I told this woman who's trying
to figure out individual events and circumstances in our life. I said, that's kind of like laying
out one piece of a large puzzle. Take a one million piece puzzle
that you don't know what the picture is, what the puzzle represents. You take one piece out of that
puzzle and put it in the middle of the table and try to figure
out what it is. So that's foolish. You'll only see how it fits with
the rest after it's all come together, right? And then you'll
see clearly. And you'll say, ah, I see now. I see now. And this is what's
so beautiful about God's Word. We were discussing God's Word
in the study a while ago. that strikes me and amazes me
so much about God's Word is, we see the whole picture. We've
got the whole picture before us, and we also see each individual
piece that fits so perfectly in that puzzle. And that's what's amazing about
it to me. And all of God's Word is intricately woven together
to reveal a picture of Christ and of his salvation. And all
the events in our lives, every single event down to the smallest,
most minute detail has been ordered by God Almighty. Do you believe
that? You'll get a great deal of comfort
if you do. Every event, every single event
in our lives to the smallest detail is ordered by God Almighty
and eternally fixed, cannot be changed. to bring us to Christ
and to make us like Christ. And the end of all that is, will
be to our eternal amazement and God's eternal glory. We'll look
back on it all and say this is just, this is the Lord's doings
and this is absolutely the most marvelous thing in my eyes. How
he brought this and that and this and that and the other things
I just didn't, and God uses me. God uses means, more specifically
he uses men. And this is to the greater glory
of God's wisdom and power also, that he uses means. Rather than
use phenomena and so forth, he uses means in a roundabout way
and you say, only God could have done that the way he did it.
The scripture says here, how shall they hear without a preacher?
Verse 14 of Romans 10 says, How shall they hear without a preacher? There was a woman, and you can
be turning to our text in Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10 is
our text tonight. There was a woman our Lord confronted,
a woman who had been married five times. She went to a well
daily at noon. Daily at noon she would go to
the well. And one day she was milling about her house and thinking
to herself, I don't want to go out there today. It's hot. I'm
tired. I don't want to go out in that
hot sun. I have other things to do and
I know the ladies and all will be watching me and talking about
me. I don't want to go to that well
again. I'm in such a rut with my life. But she needed water, plain old ordinary water. So
she went. And God sent a preacher. And
my, what a preacher he sent. He was a preacher. Then there
was a fellow named Philip. Philip was a deacon and a preacher. Philip one day found himself
walking around in the desert wondering, why am I in this desert? What am I doing out here in this
desert? I know God sent me here for a purpose, but I just can't
understand it. In the distance he saw a chariot
riding along, and in that chariot was an Ethiopian man thinking,
why am I in this chariot? Why did I go to Jerusalem? I
didn't get anything there. Why did I put myself through
this long journey? And what is this that I'm reading?
and up walks Philip. God sent a preacher. Then there
was a businesswoman in the Scriptures, a woman who was a seller of purple
or fine linen from a place called Thyatira. Her name was Lydia,
and she lived in a place called Thyatira that was in a province
named Bithynia, kind of like a county or a region named Bithynia. This woman from Bithynia decided
to go to Philippi on a journey, on a business journey one day.
Well, at the same time, a preacher named Paul wanted to go to Bithynia,
but he couldn't, so he went to Philippi instead. And Lydia went to a place to
worship one morning down by the riverside and up walks a preacher. You know why he didn't go to
Bithynia, because who he was to preach to wasn't in Bithynia,
she was in Philippi. Doesn't this bring about the
greater glory of God, his wisdom, his power? And here in Acts chapters
9 and 10, look at verse 43 of chapter 9, it says, It came to
pass that Peter tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon,
a tanner." Peter was in this place, as you know. He'd raised
the lady from the dead and other things. The Lord was using him
here. And he was in Joppa for a while. He needed a place to
stay for a while. And a fellow that was listening
him preach, evidently, one day, named Simon, who was a tanner
or a leather worker by trade, Simon said, I'd just be delighted
if you'd stay with me. Would you stay with me a while?"
Peter said, well, that's good kind of you, sure I will. And
unbeknownst to them, God Almighty had determined that a long time
before because he needed an address to send somebody to, to meet
this preacher named Peter. This was brought home to me,
a man named Ken Wymer. whom most of you know, a God
called preacher of the gospel, a missionary. He's in Africa
now. God sent him to Ashland, Kentucky
to live for about eight or ten months before he was called to
the mission field. And the Lord, through me, opened
up a place for this man to live. We were looking for a a good
home for the Weimars to live in, reasonably priced, a good
location and all. And the house right next door
to my house was empty. It had been empty for a long
time. They hadn't rented it. The fellow who owned it wasn't
interested in renting it. He said he wouldn't rent it before.
