We'll talk about grace before
grace. Grace before grace. I remember years and years ago,
I don't know how many, probably in the very early eighties, I
heard E.W. Johnson mention one time, prevenient
grace. And I asked him what he meant.
It means grace that goes before grace. What it means is that grace goes
ahead before to open and to prepare the heart and mind for the grace
of God. God's doing the work, starting
the work. And what it is, is preparing the soul for the good
seed. And it goes before, grace goes
before to make someone want grace and need grace. And grace goes
before grace. God goes ahead. And that's why,
you know, if someone makes a profession, grace had already done its work.
And grace may be out there dealing with somebody now that may eventually
come in and hear the gospel. God's ways are past our ways.
And that's what happens to Cornelius here in Chapter 10. That's what
happens to Cornelius. You know, Cornelius, it says
here, there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius,
the centurion of the band, called the Italian band. Caesarea, of
course, the Caesars were the Roman emperors, the title of
them. And this was where the Roman
governor lived. And Cornelius and this Italian band that he
was commander over were the governor's bodyguards. And here's Simon Peter. We have
two people in this scripture. We have Simon Peter and we have
Cornelius. And Cornelius is a great commander. Over a lot of, over a hundred
men. Governor's bodyguard, important position. Simon Peter, God told
him, He said, I give unto thee the keys to the kingdom. He had
used the keys on the day of Pentecost to open the gospel to the Jewish
nation. and over 5,000 Jews were converted. And now here's Simon Peter's
using the keys of the kingdom to open the gospel and open the
door to Gentile people. Gentiles were not considered,
they were considered dogs. They were considered unclean,
and we'll see that in a minute. And he's given the keys and he
opens the door to the Gentiles, but God had to go ahead and he
had to prepare Peter, and he also had to prepare Cornelius,
he had to prepare Peter to go preach to Cornelius, and had
to prepare Cornelius to hear the gospel when Cornelius came
there. Look down here in verse 28 and see what I'm talking about. And as he's standing in Cornelius'
house now, he said unto them, you know how that is an unlawful
thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come unto
one of another nation. But God has showed me that I
should not call any man common or untrue. One thing Jewish people
didn't do, they didn't have anything to do with Gentiles. And it was
unlawful for them to do it. So what we have here in this
chapter, we'll go down through it and see, is God preparing
a Gentile and a Jew. because he breaks down that wall
of partition, and where there's neither Jew nor Greek, bond or
free, male or female, but all one in Christ Jesus, to bring
them together. And they must be brought together
where all God's people meet, in the Lord Jesus Christ. If
the Jew stays strictly to his Jewish law, he won't have anything
to do with the Gentile, and if God don't do anything for the
Gentile, he'll never know anything about Christ. And so that's what
happens here. And both these men, God gives
both of them visions. Gives both of them visions. He
gives Cornelius a vision, and he gives Peter a vision. Cornelius has to be prepared
to hear the message of Christ, and Peter must be prepared to
go and preach the gospel message to him. And that's why Paul,
he wrote the salvation of the Gentiles was a mystery. that
had been hid and revealed. Now, before I get into this,
look over in Ephesians 3 and let me tell you what I'm talking
about. Paul wrote that this salvation to Gentiles, and that's you and
me. That's you and me. That's you and me. Look here
in Ephesians 3. Paul wrote that this salvation
to the Gentiles was a mystery. Hid before, but it was revealed.
He says here down in Verse 1, For this cause I call the prisoner
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if you have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God which is given me to you. God gave him
a ministry stricter to the Gentiles. How that by revelation he made
known unto me the mystery. Now look down at verse 5. We'll
forget the parentheses. How that by revelation he made
known unto me the mystery. which in other ages was not made
known unto the sons of men, and is now revealed unto His holy
apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit." Now, listen to
it, that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same
body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. So I'll
tell you, we're, we're, we're, it's a, it's a revelation. It
was in, and people didn't believe it would happen, but in the Old
Testament, Rahab was a Gentile. God saved her. Ruth was a Moabitess. God saved her. Moses' wife was
an Ethiopian. God saved her. The centurion
in Luke 7, oh, what God did for him. But now let's look at Cornelius'
preparation here. Let's go down through here. First
of all, let's look at his character in verse 1. He says here, he
is a devout man, one that feared God with all of his house, gave
much alms to those people, and prayed to God, to the people,
and prayed to God always. He is a devout man. That means
he is a dedicated man, devout. And he said he feared God. He
feared God. Now, he wasn't a Jewish proselyte.
