With God their sacred promptly
at His feet they call. With God the everlasting love
they crown Him Lord of all. With God the everlasting love
and crown Him Lord of all. Thank you, John, Jerry. Go back with me now to Acts chapter
10, please. Acts chapter 10 begins, as many
scriptures begin, with a certain man. A certain man. are very exact, using that word,
a certain man, a chosen man. This is one of God's chosen,
one of God's elect that we heard about on the radio this morning. Knowing, brethren, your beloved
of God, your election. How? How our gospel came. The gospel is going to come to
this man named Cornelius, a certain man. The foundation of God stands
assured. having this seal to the Lord,
knoweth them that are his. And everyone whom he's chosen,
he calls. Everyone he predestines, he calls
by our gospel, like Cornelius is going to be called. Verse
2 and 3 says he was a devout man, one that feared God, gave,
was generous, prayed to God, and the Lord sent an angel to
him. Now, this man is not saved yet. Our Lord said, John 17, 3, this
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. This man doesn't know the
Lord yet, doesn't know Christ. He hasn't confessed Christ. Go
into all the world, preach the gospel. He doesn't believe the
gospel. He's got to hear the gospel. and is baptized shall
be saved, those that confess Christ." Christ said, I'll confess
them. Cornelius hasn't heard the gospel yet. He hasn't confessed
Christ. Well, why is he a God-fearing
man? Why is he a generous man? This
is the grace of God. My pastor used to always talk
about grace before grace, grace before grace. If anybody seems
to be God-fearing and generous and so forth, that's the grace
of God. The grace of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, isn't it? But what is wisdom? Christ is
made into us. Wisdom. So it begins there, doesn't
it? This man's got to hear the gospel
of Christ. And this angel of the Lord came
to him, and verses 4 and 5, the angel told him that your prayers
have been heard and told him to send men to Joppa and call
for one Simon whose surname was Peter. Call for a fellow named
Simon, last name or surname Peter, Simon Peter. He didn't say go
call Pope Peter. He didn't say go call Right Reverend
Father Peter, Dr. Pete. No. Simon Peter. Simon Peter. Where will you find
this man sent by God, this apostle, mind you? He's a great man, a
man sent from God, a gift of God, this preacher of the gospel,
this apostle or messenger of the Lord Jesus Christ. Where
are you going to find him? Where is he? In a palace somewhere? In a seminary somewhere? Is he
in a monastery secluded? He's in the house of a tanner
in a little cottage by the sea. He's a common man living among
common people. A tanner. Anybody ever been around
a tanner? That's someone who tans hides. There used to be a tannery in
Asheville, Kentucky then. You couldn't get within a block
of it, could you? Oh, it's an awful place. That's
where Peter was. What was he doing? I know what
he was doing. He's helping him. He's working. That's all he knew.
That's who the Lord calls. Common men. To preach to common
men. The Lord Himself was a carpenter
by trade as a man, wasn't He? And it says that common people
heard Him gladly. The Lord sends sinners to preach
to sinners. Not people who are shut off and
secluded. turned out like cookie-cutter
preachers. That's not where preachers are
prepared. No, they're prepared by the Lord
like the disciples of old, out in the world, amongst His people,
experiencing temptations and trials and sin just like the
people do. And from the Word of the Lord,
that's where they get their message. The Lord told him through an
angel to send three men, verses 7 and 8. The angel which spake unto Cornelius,
he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier,
them that waited on him continually, and he told them all these things
and sent them to Joppa. These three men were chosen.
to go and find Simon Peter. They were called and chosen to
go seek the preacher, seek the message. Who were they? Who were these three men chosen? Well, two of them were household
servants and another was a soldier who took orders. And that's,
you see your calling brethren? Not many wise, not many noble
are called. God hath chosen the foolish. Well, they were sent,
and verse 9, on the morrow, the next day, they went on their
journey, and Peter was up on the housetop praying about noon,
about lunchtime, while they were preparing lunch. He fell into
this trance, you see. He was up on the housetop praying.
