
the Gospel. When a sheep hears the Gospel,
that's the result. They follow the Lord. They don't
know much. They know very little. They stumble. They fall. They fail. But they
follow. They follow. The tenor of their
life is to follow Him. And here's the result. And I
give unto them eternal life. Amen. And they shall never perish. This body one day will go back
to the dust. This body will one day be dissolved. Oh, the place that we have reserved
for us. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hands. Cornelius said immediately. Immediately. When the Lord spoke to me, immediately,
I sent for Thee. This is something that we cannot
tarry on. The Gospel is that thing which
we hear maybe once. It may be. This is the last time
that we'll hear the Gospel. Who knows? Immediately, we are
to respond to the Gospel. When God speaks to our heart,
He knits our hearts and He says, Come. Come unto Me. So we're here. We're here. And we're here for a reason.
We're here to hear. We're here to hear all things
that are commanded thee of God. What do we hear? What do we hear? Do we hear, as men say, an audible
voice, God spoke to me. He may have, I don't know. But
most of the time, I find in Scripture, and I find in relationship with
other men, most of the time, when God speaks to His sheep,
He speaks to them through His Word. Through this preached gospel. Men have different visions, they
claim, and different this and that. Be wary. Be wary. There
was a man that was my neighbor some years ago. Vile. Fit for nothing. One of those
categories, I suppose you could put him in. And he told the story
of how God visited him. And the first thing he told him
to do was quit smoking. You know, when they start off
that way, watch out. You know, it's not going in the right path.
But he said the first thing he told me was to quit smoking.
He said, I quit smoking. And he said, it went on for a
few days, a few weeks. I love cigarettes, he said. And
he said, I read you over and got me a cigarette and lit it
up. And he said, the Lord took me by the hair of the head and
shut me all over the house. That's not God. That's not the
God of this Bible. Men have all manner of evil understanding
about the God of this Bible. But His sheep hear His voice. That voice speaks to hear, to
the heart. The ministers of the Gospel,
they speak to the head. That's as far as they can go.
That's as far as we can go. But God speaks to the heart.
And He tells His sheep, you're mine. You've always been mine. You wasn't a goat and transformed
into a sheep. You was a sheep from the beginning.
God elected a people before the foundation of the world. And
sheep don't turn into goats and goats don't turn into sheep.
They stay exactly what they are. We're lost sheep. We're straying
sheep. We're rebellious sheep. We're
dead sheep. We're all manner of evil sheep.
But God. We're still God. Don't misunderstand
that. We're still God. We hear the message with our
ears. And God applies it to our heart. He speaks to the heart. The messenger says the same thing
to one. The same message that may go
out to one may be a rebuke to one sheep. rebuking them for
their whatever, their sins, their misleadings, their backsliding,
their falling, whatever it is, while the same message to another
may cause them to rejoice with unspeakable joy. The same message. It's in God's hand. And He does
with it what He will, with whom He will. The same message may
be a message of comfort in times of trouble, Confirming that soul. Oh, you're mine. You're mine.
I'll never leave thee. I'll never forsake thee. You're
mine. I have you in the palm of my
hand, and I will not let you go. Well, at the same time, that
same message may speak to a lost sheep. It says, come unto me. Come unto me. And then at the
same time, That same message may be sent forth to condemn
that goat. The same message. The same message. You see what a great blessing
it is to hear, to hear. This is why we're together. This
is why we're together. You remember the story in Acts
chapter 2 in the day of Pentecost. The story goes that if I understand
history right, if I understand the Scripture right, there were
some 20 different nationalities gathered here together. 20 different languages. And when
the Apostle Paul stood up to preach, they heard every man
in his own language where he was born. See, the miracle was
not the delivering of the Gospel. The miracle was receiving the
Gospel. Hearing the Gospel. Believing
the Gospel. We read in Acts 2, verse 8, it
says, And how heard we every man in our own tongue wherein
we were born? The apostles spoke in the language
He spoke. I suppose it was Jewish. I don't
know what they called the Jewish language. That's what he spoke
in. And all these other men heard
in the language wherein they were born. What a miracle. What a miracle. And as your pastor and these
other men speak to you on the days that you gather here, they
speak the things commanded of God. And when you hear the Gospel,
whether it's from your pastor or whether it's from one of the
other men that comes and visits or Brother Joe or whoever it
is that preaches the Gospel to you, you take it as if God Himself
is speaking to your heart. That's the way we receive the
Gospel. That's the way we receive it. So we gather to hear. What do
we hear? What do we hear? As I drive to
church on Sunday morning, I live about three, maybe four miles
from the church. And I pass five, maybe six different organizations. And I'm sure you have it here.