He wasn't a man who began to go after the Jews and had the
Jewish religion. He was still a Gentile. But he
believed in one God. And the Jews called them God-fearers.
That's what they did. They had a particular place that
they said. They had a particular area that they were allowed to
sit in. And they were not called believers. They were not called they were called, they believed
in one God, and they were called by the Jews, God-fear. The Romans
had over seventeen or eighteen gods, seventeen or eighteen hundred
gods. The Jews, the Romans had gods for everything. And just
like the Greeks did. But they believed in one God,
and that made them a God-fear. And then it said here, He gave
arms to the people. Not at all. It means that he
gave up the good that he had and the things that he did, and
he done things for people who were poor, people who had great
need, people who couldn't do for themselves. He was a wealthy
man, and so he used his wealth, he used his position and his
power to do good for other people. And look what it said here, and
look what else it said about him. And pray to God always. Pray to God always. And that
means, beloved, that what he meant is that he had, as you
know, the Jews had particular times to go to pray. And this
man here, he had his times, and he does just like the Jews. He
went and prayed at nine in the morning, three in the afternoon,
and whatever time in the evening. He prayed to God all the way.
He had a set time that he stopped whatever he was doing, and he
prayed to God. He prayed to God. And oh, he
had great influence, it's worth what it said here, and feared
God. It said there, a devout man,
one that feared God with all of his house. He had influence
in his home. He had great, all of his house
feared God. I wish I could say that about
mine. Wouldn't you love to say that about yours? That's your
whole house? That means all your kinfolks. That means all the
people who work for you. This man had servants, and his
servants feared God. Oh, I wish I could say that about
God. And oh, he was a very, very religious man. Oh, he was religious. And then look what he goes on
to say now. He's had a vision. He said in verse 3, he saw a
vision, evidently about the ninth hour of the day, three o'clock
in the afternoon, an angel of God coming into him and saying
unto him, Cornelius, God knows his people, knows their name,
knows where they're at. And when he looked on him, he
was afraid. And said, What is it, Lord? And
he said unto them, Thy prayers and thy alms are come up for
a memorial before God. And now send a jock and call
for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. He lodges with one
Simon at Tanner, whose house is by the seaside. He shall tell
thee all that thou hast to do." This tells us that God knows
where everybody's at at any given time. But anyway, let me tell
you what he said, and then we'll see the first thing he said when
he looked on him, when he had this vision. He said in verse
four, he was afraid. He was afraid. Now everybody
that sees and talks about seeing an angel now, they say, oh, I
had a vision of an angel. They'd be on talk shows, they'd
be celebrities, they'd be writing books, they'd be telling what
the angel looked like, they'd be telling how bright the light
is. There's a little old boy, he's four years old, he died
and he's supposed to went to heaven. And he went up there
and he come back and he's lived again. Now they're going to make
a movie over this boy, this four years old, went to heaven and
go tell what he saw. What is that? And that's what I'm telling you.
Whenever somebody gets a vision of some angel, any kind of vision,
they start shouting and jumping up and down and hollering and
said, Oh, I have this vision of this and a vision of that
and all that. But this right here, he was afraid. Oh, they'll have God come and
speak to you by an angel? Speak to you by his word? Any
way God speaks to us, you don't want to make us afraid. Oh, he didn't jump up and send
us to run and tell us, well, boy, I just had a vision. Let
me tell you about it. No, no. Oh, this is a special
vision from God, and it caused him to have fear and reverence.