And when this thing with Ken came up, I went over and asked
him, would you rent the house? He said, sure. I mean, just like that. Like the Lord telling that disciple,
go down there, there's a donkey tied up. Tell that man that owns
it, I need it. I need your donkey. Sure. To
a total stranger. Well, the fellow rented the house
to Brother Ken. Ken stayed several months with
me while he tried to determine what the Lord would have him
do or when he would have him go to Africa. In the course of
several months that Ken stayed with me, or stayed there at that
house, needless to say, I was greatly blessed with this man
so close to me. We had many good times. He was
instrumental in blessing me. But many people came to visit
Brother Weimer while he stayed in that house. Many former, some
of these people that he had met in Michigan, you remember his
story a little bit. The Lord revealed the gospel
to him, and he began to preach it in Michigan where the home
churches that he was supported by formerly. Well, they kicked
him out, you know. They kicked him out of that church,
and this is when he ran into God's people in Ashland and other
places that took him in. Well, in the spaces of these
this time many of these some of these people came down from
Michigan. To visit him there you know the
Lord say some of those people. Through visiting visiting with
him and going coming to hear the gospel and through that through
that time the Lord used that time with the key in there to
reveal the gospel to some people. Verse one of chapter ten says
there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a certain man.
And Brother John pointed this out to me again, a certain man,
a certain man, just like Aeneas, a certain man, just like Lydia,
a certain like other people. It elects foreordained, foreloved,
foreknown vessel of God's mercy, a certain man chosen by God for
the foundation of the world. called Cornelius, a centurion
or a captain of a hundred men of the Italian band of the Roman
guard. It says, verse 2, he was a devout
man and one that feared God with all his house and gave much alms
to the people and prayed to God always. Now we looked at this
a little bit, but let me just go back and briefly say something
about this again. Turn back to Psalm 31 with me. It says of Cornelius that he
feared God and he prayed to God always. Well, look at Psalm 31,
19. And I began to look up scriptures
that spoke of fearing God and the promises that come to those
who fear God, who call upon Him. Look at verse 19. Oh, how great
is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee."
Cornelius had some, was about to see the goodness of God, wasn't
he? He was laid up, ready and waiting for this man. He feared
God. Look at chapter 33, Psalm 33,
verse 9, 18. Psalm 33, 18. Behold, the eye
of the Lord is upon them that fear him. God had his eye on
this certain man, didn't he? He feared God. Look at chapter
thirty-four, verse seven. Look at this now. Remember this
verse. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him and delivereth him. Is that a
prophecy of what's about to happen to Cornelius, Brother Henry,
or what? Look at chapter eighty-five, Psalm eighty-five. Look over
here. Marvelous prophecies of our Lord
concerning the fear. Psalm eighty-five, verse 9. Surely,
surely his salvation is near them that fear him. It was near
for Cornelius. It's just right around the corner.
Look at this one too. Psalm 145 verse 19. Psalm 145 and verse 19. This is the capstone. This scripture. I had to rejoice when I saw it.
He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him. He also will
hear their cry and will save them." So Cornelius was a God-fearing,
sincere man. He was not playing games. Our Lord said this about Nathanael,
didn't He? Behold, an Israelite in whom is no guile. And he was
going to see the salvation of God. He was going to meet the
Son of God. He wasn't playing religious games. He was truly
seeking to worship God. And I can say that with full
promises of what we just read. Any man, any woman, any child
who is truly seeking to know God and salvation will find it. True seekers. You seek me, you
shall find me. When you search for me with your
whole heart, he said, with your whole heart. He wasn't playing
games. And I ain't either. I'm going
to seek the Lord." Why was he seeking the Lord? Why did he
fear God? Well, because God chose him. We saw that, didn't we?
God moved in his heart. It was God. God gets all the
glory for the fear that's in Cornelius, doesn't He? God gets
all the glory for this man's state of his heart because God
made him willing in the day of his power, made him seek Him.
Verse 3 of our text. Now it says that Cornelius prayed
to God always, and verse 3, he saw in a vision, evidently about
the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him. He saw a vision of an angel of
God coming in to him. Do you believe in angels? Don't be afraid. I've asked you
so many difficult questions lately, everybody's afraid to... I'm not, you know. Well, right there's one, OK?
You can believe in this one. The Scripture says, his ministering
spirits, they are his ministering spirit. You know that they are
still with us today, angels. It says his minute there are
his ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation. We read that in Psalm thirty-four
verse seven the angel of the Lord and campeth round about
them that fear him. Listen to this one Psalm ninety-one
it says he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee
in all thy way. Our Lord said one time concerning
little children, he said, their angels do always behold my heavenly
Father's face. Paul said in Hebrews 13, be not
forgetful to entertain strangers, because some have entertained
angels unawares. I'm not trying to be dramatic,
I'm just reading And Christ said, you know, Christ appeared to
Paul, didn't he? Later, appeared to him a couple
of times, too. Remember when he was at Corinth?