I'm sure you have it here. They gather most of the time,
the same time we do. They gather, supposedly, to worship
God. What do they hear? What do they
hear? God wants to save you if you'll
let Him. He's done all you can do. Now you've got to take the
first step. Our God is bending over heaven, pleading with you,
pleading with you, don't go to hell, come to Me. That's not
the God of this Bible. The Gospel has never been an
invitation. The Gospel is come. He never
says please. I don't read anywhere in this
Scripture where God ever said please or won't you. He says come. Definitely. Definitely. And what's the response? We come. Those that He speaks
to come. Those that he don't speak to
stays exactly where they're at. Come unto me, all you that labor
and heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Oh, there's
much that we don't know when we come. Much that we don't know. David, as you teach, those young
kids, there's much that they don't know. I mean, when they
come into your classroom, I don't know what they know. But there's
much that they don't know, just as we don't know much as sheep
of God, young sheep, young believers. But the business of a teacher,
of a pastor, the business of a Sunday school teacher, whatever
you want to call them, is to teach. To teach. Men ask me, am I a preacher or
a teacher? I don't know what the difference
is. I've yet to define it. Do I run
the aisles and shout at the top of my voice? Very seldom. Do I stand here and tell you
the truth? I hope I do. So what's the difference in teaching
and preaching? There may be. There may be a line. I don't
know. But what it is, for me, or any of these other men to
tell you what great things God has done for them. I can only
tell you what I know. I can only reveal unto you what
God reveals unto me. And that's what we do. That's
why we gather. We gather to hear. To hear the
Gospel. The first thing we hear when
our Lord speaks to us He points us to Christ. He doesn't point
us to go over here and do this, or go over there and quit doing
that. He points us to Christ. He says, Behold My servant, whom
I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delights. Is there any
doubt there who He is? Not so with God. In whom my soul delights. God
is well pleased with the Son. And He points all men to the
Son. He says, Behold Him. That's one
of the first things we come to understand. For I have put My
Spirit upon Him, and He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
In Matthew 12, verse 18, we read, Behold My servant. Basically
the same thing, but He says it a little bit different. Whom
I have chosen. I have chosen Him, my Beloved,
in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon Him,
and He shall show forth judgment to the Gentiles. This is of whom
that we gather to hear. This is Him. If we come and hear,
don't do this and don't do that, do this and do that, everything
will be alright. We'll leave this place the same
shape we was in. There is no salvation outside
of the name of Jesus Christ. There is no Gospel declared unto
you unless we declare it unto you in the works and the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him we can do nothing. We hear the reading of the Word
and we come to find out sometimes the next thing we see We're all
dead and trespassing in sin. Somewhere down the line, God
reveals this to us. I don't know exactly what step
He takes with every individual person. But somewhere down the
line, soon after you hear the Gospel, soon after God speaks
to your heart, you will recognize, you will understand, and you
will see that you are helpless. Helpless. There is none that does good. We read in Ephesians chapter
2 and verse 1, most of you can quote this. And ye who were dead
and trespassed in sin, wherein in time past, that was our history,
that was our background, that was our doing, you were dead
and trespassed in sin, you walked, according to the course of this
world. There was no difference at that time in a sheep and a
goat. That sheep looked like a goat,
smelled like a goat, and acted like a goat. But it was a sheep. It was a sheep. For in time past
we walked according to the Prince of the power of the air. That's
Satan himself. We walked after Him. We served
Him for a time. and the Spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all, not just
a few of you, not just one here and one there, we all had our
conversations in time past, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature. That's just what we was. That's
just who we are. By nature, we were children of
wrath, even as all the others that I have passed by." All the
others. But God. But God. I'm so glad that Paul, when he
was writing the book of Ephesians, didn't stop in verse 3 and close
the book. I'm so glad. But God. We read in Isaiah 53 and verse 11, I believe it says,
there's none that understandeth. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh God. They've all gone out of the way.