And then what he said, what is it, Lord? What is it? What is it? Oh, my. If God won't listen. That's the
thing about this generation. This generation has no reverence
for God, no fear for God. They say anything. The preachers,
because the preachers have no reverence. the congregation had
no reverence. And, oh, my, and he received
a message. And this is what the message
was. He says, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a
memorial before God. God remembers them and took notice
of them. And I'm going to show you two
reasons why that is. You know, this is a man that
God God's got his hand on, God's gone before him, God's prepared
his heart to receive the gospel. This man's not converted yet.
This man ain't heard the gospel. But listen to what let me show
you over in Isaiah 38. Look in Isaiah 38. And you go through the New Testament
books. And it always says, you know,
remember your work of faith and your labor of love and your ministry
to the saints and all those, you know, they would always mention
the character and the fruit of the Lord's people, whatever they
was and what they was doing. And look what happens here now
in Isaiah 38. In those days, Hezekiah was sick
unto death. Hezekiah was one of the best
kings in all of Israel. And Isaiah the prophet, the son
of Amos, came unto him and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord,
set your house in order, for you are going to die, and you
are not going to live. Oh, my. Somebody come told me
that, and I, well, I've been told that. God told me that.
He told me that from the time he saved me. Set your house in
order, you are going to die. And look what he goes on to say.
Then hath the cow turned his face toward the wall, And he
prayed unto the Lord. He began to cry out to God. And
he says, Remember now, O Lord, I beg you, I have walked before
thee in truth and with a perfect heart. That's a sincere heart,
an honest heart. I've been open and naked before
you, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah
wept sore with great, great weeping. Then came the word of the Lord
to Isaiah, saying, Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord,
the God of David thy father, I have seen thy prayer, I have
seen thy tears, and I am going to add unto thy days fifteen
years." I'm going to give you fifteen more years. Now let me
show you another place. You keep Isaiah Acts chapter
9 and look over in Hebrews chapter 6. Here's another place. And then I'm going to give you
why this is here. This is God's way of doing things. In Hebrews chapter 6 and verse
10. For God is not unrighteous. to
forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward his
name, and that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one
of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope
to the end." What's that? Work of love and labor of love
and show towards the saints and minister to the saints. that
ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and
patience inherit the promises." Now, how in the world can he
remember and bless them for their prayers, for their alms, for
their weeping? I'll tell you why, because Philippians
2.13 says, it is, "...God which worketh in you both to will and
to do of his good pleasure." That's why This is the thing
about it. Brad and I was talking about
this the other day, that God will give us things, and cause
us to do things, and then bless us for the things that He does
through us. He works in us to do something, and then blesses
us as if we had done it ourselves. And then not only that, but we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should do things. And
Paul, he said that in Hebrews again, in Hebrews 13, 21, he
says, God which worketh in you, that which is well-pleasing in
his own sight. So anything that happens is God
just doing it. God put it in Isaiah's heart
to pray like that. God put whatever happened to
this man's heart here. And then he was told what to
do. You go call Simon Peter and told him where he was. Now look
what happens over here, down here now. And chapter 10, it
looks down here in verse 9. Now, see, Cornelius, his character,
and Dr. Paris Cornelius, by giving him
a vision. Well, he has to give Simon Peter a vision. Look what
happens now. Well, he declared all these things,
and he sent some of his soldiers and his devout service and told
them to go on down there and get Simon Peter. And on the bars,
they went on their journey through the United City, and look what
happened. Now, Peter went up on the housetop
to pray about the sixth hour. It's noon. He went up on the
house, black roof up there. And as he got up there, he got
very hungry and would have eaten. You know, that happens even to
apostles. You go to praying and start getting hungry. He went
up there to pray and started getting hungry. He said, boy, I tell
you, if they got anything to eat downstairs, you know, you're
going to go back down and eat. He said he got hungry. So next
time you're praying and your mind goes to one. Remember, this
happens to apostles too. And he said, oh, listen, he would
have eaten, but while they made ready, he fell into a trance. Oh, my. And what happened in
this trance? He saw heaven opened and a certain
vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheep knit
at the four corners and let down to the earth. And inside that
sheep were all men who were four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild
beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And a voice
said, Simon, said, Peter, rise up, kill, and eat. But oh, listen
to what Peter said. Oh no, I ain't going to do that,
Lord. This is a fella, I'm telling you, every time we find St. Peter,
he's just popping off. No, I ain't going to do that.