Now, one time Paul told the church to look out men among them that
they would wait on tables and called them deacons for that
purpose. And he said, we will give ourselves to prayer and
the study of the Word. Prayer and the study of the Word.
That's what a preacher, a true preacher, is to give himself
to. Prayer and the study of the Word. The Virgin once said, prayer
is the greater part of study. Because it's not by might. Not
by power. Not by oratorical power. Not
by intellectual power. Not by my ability to persuade
them and so forth. Not by my speech and all of that. But by my Spirit, saith the Lord.
So, prayer. Call. Call. Ask. And Peter watched. What's he praying? I don't know
what he's praying, because I pray for the same thing. Lord, speak
through me. Peter's out preaching. That's
why he is where he is. And so the Lord, he's up on the
roof praying. And he saw this vision, this
vision for the sake of time. It goes on to say that the Lord
showed him this vision like a great sheet with all manner of beasts
and wild beasts, creeping things, fowls of the air, and told Peter
to rise and kill and eat them. Peter being the good Jew that
he was. You know, eating nothing but
kosher food, whatever that means, Jewish food. He said, No, Lord, I've never
eaten anything unclean. The Lord said, You rise, you
kill. Don't you call what I've cleansed. There's the key. If I've cleansed it, don't you
call it common. Don't you call it unclean. Now,
this is more than just a change of Jewish law or a lesson in
diet, although it is. When sin came into this world,
you know, man was created and he ate herbs. But when sin came
into the world, everything changed. Everything changed. And he says,
Christ took away the first and established the second. All things
are lawful. Meats, we're not restricted to
certain. It's more than that, though.
More than a lesson in the change of Jewish law and more than a
lesson to us in diet, although it is a lesson. But this is a
prophecy. How that our Lord has the people
out of every tribe Every tongue, every kindred, every people,
every nation. That's the sin in which John
3.16 says, God so loved the world. A people out of. He's chosen
people out of. Every tribe, kindred, tongue,
people, and nation in the world. He doesn't love every single
individual in the world, but he loves every tribe, kindred,
nation, tongue, and people in the world and chosen a people
out of them. And this is a lesson to Peter,
who was a Jew. And that's who the Lord was talking
to, Nicodemus, a Jew, when he said that in John chapter 3,
didn't he? The Jews thought Gentiles were dogs. They weren't even
human. And the Lord said, no. God so loved the world. The world. So that's the sense of what the
Lord's saying. He's telling Peter, you're going
to preach the gospel of the Gentiles. And Paul raised up Paul the Apostle,
didn't he, to preach exclusively to the Gentiles, didn't he? Dogs. Wild beasts. That's what he said. Creeping things. And such were
some of you. Just as heathen and just as savage. I told you about Brother Dan
Park's son, you know. He took him to the hospital that
time as a baby. They asked what his religion
was. He said, he doesn't have a religion.
He's only three years old. They said, we've got to write
something down. So Dan said, well, write down heathen. He's
a heathen. Until the Lord reveals himself
to him, he's a heathen. He's a wild beast. And that's
who the Lord saves, wild asses colts. That's that story. That's
another story. The Lord said, you go, you'll
find a wild asses colt tied up. You bring him to me. I'm going
to get on him and ride him. I said, you can't do that. You
watch me. That's what the Lord is saying here and prophesying.
And to us, Brother Kelly, Wesley, to us, he says, whoever I've
cleansed, don't you call common. Whoever are my people, black,
white, red, yellow, whatever, and you don't know when you're
in front of them, you don't know who they are, do you? Don't despise
anybody. Don't look down on anybody as
you're talking to them. Oh, no, no, no. It might be one
of God's elect. And you'll be like Saul of Tarsus
someday. You'll regret the day that you...