They've everyone turned to their own way. They've become unprofitable. Unprofitable. Good for nothing
is what that means. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. That's our state. That's our state before a thrice
holy God. Outside of the grace of God.
But God, this is why we gather. This is why we gather. There's
no good news in reading the Scriptures and finding only condemnation.
There's no good news there. I must have the good news of
the Gospel. I must have that which lifts
me up. For the law drives me down. The
law condemns me. The law kills me. But oh, this
Gospel, the free grace of God, it lifts me. It raises me. It sets me. It teaches me. It comforts me. It leads me. And it uplifts me. But God, who
is rich in mercy, Unmerited favor. Unmerited favor. For His great
love for us. That's why He did it. That's
the first cause of all of God's actions. His love for His sheep. He created the world for them.
He rules the world for them. The world is still here for them. as you do sometimes. We had dinner
a few weeks ago after the Sunday morning service. And one of our
dear brothers comes up with questions a lot. And we were sitting talking,
me and Pastor Gary and a couple of the other men. And he said,
do you believe that when the last sheep is brought in, when
God saves His last sheep, Will that be the end? I said, I see
no reason for it to continue. You know, this world is here
as it is right now until His last sheep is brought in. Why
would God continue to be long-suffering if there was not another sheep
to be saved? That must be the end. That's the only reason that
we're still here on this earth alive today. It's because somewhere,
someone has yet to hear and believe the gospel. And it will be when
He brings in that last sheep. My opinion, my opinion, I believe
it will end. I believe it's time for Him to
come back. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loves us, even. Oh, even. And we didn't straighten ourselves
up. We didn't put on new clothes. And then God loved us. He loved
us exactly where we was at. He came to us where we was at. And He said unto us, come unto
Me. Come unto Me. even when we were
dead in sin, has quickened us together. He has made us alive
together by Christ Jesus, or with Christ Jesus, in Christ
Jesus, through Christ Jesus, and has raised us up together.
He's raised us up together. We're seated. We're seated right
now at the right hand of the Majesty on High. while I'm here
in this flesh dead. Do you understand that? No, I
don't. No, I don't. But God tells us
that's the way it is. And hath, h-a-t-h, that means
it's already done. He hath raised us up together
and He hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.
That in the ages to come. That's what He's doing right
now. the ages to come, He might show His exceeding riches of
His grace and His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of
works lest any man should boast, for we are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus, and two good works that God had before ordained
that we should walk therein. Who's in control? Who's in control? This is why we gather. This is
why we gather. To hear what great things God
has done for me. And every child of God can say
the same thing. I want to hear what God has done
for me. I love to hear what God has done
for other people. But it does my soul no good if
he has not done it for me. We read in Isaiah chapter 40,
a very familiar portion of Scripture, verse 1 and 2. Our God tells
His ministers, His preachers, His messengers, whatever title
you want to put on them, comfort ye. Comfort ye, my people. Sayeth your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, my people, my land, my sheep. And cry unto her. Who's her? That's the church.
The church. Cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished. He has won the victory. He has
sat down at the right hand of God. He's there expecting until
His enemies made His footstool. There's no doubt about this thing.