I don't care what's in that sheet. I don't care what kind of mission
I sit. I'm not going to get up here and clean nothing, eat nothing,
because Peter said, Lord, I've never eaten anything that is
common nor unclean. And oh, listen to what happens.
And the voice spake again unto him the second time, What God
hath cleansed, that call not thou cometh." This was done three
times. Three times. Three times. And I tell you, he said, Peter
told the Lord about his law-keeping and how dedicated he was and
how clean-living he was and all that. and every kind of animal
and bird, and he says, what God has planned. He said this three
times. Everything happened to Simon Peter in three. Do you
know that? Had to happen three times. He denied the Lord three
times. The Lord asked him if he loved
him three times. He had the same vision three
times. He was one hard-headed man, wasn't
he? He was a fellow that was a bit
hard to deal with. How would you like to have him
as your pastor? Have to tell him everything three times? Well,
he'll tell you everything three times. That, oh, listen, that's
what happened. He denied the Lord three times.
The Lord asked him if he loved him three times. Had the same
vision and had the same words spoken to him three times. And
then Peter was wondering in his mind what all this meant. And
he said in verse 17, While Peter doubted himself what this vision
should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Canaan."
Oh, you see how old God's prophet is? God worked over here, and
He's working over here on Simon and Peter. And about the time
he got through with that vision, and these fellows arrived there,
He said, this guy stood at Simon's house at the gate, and called
and asked where Simon's first mate, Peter, was lodged there.
And while Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto
him..." Now, he's on the housetop. Oh, God works in mysterious ways. He has wonders to perform. And
this Holy Ghost said to him, Behold, three men are down there
looking for you. He said, You get up and you go
down there and go with them, and don't you doubt nothing,
because I sent you. Then Peter went down, and he
went down, and look what happens. He says there in verse 4 to 21, He said, I behold, I am him whom
you seek. What's the cause wherefore you come? Why have you come? And they said,
Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one that fears God, a good
report among all the nations. Oh my, he received his call to
go there. He said, oh, they told him, he
said, he's a just man, good report among the nations. And oh, he
said, and the holy angel came to hear him. called us to come
and get you. Warned from God. Ain't that what
he said here? He said he's warned from God. Look what he said then
in verse four. Warned from God by a holy angel
to send for thee. Warned. What would have happened
if he hadn't have done that? He would have died like he lived.
Died without God, trusting in his odds and his good works.
And oh, our beloved, listen. With all of his devoutness, with
all of his prayers, and all of his almsgiving, he still had
to hear the gospel. He still had to hear about Christ. And Peter went with him after
lodging with him. And all beloved, he went away
and he got down there. And look what happens in verse
24. And when he got there, there
was a prepared people. God had prepared Cornelius. He
prepared Simon Peter. And when he got there, he had
a prepared people. We're talking about grace going before grace
now. Grace went before Cornelius, Grace went before Peter, and
Grace went before he got down there. It said in verse 24, after
the bar, after they entered into Caesarea, and Cornelius waited
for them, and had called together his kinsmen and his near friends,
he was sitting there waiting for him. He was waiting for him. And he called in all of his kinsmen.
He got him a crowd of people to come in there to hear this
man, hear what he's going to say. Called his kinsmen, called
his friends, his near friends. Oh, this is a people ready to
hear him. You remember years and years ago that people go
into homes and preach. When I first come down here,
I have I don't know how many meetings in people's homes. They
call them college prayer meetings. And they'd get their neighbors
together, you know, and they'd ask you if you'd come over and
preach in their house. And people get all their neighbors together,
and you'd go in there and you'd preach. Last time I preached
in a house was out in Oregon. They got a little table and set
it up for me. There sat a man, his wife, and
his son, another man, another woman, and Mary. And boy, did we have a meeting
that night. It don't take a whole lot of people. for the gospel.