Saul went about hailing people to jail and killing people that
didn't believe like him did. He was a rank Arminian, Saul
was. He hated people that believed the truth. The God. And boy, from that day forward,
he regretted that he approached anybody like that. And that's
the reason he had the attitude, Brother Stan. He said, Oh, my
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israels, that they might
be saved. I'm not better than they. God
has before approved that all Jew and Gentile, all soul understand. Until God shows me differently,
I'm hoping and praying that that's my brother right there. Maybe one of God's elect. That's
a good lesson to learn there. I think I just learned that.
As many times as I've looked at this, that's what this is
saying. I won't look down on anybody
because they're ignorant. Such were some of you. My, my.
But God. He did this three times at the
mouth of two or three witnesses. And down in verse 17, while Peter
doubted or wondered what this meant, These men that were sent
from Cornelius came to the gate, to the house where Peter was,
and called Simon home. They came to his door. They were
the ones knocking. They were the ones asking for
the preacher. Boy, that sure is different,
isn't it? That's the way God does things. God's preachers
don't go begging for an audience. You won't find one example of
them going door to door in the Scriptures. God's preachers don't go begging
for an audience. God's not a beggar, neither are
they. You won't find that in the Scripture. No, you won't.
Who comes to your house knocking on your door? Salesmen. Door-to-door
salesmen. We don't have anything for sale.
God doesn't go begging for an audience. Listen to this, Isaiah
43. God says, I'll say to the North, Give up and to the south. Keep
not back. Bring my sons from far and my
daughters from the ends of the earth. Everyone is called by
my name. I have created for him my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have
made him. Bring forth the people that have eyes and deaf ear."
I'm going to bring them, he said. He said, my people will hear
my voice. Yes, God uses means, but the fact of the matter is
God doesn't go begging for an audience. That's not the God
of the Bible. He opens doors. And what God
opens, no man can shut. Now, this doesn't exclude us
preaching, going out to preach, and using whatever means we can.
It doesn't exclude witnessing. But we ask for a door. What God
opens, no man can shut. But what God shuts, you can't
open. We don't cast our pearls before
swine. We don't go begging people. But
God will bring them. Yes, he will. The Spirit of God
will bring them to hear. Christ said, My sheep hear my
voice. They'll hear. So, see that? They came asking. They came asking. As we said
before, too, that Peter, you know, the preacher is going to,
he's sent by God and there's going to be a people prepared.
God has a people prepared. Don't beg people. Verse 19, Peter
thought on these things. The Spirit said unto him, the
Holy Spirit said, Behold, three men seek thee. Arise therefore,
go down with them, doubting nothing I have sent them. See that? I
have sent them. Spirit and the bride, Revelation
22, 17. The Spirit and the bride say, Come. Who's going to come?
Christ said, All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me. How's that? The Spirit will say,
Come. They'll come, buddy. They'll
come. And they'll hear. Oh, I love
this in Isaiah 65. Oh, I quote it all the time.
It says, I am found of them that sought me not. I am sought of
them that asked not for me. I am found of them that sought
me not. And you know it so, don't you?
I wanted to preach on old Phillip for a long time now. I may do
it soon. Phillip wasn't looking for the
Lord. One day the Lord came and found
him, didn't He? He found him. Well, after that,
Phillip said, We found him. He came and said, We found him. Well, who found whom, Phillip?
You weren't even looking. But here's the thing, whoever
God Almighty chose, whoever God Almighty predestined, he called
by the gospel. And who he calls, they'll come,
they'll seek, they'll call on him. Who calls? Whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved, Romans 10, 13.