There's no doubt if Christ is going to win this battle or if
Satan is going to win it. Christ has won the victory. Her
warfare is accomplished. Tell her that her iniquities,
whatever iniquities contain, they're pardoned. Our sins, our shortcomings, our
distractions, our whatever iniquity, whatever you can lump into this
thing of iniquity. They're pardoned. Now listen
to this. For she has received of the Lord's
hand a double for all her sins. Her iniquity is pardoned and
her sins are forgiven. Grace and mercy have met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. God is satisfied. He's satisfied
with me right now. Right now. God speaks to His ministers and
tells them to tell Him, go tell my people what great things I've
done. What great things I'm doing right
now. And oh, the great blessing that I have in store for them
in the coming days. Tell them. Tell them that our
warfare is accomplished. Don't let them doubt. Don't let
them struggle. When they see things that comes
that faces them, we in this flesh have a tendency to doubt. shaking
our knees. We don't know what tomorrow holds.
We don't know what's going to happen next week. Our job situations
are shaky and this and that. You know, where we live at is
a coal industry and it's at the most part is shut down. Thousands
and thousands of men and women have lost their livelihood. I'm sure it's a shaky and a scared
thing, but let us remember. All things work together for
the good to them that love God, to them that are called according
to His purpose. Do you understand all that? No, I don't. But we
must trust it. We must trust it. We must fall
at our face and say, Lord, show me. Teach me. Give me understanding. Oh, your sins are pardoned. Your
iniquities that men have done away with. I have cast them behind
My back, never to remember them again. Seeing this, we understand what
we read in Isaiah 53, verse 5. How is this accomplished? How
did this happen? How is my sins taken from me
and charged to another? How was my iniquities forgiven?
How is it possible that a holy God can forgive sin? How is that possible? Isaiah
53 verse 3 says, He was wounded. The Scripture says
our transgression, but I like to read it my transgression.
It brings another light to it. He was bruised for my iniquities. The chastisement of my peace
was upon Him. And with His stripes, I am healed. I am healed. God shall see the travail of
His soul. He came here, born of the Virgin
Mary, and He lived I believe according to scripture, some
33 years, if history is right. And while he was here, his purpose
was one, to satisfy the justice of God. Whatever the justice
of God commanded, he went about doing, day after day after day,
for some 33 years. And what did the world think
about him? They killed him. They killed him. That's what
religion does. That's what religion does. It
kills the great Son of God. He, God, shall see the prevail
of his soul and shall be satisfied. Satisfied with everyone for whom
he represents. Satisfied with everyone for whom
He died. The big thing around our... I
was talking to Paul yesterday. The big thing around our community
right now is that God loves everybody in the same degree. No He don't. No He don't. Nowhere in Scripture can you
find that. He said, I'll give people and nations for thee.
They're nothing to me. They're nothing but chaff to
be blown away and to be burned at. I'll give them for you because
you're precious in my sight. Do we see ourselves that way?
Oh, no. No, I see myself guilty, foul,
sin dripping off of me. But how does God see me? He sees
me justified in the righteousness of another. He sees me holy in
the person of another. He sees me just in the works
of another. He sees me justified. Because He has poured out His
soul unto death. That's what it took. The soul
that sinneth, it must die. He has poured out His soul unto
death. He was numbered with the transgressors. That's me. He took my place. It's what that means. And He
bare the sins of many. You don't say He bare the sins
of everyone in this world. No, we're in Scripture. And He
made intercessions for transgressors. I got myself caught a few weeks
ago or a few months ago now. They was having a service. They
was having a funeral for my uncle. And I generally visit either
early or late. But I got into the church house. And they started service real
fast. I didn't have time to leave without
making a scene, I suppose, or climbing over people. And I sat
there. I said, well, since I'm here, I might as well try to see what
they're saying. What's the difference? What's the difference between
what I and my pastor preaches at Dingus, and the man here that
is a near kinsman that's preaching right here. The first statement
that he made was that Christ shed His blood
for every person in the world. That His blood was shed for every
person, if that be the case. God killed His Son for nothing.