But here he went out and gathered all of his kinsmen, got all of
his friends, and we think we can't hear the gospel or read
the gospel unless we gather in times like this. And oh my, here's
waiting for him. Then look what happens. And as
Peter was coming in, it says there in verse 25, Cornelius
met him. And watch what happened. He fell
down at his feet and worshiped him. Now, there ain't one in a thousand
preachers today that would have stopped that. That's what they want you to
do. They want you to brag about them. They want you to tell what
great fellows they are, what great works they're doing. But
look what happened. She fell down on his feet to
worship him. Oh, my. Peter took him up. Stand up! Stand up! I'm just a man. I myself also am a man." That's
when John, he fell down before an angel in the Revelation, and
the angel said, Get up! He says, God's the only one you're
ever supposed to worship. And oh, beloved, then look what
happens here. And as he talked with him, verse 27, he went in, and found many that were come
together. And he said unto them, You know
how it is unlawful for a man, unlawful thing for a man that
is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation. But
God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Y'all know what kosher means.
That means it's fit for Jews to eat. Everything Jew can't
eat nothing, can't drink wine, that's not kosher. Can't eat
meat, that's not kosher. And when you're in New York,
they got delis up there, kosher. Everything is kosher. And everything got to be just
right. Got to be prepared just a certain
way, got to be so clean, got to be done by this person, that
person, all this stuff. And that's what Simon Peter says.
You go up to New York, the only time a Jew will have anything
to do with you is if you go in one of their jewelry stores to buy a diamond.
And he'll sell you a diamond, but after that, he don't want
nothing to do with you. Now, that's the truth. They still
got to—they wear their purse shawls and their big hats. They're
still that way. And he says, you know, our son-in-law,
And all of what happens. And then he says that God showed
me this. He said that God has showed me
that I should not call any man, any man, common or unclean. He finally understood what that
vision meant. So this is what, this is what
God was telling me. Here I am amongst this bunch
of heathens here, and now they're not common and they're not unclean.
That's what he's saying here. We're all, look what he says.
Therefore I came unto you without gain, saying, As soon as I was
sent for, I asked for what intent you sent me. And Cornelius began
to tell him. And he says down in verse 33,
look what he said. Immediately therefore I sent
thee, and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now listen
to what he says now. Listen, I love this statement
right here. Now therefore. This is Cornelius talking now. Now, therefore, are we all here
present before God. We're right here present before
God. That's what we say in a marriage. We're now here before God, in
the presence of God, to join these two people together. Oh
my, so we've gathered here and we're sitting in the presence
of God. And oh my, look what he said. Not only we're here in the presence
of God, but to hear all things. Whatever God's commanded you
to say, that's what we want to hear. That's what we want to
know. That's what we want to hear about.
To hear things all commanded of you. Well, what did Simon
Peter say to him? Simon Peter stood up and said,
I tell you right now, I perceive God's no respective person. He
don't consider Jew or Gentile. He said, it makes no difference
of what a person is. He says, God's no respected person,
whether he's wealthy or poor, whether he's a Jew or a Gentile.