Where did that come from? Joel 2, 32, which said, In Jerusalem
shall be salvation, Israel, and as many as the Lord our God shall
call, they'll call. Whoever called. It says, Christ
went up into a high hill and called unto him whomsoever he
would. And they came. So these men were
sent by the Spirit of God, weren't they? What did they do? Call
him. Called him. If you don't call, you won't
be saved. If you don't seek, you won't find. But the glory,
even in the call and even in the seeking, belongs to the Lord,
that no flesh should gloat. Well, I sought Him with all my
heart. Why? Because God gave me a heart
to seek Him, to God be the glory. The great thing is the salvation
of the Lord from beginning to end, from repentance that's a
gift to the final consummation of it. Salvation is one hundred
percent. by the Lord. It belongeth unto
the Lord. His blessings are upon His people. All right? Simon Peter came down to them. Now, he's asking the questions
here in Acts 10, verse 21. Peter went down. He said, Behold,
I am he whom ye seek. What is the cause wherefore ye
are come? Why are ye here? He's the one asking the question.
Why are you here? Why are you come? It would be
a good question for us to ask, wouldn't it? Every time. Why
are you coming? Why are you coming? A lot of
people going to church, aren't they? It's a habit, it's a duty. So many do it. Millions. Our Lord said, this people draw
near to be with their lips. Wow. Look at verse 22. They said
to him, Cornelius the centurion, a just
man, one that feareth God and of good report among all the
nations of the Jews, was warned from God by a holy angel to send
for thee into his house and to hear words of thee." He's been
warned of God that he needs to hear some words. Preaching begins with a warning. Yes, it does. It doesn't begin
with the love of God. No prophet ever, one time in
all the Bible, stood up in a public place and said, God loves you. Not once. Ever. No apostle ever,
in all the Bible, stood up in a public place and said, God
loves you. Because the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of it. There must be first repentance
toward God. Paul said to the Ephesian elders
in Acts chapter 20, he said, For the space of three years,
we've warned you. Preaching repentance toward God.
Repentance toward God. Why? God is angry with the wicked
every day. God will punish sin. God is holy.
God is first and foremost and chiefly holy, holy, holy. What about me? Sinful, sinful. How can God love a sinful thing? How can I be clean that's born
of war? How can God be just and justify
me? These are the questions. Repentance
toward God. Well, fear. Warned. Noah being warned of God, moved
with fear. That's it. Moved with fear and
prepared an ark to the saving of himself and a household. The
fear of the Lord. Being warned of God. You don't
hear any warnings from preachers today, do you? Huh? Now you're in it. True preacher
you will. True preacher you will. Young
people, and this is what Peter, the last thing Peter said at
Pentecost, save yourselves from this untoward generation. Oh,
my. My, my. Verse 23, so he called
them in. Peter called them in and lodged
them. Oh, my, how blessed these men were to go in. and dwell
with Simon Peter. What do you reckon?" It went
on while they were there. Oh, my. Like the widow of Sarepta
whom the Lord sent Elijah to. Oh, my, what a blessed woman.
He lived with her for a year. Oh, my. I know what to talk about. I
know what the conversation came about. How blessed these three
men were to sit. And I know they were probably
like when the Lord on Emmaus, the road to Emmaus came, and
they said, come in and eat with us. And their hearts burned as
He opened unto them the Scriptures, by the way. And they said, don't
leave. Don't leave. He lodged them. You know, Stan, I was thinking,
that's Simon the tenor's house. No, it's Peter's house. Right? Simon said, y'all come on in.
Well, that's Simon's house. Oh, what's mine is yours. They
had all things kind. What's yours is mine. What's
mine is yours. They really believed that. God
bless them. Verse 24, they went in unto Peter,
and verse 24, the next day, verse 23, I'm sorry, the brethren went
with Peter and accompanied him back to Joppa on a mission. Oh, what a blessing that was.
Verse 24, tomorrow after they entered into Caesarea, and Cornelius
waited for them, and he called together his kinsmen and his
near friend. Cornelius was waiting for them. Like I said, God doesn't go begging
for an audience. Cornelius was waiting for them.
Wait, Scripture says, on the Lord. Wait, I say. Listen to
Proverbs 8. Blessed is the man that heareth
me, watching daily at my gate, waiting at the post of my door."