That blood, that blood that was shed, if that be the case, for
those that are in hell, was wasted. Was wasted. Poured out on the
ground and trampled underfoot. Is that what God does with the
blood of His own darling Son? No. No, it's impossible. It cannot be that God loves everyone
the same way He does me. I'm not bragging on myself. The
Scriptures, our Lord said, Thou has loved them as Thou has loved
me. Does God love Christ or does
God love me the same way that He loves Christ? If I'm in Him,
yes. If I'm outside of Him, no. That's
as simple as it can be. Now let me move on. Get off my
lesson here. We see Him, that One who said,
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my elect, whom my soul delight.
We see Him hanging there on Mount Calvary. We see Him hanging there
with spikes in His hand, spikes in His feet, beaten and brewed
beyond recognition. And we must cry out, knowing
who He is, knowing what He did. Why is this man there? That's the penalty for all other
men. But this man, the Scripture declares
to be a just man, without sin, no guile found in His mouth,
going about doing nothing but good for these some 33 years. So why is He there? Why is He
there? He must be there in a substitutionary
factor. He must be there substituting,
taking the place of someone else. For if not that be so, He will
not be there. There was no reason for him to
be there except the love that he had for his sheep. He said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. No man taketh it from me. I lay
it down of myself. I have power. I have the ability
to lay my life down and I have power to take it again. This
commandment, this commandment have I received from my Father. We hear our God tell us, yea,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. And I'm going to leave
it to chance what happens. No, no. No. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Now it's up to you to take the
first step. No. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Because of My love, with loving
kindness, have I drawn thee unto Myself. That's the result of
hearing the Gospel. That's the reason we come. That's
the reason we gather. To hear what great things He
has done. We read in Scripture in John
chapter 3, As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
It's a must be. It's a must be. There's no maybe. There's no if. There's no and.
It's a must. That whosoever... This is the
result of it. That whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have eternal life. That's the result of all
that He did. For God so loved the world the
world of His people, the world of His sheep, the world of His
elect. It's not the whole human race. It is not the whole human race.
It is the world of His people. He loved them with a love that
brought about the death of His Son. For God so loved the world that
He gave. He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. Not might have. Not maybe if
they do this or if they do that. They have everlasting life. Looking
unto Christ. Leaning on Christ. Believing
on Christ. We have everlasting life. It's a gift given to us. For
God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but
that the world through Him might be saved. The world of His people. The world of His elect. He that
believeth on Him is not condemned. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. That's the splitting hair of
this thing. In Christ or outside of Christ. That's our hope. That's all we have. Paul said,
I am determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. And then he went on to say that
I may win Christ and be found in Him. Not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but the righteousness of God which is
of the faith of Jesus Christ. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. Because they believe not the
report that God gave His Son. This is why we gather. This is
why we gather. Neither, Acts 4 and verse 12,
neither is there salvation in any other. Christ is the only
way. There's not a way for this group
of people and a way for that group of people. Christ said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. Come unto Me. Come
unto Me. This is why we gather. We gather
to hear whatsoever the Lord has commanded thee to say. Wherefore He is able Is there
a limit to the blood of Christ? There is a limit to where it's
applied. It's applied to the sheep. There's no limit to the
power. He's able to save to the uttermost.
I think Brother Henry said the guttermost. All of them that
come unto Him. All of them that come unto Him. There's no limit on His power
there. The limit is to whom He gives
His blood for. I know my sheep, and I lay down
my life for my sheep. Lord, I pray this is why we gather.
I pray that this is why we come each week, not only here, but
at our place at Dangas, and wherever God's sheep gathers. I pray this
is the purpose that we gather, to hear whatsoever the Lord has
commanded thee to say. Thank you.