And, oh, beloved, I mean, look what he said. Here's what he
begins to preach. He said the word in verse 36, which God sent
unto the children of Israel, preaching peace, peace. I'm dealing with that this morning,
by Jesus Christ. Here, Cornelius, you want peace? You folks want peace? Jesus Christ
made peace by the blood of His cross. He is Lord of all. Lord over everybody. Lord over
everything. Lord over all things is given
unto His head to do with as it seemeth good in His sight. All
flesh has got power over it. He gives eternal life to as many
as God's given him. That word, I say, you know which
was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee
after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth. And he anointed him with the
Holy Ghost and with power. Nobody had the power that he
had. He had the Spirit without measure. And you know what he
did? Every day he lived, every step
he took, every act he did, it was good! Good! He didn't do nothing but
good for people. When a man was blind, he gave
him his sight. When a leper was filthy and wretched,
he cleansed him of his leprosy. When people came to him asking
for mercy, he gave them mercy. When hungry people came, he set
them down and fed them like the shepherd does. his holy name. When sinners smoked their breaths
and said, God, be merciful to this sinner, He gave him mercy
and saved him by his gift of grace. And all beloved, healing
all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And listen to this. And he says,
and I'll tell you what, we witnessed these things. We saw what he
did. We saw what he did. We heard
his name. We were there when he was baptized
and the Holy Ghost come over him. We were there when he walked
on the water. We were there when he fed the
multitude. We were there when he told old
Bartimaeus, your eyes and you can receive your sight. We were
there when the man was born blind and he gave him his sight. We
were there when he rebuked the Pharisees. We was there when
he told us to cast our net on the right side. We took up more
fish than we knew what to do with. We was there when the woman
touched the hem of his garment and was made whole. We was there
when he took that woman that was about over 18 years and told
her to stand up straight. We was there when he told that
fella, be a good cheer in your sins, be forgiven you. Would
he just let down through that tile? See, we was there. We were witnesses of what we
seen. I'm telling you what I know myself that I seen myself. And
oh, look what he said now. And I tell you, you know what
they've done with him after he went about doing good and doing
all these things? They slew him and hanged him on a tree. Oh,
my. You say, I wouldn't have done
that. I did. I did. I did. I was responsible for
the death of Christ, as anybody was, because He willingly took
my sins in His own body on that tree. Now, bless His holy name. Father, if You want me, let these
go their way. Huh? Oh, listen. And look where it goes on. Oh,
they slew Him, and they hung Him on a tree. blasphemed his
holy name, said he makes himself equal with God. But listen to
what happens. God raised him up the third day. Not only that, but showed him
openly. He showed him openly. What does
that mean, that our Lord Jesus was seen forty days and forty
nights? Huh? But he said and showed him
openly, not to all the people, but under witnesses chosen before
of God. Even us, listen to him now, who
did eat and drink with him after, after that he rose from the dead.
Oh, my. I even drank with him after he's
risen from the dead. I'm eating and drinking with
him right now. I'm eating that blessed flesh and drinking that
blessed blood. getting the fruit off the vine,
walking in the light, eating that bread, drinking that water,
that all belongs to Him. Now look what He said. And He
commanded us to preach unto the people. Oh, He didn't say, now,
you fellas go preach Jesus for us. Go win a bunch of souls.
He said, oh, listen, we're going to train you how to go win people
for Jesus. He just said, you go preach. And you testify. that it is He, Christ, which
is ordained of God to be the judge of the living and the dead.
And we're going to have one judge, I mean, it's going to take us.
One judgment and one judge, and that's going to be the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. And listen to this now. And to
Him give all the prophets witness. Moses in Genesis Christ is spoken
of so many times in Genesis. In Exodus, every time in Exodus,
it's about Christ. On and on and on. Isaiah, Zechariah,
all the prophets. To Him, all the prophets get
witness that through His name, whosoever believeth in Him shall
what? Their sins be put away. their
debts will be paid. You ever get a paying debt and
you get the receipt back and it says, payment remitted? Payment
remit, remit the payment. That means you pay it and then
you're done. Well, they said, if that man that believes on
Christ, sins are gone! Payment's been made! And oh,
listen, while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell
on all them which hid the Word. Oh, God gave him a gift that
he saved them. The Spirit of God came down on
them. And then look what he says down
there in verse 47. Can any man forbid water that
these should not be baptized which have received the Holy
Ghost as we? Oh, that's the first thing they
wanted to do. Oh, Lord, save me. And He gave us the Holy Ghost
to let us know that. And he commanded them to be baptized
in the name of the Lord. And then he stayed with them
for a long time. Paul began to teach them. Grace before grace. Grace went
to prepare Cornelius. Grace went over to prepare Solomon
Peter. And grace out of the people prepared them. And all grace
had been over here, and grace had been over there, and grace
had been here. It brought all of them together. And God saves
people. Oh, the Lord's way is fast finding
out, ain't it? I pray grace is doing its work
right now. I know it is. If it's working,
it's going to do its work. Amen.