Waiting. Luke chapter 2, Simeon, you remember
Simeon? It says he was waiting. Simeon was waiting to see the
Lord's salvation. Did he see it? Oh yeah. Remember
the man in John chapter 5 who was waiting on the moving of
the water? Who found him waiting? The Lord
came to him. Oh, my wait, I say. We don't
keep the Lord waiting. We don't keep the preacher waiting.
Rather, we found waiting. Helen Fralin was always found
waiting. I'd come here quite often, and
she'd be waiting. Be here long before I was, for
the Lord saved her and her whole house." He's truly His Word,
amen. He's truly His Word. Wait, they
that wait shall find me. He's waiting. And look at verse
25. Peter was coming in. Cornelius
met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. Cornelius considered Peter such
an answer to prayer, an absolute gift of God that he fell down
at this man's feet. How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach glad tidings. John did the same thing on Patmos,
didn't he? Don't condemn these men for this. You know, some people show too
much respect. We're not supposed to worship
men. The chumps, I'm telling you.
If we don't worship men, well, we better not despise them. Because
it really is a gift. And we won't hear from God otherwise.
We won't. And here's the thing about it,
though. You don't have to worry about puffing a man up or idolizing
a man. The Lord knows how to abase them
that are His. I heard a man one time greet
my father at the door after he had preached. And the Lord especially
blessed him to preach in a powerful way. And the man came up to him
and was thanking him and bragging, as it were, on the message. But
he said, I don't want to puff you up. And I remember my dad
turning to him in a stern way, in a very sound way, saying,
you don't have to worry about that. I'd rather err on the side of
esteeming a man too highly than lightly esteeming him, because
it's a gift. I know he's just a man. And here's
what he'll say. The first thing out of his mouth
is, get up, don't worship me. He'll tell you that. You'll know
that from his mouth. Every man God sent, verse 26,
get up, I'm myself also a man. And neither God nor he will allow
anyone to think too highly of them as they ought. Nevertheless,
what a gift. I'm finally learning after all
these years. I really am. What a gift. And I rise before the hoary head
of that man. Don't bow at his feet in worship,
but I rise in respect. I've been in someone's house
before, and they didn't even get out of their easy chair to
greet me. Oh well. Verse 27. As he talked with them,
he went in and found many that were come together. Many of them.
Down to verse 29. And he asked them, he said, What
intent have you sent for me? Why have you sent for me? Cornelius
told him the story again in verse 33. Cornelius said, I sent for
thee, and you've done well that you're come, and here's why we're
here. Look at it. Verse 33. Now, therefore,
are we all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded
thee of God." We're here before God, not before men, not to be
seen of men, not to go through the motions of religion, not
because it's Sunday or Sabbath. We're here before God. Why? We're here to hear. We want to
hear what God has to say. And it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Not the preaching of
foolishness, not fools called preachers, but the preaching
of the gospel, which Peter is going to preach now. And they
said they were all here before God. Our Lord said true worshipers
worship God. We're here before God. We come
to appear before God. The Lord speaks to us. When is
the Lord going to speak to us? Will the Lord speak to us if
we appear before Him and say, Speak, Lord, I serve and hear
Him? Yes, He will. He always has. We're here to hear. We're here
to hear. Why are you here, Peter said. Why are you come here? They said,
We're here to hear. We want to hear something from
God. Not what you have to say, not
what the old writers have to say, not a store-bought message. We want to hear from the Lord,
the Word. Our Lord said, if you seek, you'll
find. And the fact of that is true in everything. If you seek
hard enough, you can find it. Young people, if you go after
something hard enough, you can find it. That's right. The Lord generally gives people
what they want. It's not always good, is it?
It's not always the one thing to eat for. He gave them the
request in Psalm 106. Doesn't it say that? He gave
them the request. They lusted exceedingly, it says.