Paul wanted to leave Corinth, and the Lord appeared to him
again and said, Stay right here, Paul. I have much to speak on
in this city. Christ said, Whatever you do
unto the least of these my brethren, you've done it to me. I'm constantly urging everybody
to be given hospitality, aren't I? And I constantly urge us all
to do that, to entertain people. And most of them are strangers
to us if we don't get to know them. I'm constantly urging us
to open up our homes, God's home, to others. If anything, Hebrews
13 too ought to tell us that. Be not forgetful. Entertain strangers. Let me give this illustration.
I thought about this illustration. This probably, well, our Lord
gave a parable very similar. But this sums it up, I believe,
what I'm trying to get across to all of us, this thing of being
hospitable, giving the hospitality, entertain God's people, use our
home, God's homes for His glory and for other people. What if
I owned a home? And it was my house. And I loaned it to someone to
live in. I loaned it to someone to live
in, and I had fully furnished that home. Furnished it with
furniture, with food and drink. Fully furnished that home and
just freely gave it to someone to live in. Loaned it to them,
that is. And one day, I am going out of
town on business. And I send my daughter, I'm not
taking my daughter with me, I send my daughter over to my house. And to tell the people that live
there now. Daddy says. That he wants you
to keep me for a few days and feed me and take care of me while
he's gone on business. Would you do that? And my daughter comes back to
me and says that they can't keep me. They said they were busy. They said they didn't have room. They said the house is a mess.
They said there's not much to eat. But Daddy, I really don't
think, really what I think it is that they don't want me. What would be my reaction? Huh? Ever thought about it in those
terms? What would be my reaction? Violet is my house, and I'm letting
them live in it. And one of my children needs
a place to stay for a while. She's not going to take the house.
She's going to stay in it. And she comes back and says,
I really don't think they want me, Daddy. I'd be wroth, wouldn't
I? Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers. in God's houses. For some have
entertained angels unaware. What if Abraham had said to those
angels, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we don't have room. I'm sorry,
our tent's a mess. Bill Clark, Ken Wymer, Tom Hardy,
Bob Coffey, Henry Mahan. You say they're no angels. They're
better than angels. They're sons of the Most High
God. They're more important than angels. I cannot stress this any more
powerfully. than what I'm trying to do right
now. What if Cornelius, he wouldn't have experienced salvation, would
he, if he hadn't entertained this angel? Well, all right. Verses 4 and 5. Now it says,
When he looked on him, when Cornelius looked on this angel, he was
afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said, The angel
said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for memorial
before God." You know, Cornelius might have been praying, God
send an angel, send a messenger. And here's what the angel said
to him. Your prayers and your alms are
come up for memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa and call
for one Simon whose surname is Peter. Thy prayers are answered,
he said. Send the joppa for Peter." You
know, God answers prayer. God answers prayer. I heard a
humorous story the other day. A fellow said that he heard a
fellow cussing at work. The fellow said, Well, I'll be
damned. And a believer was standing nearby and said, You better watch
out. God answers prayer. God is into prayer answering
business. you might get what you prayed for. But this man
got what he prayed for, didn't he? And we've already seen why
his prayers were heard, because God had chosen this certain man
unto salvation. He'd chosen him to hear the gospel.