He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls. This is why it says, seek your
affection on things above. Those that seek me early, he
said in Proverbs 8, shall find me. One time the Lord said to
a bunch of men who came, He said, Whom seek ye? They said, Master,
where do you dwell? He said, Galilee City. And they
will dwell with Him. David said, One thing have I
desired of the Lord, that will I seek after. Lord, we're here
to hear those who come looking, those who come, many people come
to church, so called, for many reasons. They come looking for
entertainment. Well, you can find it. You can
go about anywhere and find some entertainment. Find a gospel
quartet, you know, a bluegrass gospel singing and all that.
They advertise them. Run down the road and you'll
see it. Stop there. The music's better at the Grand
Ole Opry. But that's what you want. Find it. You'll find it.
Programs, activities. People say this all the time.
What have you got for our children? If you want programs and activities
for your children, there's lots everywhere. The YMCA is the best
place for that. The church is the pillar and
the ground of the truth, the Scripture says. The church exists
for one thing. What? Right here. So what do you do for your young
people? Preaching the Word that's able to make them wise unto salvation. One thing is the power of God
unto salvation. He said, go into all the world
and do what? Socialize, evangelize, civilize. No, preach! And I'll tell you this too, if
you want to find fault, there's lots of that to find. But those
who look for the truth, looking for the truth, it's hard to find. But he said, you seek, you'll
find it. And you'll know it when you hear it. The Word of God
is hard to find. Hosea Amos said there will be
a famine of the Word. They'll run to and fro looking
everywhere to find it. It's going to be hard to find.
Somebody just standing up preaching the Word. Forty-eight verses. Looking for peace? Peace with
God? Peace with God who you believe
you have offended? There's only one way that's found,
and that's here in Christ, your peace. Rest? Looking for rest from religion?
Tired of laboring and heavy laden in religion? Christ said, come
unto me. Wherever Christ is preached, there's rest. There's rest for
the laboring, the heavy laden. Looking for the Word of God?
The church is where that's found, the true church. Hearing the
Word. Why are you here? We're all here to hear. What
God has to say. Okay. Okay. Here it is. Here it is, Peter said. And he
preached a message not unlike Pentecostal. Pentecostal preaching. He preached the message of Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. That's what he did, didn't he? As in every place that he went.
Christ said, if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men unto me out
of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue. Here's what he said.
Let's just read on, and I'll preach it. Peter said, in every
nation he that feareth God. God's no respecter of persons.
That is, there's none good. No, not one. There's none righteous.
No, not one. God looked down from heaven to
see if there were any that didn't understand. None but God. Salvation's of the Lord. No respecter
of persons. I'll tell you what. This is for
sinners, though. Gentile dog, in every nation
he that fears him and worketh righteousness is accepted with
God. God doesn't contradict himself.
Peter's not contradicting himself, his own self, is he? He says,
you know you're not redeemed with corruptible things such
as silver and gold. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done. By the deeds of the law, no flesh
will be justified. And on and on it goes. You know,
Peter's not saying if you're righteous by your works that
God will accept you. No. What's he talking about?
Well, some Jews came to the Lord in John chapter 6, and they said,
what must we do to work the works of God? And here's what the Lord
said. This is the work of God. If you do this, It won't be of
yourself. It'll be of the gift. If you
do this, you'll be accepted in God. You'll be accounted holy,
righteous, unblameable, unreprovable in God. If you do this, this
is the work of God. Can anybody quote it? That you
believe on him whom God hath sent. Righteous. Abraham believed God and it was
counted unto him for what? Righteousness. Cornelius feared God by the grace
of God, but he had not yet believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. He
will. He will. Here's the word Peter
said, the word which God sent to Israel, verse 36, preaching
peace by Jesus Christ. He's Lord of all. Peace by Jesus Christ. An offended
God, an angry God. but he sent his Son, peace on
earth, goodwill toward men, not man, men, oh my, chosen ones,
like shepherds, lowly, meek and lowly, the message of peace,
peace by the blood of Jesus Christ Christ. Complete, total, 100%,
full, free, final, eternal redemption, pardon of sins, handwriting of
ordinances, law blotted out, Completely justified from all
things from which you cannot be justified by the law of Moses,
by Jesus Christ. Right there is the gospel. Good
news. He, man of Israel, Peter said
at Pentecost, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God. By him we preach forgiveness
of sin, repentance, remission of sins, whoever believes, by
the grace of God. That's good news. That's good
news to a heathen, isn't it? You can't keep the law. That's
the Word, the Word of God. And it says, read on, that Word
you know, verse 37. Have they not all heard? Yes.