And the angel told him, the angel said, Send the Joppa and call
for Simon, whose surname is Peter. Now, why didn't the angel just
preach the gospel to him? Huh? Why didn't the angel just
preach, just supernaturally reveal, or vision, or give him some miraculous
experience, huh? Why did the angel say, go to
sin for Peter? Because angels can't preach the
gospel. Can they? Angels can't preach
the gospel. Find it in Scripture. You'll
not find them preaching the gospel in the world. They announced
the birth of our Lord, but they didn't preach the gospel. Only
men did. Only men can do that. Angels
haven't experienced the gospel. They haven't experienced the
gospel, have they? They can't preach it. They don't
feel the saving power of the gospel. They can't tell you what
it means to be a sinner. Angels can. They've never experienced
the mercy of God. Angels have never experienced
mercy. They've seen strict justice, but none of them experienced
mercy. They don't know what grace is. They have never experienced
forgiveness for sin. They have never seen the need
for a righteousness. Huh? The righteousness of Christ,
their need for Christ. They admire Christ, but they
don't see any need for his righteousness. And in the sense that they need
it, they're holy, right? They can only stand back and
admire. Peter said these things are the things that angels desire
to look into, but can't rightly fathom. They can sing hosannas
to God, can't they? But they can't sing worthy is
the Lamb. They've never needed a lamb. You ever thought about
that? The blood's not for the angels,
it's for sinners. They don't sing worthy is the
Lamb. They sing hosanna to God, holy, holy, holy, but they don't
sing worthy is the Lamb. The saints do. You know, Cornelius, if he had
been given an experience or a supernatural revelation, he would have been
looking to that from then on, wouldn't he? If Cornelius had
been given an experience, he would have trusted that experience
from that day forward and not Christ. He would have been telling
everybody from that day forward about that angel that visited
him. And besides, the treasure of
the gospel is given us in earthen vessels of man, that is, clay,
creatures of clay, so we won't worship the vessel. Right? It's given us in earthen vessels
so we won't worship the vessel but the treasure, the treasure. And so that we'll see the power
of God, won't we? When we see at times when we
witness and experience the power of God through the preaching
of the gospel and we're as sure, as certain as if God were standing
there himself, if Christ were standing there himself, it is
he that is speaking. We have to say, this is God. This is of God. That man, that
couldn't come out of his mouth. I know him. He's a man. He's just a common man like I
am, and surely this thing is of God, a frail common man. And God doesn't save by experience. God doesn't save by dreams or
visions or special visitation. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation, right? God doesn't speak with an audible
voice, but he speaks only through his word, the preaching of his
word. Do you remember the rich man
in hell? Our Lord gave this story. Do you remember the rich man
in hell who says, lifted up his eyes to heaven and asked Father
Abraham? He said, Father Abraham, dip
thy finger in water and touch my tongue. I'm tormented in these
flames. And Abraham said, no, there's
a great gulf fixed between us. And, well, then the rich man
in hell looked up and said, well, Father Abraham, go down and preach to my brothers
who are on earth. Go down and preach. Send somebody
to preach to them. Do you remember what Abraham
said to the rich man? He said, they have Moses and
the prophets. Let them hear them. Remember
that? He said, Nay, Father Abraham,
but if one came back from the dead, they'd believe him. Abraham
said, No, they won't even believe, even though one came back from
the dead. That won't do anything. People saw all the miracles,
didn't they, Henry, that our Lord did? It wasn't done in a
corner. They witnessed all these marvelous
miracles, feeding of 4,000, 5,000, walking on water, this and that
and the other. That didn't make them believe,
did it? God saves through the preaching of his word. And Abraham
said, if they won't hear Moses and the prophets, neither will
they believe if one rose from the dead. The word of God. Well, the angel said to Cornelius,
send to Joppa and call for one named Simon. Call for Simon,
whose surname is Peter. Send to Joppa, here's an address,
518 Seaside Drive, Joppa, Israel. I've had him waiting all this
time. That's what this is all about.
That's what it's all about. He'll be waiting for you right
where I put him. Old Simon, Simon and Simon, hurray, waiting right
there. Verse 6, and he lodges with one
Simon, he'll tell thee what thou oughtest to do. He'll tell you,
I can't. He will. Well, what's that? Look over at chapter 11. Peter,
later on, is recounting Cornelius' story to the disciples. Remember, Peter reports back
to the disciples and said, hey, God's no respecter of persons.
He's saving Gentiles. Listen what happened and he says
here in chapter eleven verses thirteen and fourteen and he
said I had this dream about you know the sheets coming down and
the unclean animals and so forth verse thirteen and this man named
Cornelius showed us how he had seen an angel in his house which
stood and said unto him send men to Joppa and call for Simon,
whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee words whereby thou
and all thy house shall be saved." Peter gets a little more specific,
doesn't he, Barbara? Words whereby they shall be saved. Saved. Tell thee words. What
words? Words of life. The gospel. Huh? We're going to see that in another
message. Peter's I was looking at his
message today. What a glorious message it was.
But in summary, he tells of how Christ came, God in the flesh,
and lived a holy life as a man, and established a righteousness,
and imputed it to the account of his people, and shed his blood
for the punishment due to their sins, and then died. and was
buried and rose again to intercede for these people and sent his
angel and his Holy Spirit and his preacher to reveal Christ
to them words whereby thou and all who hear it shall be saved. And we saw last week how that
Cornelius wasn't a saved man, was he? He wasn't a saved man. I asked you that hypothetical
question, that if he had died right now, before he went to
Peter, would he have been saved? No. No, we see that, don't we? He had to hear words whereby
he must be saved. Huh? Right. He didn't know Christ. He didn't know the gospel. He
had to hear that. Words whereby thou shalt be saved. And though
he was a devout man, a God-fearing man, a prayerful man, he had
to hear the gospel of his salvation.