Yes. That little parenthesis, he's
Lord of all there, that previous verse. Oh, my. He's Lord of all. Lord, our righteousness. The
Lord, our banner. Our provider, the Lord, our all. He is Lord over all. And that
word, I know, he says, you know, is published everywhere. How
that God, verse 38, anointed Jesus of Nazareth. When Jesus
Christ came to his hometown of Nazareth as a 30-year-old man,
he stood up and chose to read. They gave him the book. He knew
what he was going to read before the world began. Isaiah 61. He chose that and he said, Spirit
of the Lord, have anointed me. The word Christ means anointed. And only one man can say that.
And if you ever hear a fellow stand up and say, the Lord has
anointed me, mark him off right there. Get up and leave. He's
anti-Christ. But Christ stood up that day
and said, I'm the anointed one. I'm he. I'm the one you're looking
for. I am the King of kings, the Lord
of lords. I am the Lord, your righteousness.
I am your great high priest. I am your intercessor. I am your
mediator. I am your substitute. I am your offering. I am your
tabernacle, your lamb. I am your light. I am your bread. I am your water. I am your salvation.
I am your all and in all. I am He. I am here. Christ said,
I am here. Who needs me? All that the Father
giveth. God anointed him. How do you
know it's him? Because he had the Holy Ghost
with power. How much power? Christ said, all power is given
unto me in heaven and earth. All souls are mine. That I should
give eternal life to as many as the hell is given now. Judgment
is mine. Life is mine. Keys of hell and
death are mine. Is this just Jesus? This is the
Lord Jesus. All power. He went about doing
good. I mean good. I mean declared
to be the Son of God by the Spirit of holiness. A holy life, healing
all that were oppressed of the devil, casting out devils because
he's a stronger than they. And God was with him. Yes, his
very name is Immanuel. And we're witnesses, Peter said.
Verse 40, God raised him up. You slew him. We all did esteem
him smitten and stricken of God. We all did despise him. But God,
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. They did what God determined
before to be done, but God raised Him up. He would not suffer His
Holy One to seek corruption. God raised Him up, proof that
He accepted Him, accepted the sacrifice, and showed Him openly,
declared Him openly, not to all, verse 41, not to all, but unto
chosen witnesses. Few people get to hear this message. Even fewer people believe it
when they hear it. But this is the message that
Peter prayed. This is what you're hearing. How many times have we heard
it? Oh my. Oh my. God forbid that we preach anything
else. May we be determined not to know
anything about what Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's what
heaven is declaring right now. Our desperate need. Even though
we know it not. Oh, man. Would that we were hot
or cold. Not to all people, but witnesses
chosen before of God that ate and drank with Him after He rose
from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people and
testify. It's Him. He's the One. It is He. He it
is. He it is. What's your message? It's going to be Him. Because
He it is. He it is. that God hath made
judge. And to him give all the prophets
witness. Begin in Genesis and preach any
passage you'll find it testifies of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
All the prophets give witness of Him that through His name,
faith in His name, whosoever believeth in Him, not worketh,
but believeth, shall, not might, not maybe, not if you, shall
receive remission of sins. I believe. I believe. What happened? It says, the Holy
Ghost fell on them. And I'm out of time, but what
happens when the Holy Ghost falls on people? Well, look at it real
briefly. It said, everyone which heard
the Word, verse 44, see that? Fell on them which heard the
Word. Faith cometh by hearing. hearing
by the Word of God. What Word? Not just the Bible,
but the Gospel. This is the Word, Peter said,
which by the Gospel is preached unto you. We're begotten by the
incorruptible Word, the truth, as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they that heard the Word, the Holy Ghost fell on them.
You hear and see a lot of stuff goes by the name of Holy Ghost
revival, and there wasn't a word of truth in the preaching. That's
not the Holy Ghost. That's another spirit, all right,
but it's not the Holy Ghost. Christ said the Holy Ghost, the
Holy Spirit, when He has come, He'll convince. In John 16, 8
through 11, He said He'll convince the world, that is, a people
out of every tribe, of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Isn't that what
He said? That's what He'll do every time. When the Holy Ghost
comes, he'll convince of sin, righteousness, the needy, and
judgment. That's all pertaining to Christ.
He'll take the things of mine, Christ said, and show them unto
you. He'll not speak of himself. The Holy Ghost won't speak of
himself. Holy Ghost this, Holy Ghost... He'll take the things
of mine and show them to you. He'll point you to me, like the
law is not to save us, the law is to point us to the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Holy Ghost doesn't just Well,
he points us to Christ. He's the witness of the Lord
Jesus Christ, like the Father is. He points to Christ. Well, what happened? It says
he was poured out on them, and they spake with tongues and magnified
God. Peter and those men heard them
speak with other languages. Tongue is a language, a discernible
language. What did they speak? Same as
in Acts chapter 2. They magnified God, they glorified
God. What were they talking about?
The great work of salvation that God hath done. They were talking
about what God hath done, not what man hath done, what God
hath done. Here's Holy Spirit filled preaching, here's a Holy
Spirit filled people, unto Him. that loved us and washed us from
our sins, unto Him that chose us, Him that called us, Him that
saved us, Him that redeemed us, Him that gave us repentance,
Him that gave us faith, Him, Him, Him. God who saved you. God has saved us. Salvation is
of the Lord. This is a language the modern
world doesn't know. You hear people talk about, I
did this, I did that, I accepted him, I went down the aisle, I
accepted you, I opened the door, I, I, I. He changes it into a
language like this. He hath, what he hath done, not
I, he. A scriptural language, justification,
sanctification, propitiation, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption, sacrifice, covenants. This language is heavenly language
that people just don't know. Now, no doubt, these people in
the infant state of the church at this time, They were needed
preachers to go out in all the world and preach the gospel.
And God gave them, just like He gave the apostles, the gift
of languages to preach and witness to others the gospel. Right there. No doubt, that's what that is.
But it's not some ridiculous jibba-jabba-jibba-jabba. No sir. That's another spirit. It's a
people magnifying God in a language that the world can't understand.
Talking about God. What did they do? Peter said,
got any water around here? You need to be baptized. Cornelius and your house, everyone,
our Lord said this. He commanded this. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. Baptism doesn't say. Water is
just water. It doesn't wash away one's sin.
The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. But when a person
hears this gospel, the true gospel, The true Christ, they confess
Him. They have to before a world.
Like Saul of Tarsus. You mean he wasn't saved? Man,
he was witnessing, he was going around, he wasn't saved? No,
not until he heard the true Christ. Not until he heard of the Lord
Jesus Christ, God whom he didn't know. And once he did, he was
baptized. He confessed Christ. before everybody. I was lost. Self-righteous and lost. And
now I've heard of the true Christ. And I want to confess Him for
all the world. And He said, all that past religion of mine is
done. And I want it done, buried and
gone from here. And I now want to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Baptism is. Every
one of them. Cornelius and everybody in that
house. Confessed Jesus Christ in baptism. Now go and do likewise. Do likewise. Why are you here? Why are you here? If you're one
of the chosen, you're here to hear. And if you are, you'll
hear. Did you? I hope so. Brother John, you come. Some thank the Lord for bread
and gold, for mercy sure and clean. I would praise him for his grace,
in prayer I would repeat. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
life. Thank you, Lord, for giving me
hope. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me my great salvation, so rich in freedom.