bit of stuff here myself. But I'm going to open up with
Acts chapter 10 verses 34 through 43 is what I want to read. Now this is Peter's message to
Cornelius. That's what I'm calling this.
This is Peter's message to Cornelius. And this is where Peter starts,
verse 34, Acts chapter 10. Then Peter opened his mouth and
said, of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation he that feareth
him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The word
which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by
Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all. That word, I say ye know, which
was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee
after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,
for God was with him, And we are witnesses of all things which
he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they
slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day
and showed him openly. not to all the people, but unto
witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink
with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to
preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was
ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. To him give
all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins. Okay, I gotta read 44. While Peter yet spake, these
words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. Now before I get started, I'm
gonna quote to you a sign. It is better to be slapped by
the truth than kissed by a lie. I like that. Now, since I said
that, I'm not really planning on slapping anybody today. But
some people might take it that way. That's the way it might
feel. When you first run into the truth
of God, it might feel like somebody slapped you. And the lie feels
like a kiss, it's familiar, it's what you want. And I'm gonna
tell you something, that was not on a church, that was on
a veterinarian right above Ramey Forest. Yeah, I like that sign. Anyway, but I do wanna speak
the truth, that's why we're here. And I wanna speak today from
and about Peter's message to Cornelius. We talk about the
Jews and the Gentiles in the church, his body, equal, the
same, one new man, one creature. But this is the first message
that we have in the scriptures, and from the testimony about
this message later, this is the first time that this gospel was
preached to Gentiles in particular. Now some Gentiles heard it possibly
before, But this was going to a Gentile's house and preaching
to this Gentile, and Peter didn't, well, Peter resisted to start
with, but we'll get into that. But I do wanna tell you something
you already know, I hope. This is the same message that
Peter preached to the Jews. It's the same message that I'm
gonna try and preach to you today, and the same message that Walter's
gonna try and preach to you today. And I'll give you a prophecy,
even though I'm not a prophet. It's going to be the same message
that's preached to the last Gentile that believes when the fullness
of the Gentile comes in. And that's because there is only
one message. This is a message of the work
of God, and it's the message of the work of God in the child
of God in bringing about the adoption of son. The adoption
of a son to God. And it starts off, then Peter
opened his mouth and said, that's what we're here for today. That's
what we're here for today. This is why Peter was here at
Cornelius' house. Cornelius and his house were
there. And it says in the verse before
I read it, verse 33, it says, immediately, this is Cornelius
speaking, immediately, therefore, I sent to thee and thou hast
well done that thou art come. It was good for Peter to be there.
Now therefore are we all here present before God to hear all
things that are commanded thee of God. They were there for the
same reason we're to be here, to hear the word of God. OK. That's all right. Peter was here
to speak. He wasn't here to be an example.
He wasn't here. Now, he may have been an example,
not an example, but he wasn't there to be an example. He wasn't
there necessarily to be an example. He was there to speak. That's
why Cornelius asked him to come. Cornelius was told to. Peter
was here to speak, so guess what? He spoke. That's why Christ sent
him. That's why Peter came. He was
sent to speak to these people at this time, in this place,
right here and right now as it's written down. Words are important. I was thinking about it while
Paul Mayhem was preaching last Saturday when he spoke about
that. And he talked about that worm
farm he had. And he says, you know, I can't
go down there with those worms and talk to them. But Christ
condescended. He came down. And see, people
make a great, oh, he came as a babe in a manger. Yes, he did.
He did. But they don't talk about the
great I don't know the exact words
to put it. It is a coming down. He was above, but he came down
and dwelt among us. But he wasn't here just for our
example or for our example. He spoke to the worms that were
here. And he used words the worms could
understand. And he gave the worms the understanding. Words are important. We have
his words recorded in this book. We have these apostles' words
that were telling us of what Christ's words were and what
he said and what the Old Testament prophets wrote. And all we have
to relay them is words. I can't be thankful I can't send
my thoughts out. I'm thankful I can't send my
thoughts out. But we have been given this voice to speak, these
words to repeat and to expound upon. He came and spoke to us
worms, and he's speaking to us worms now. What he starts off with here,
and I find this incredibly ironic, Peter opened his mouth and he
said, of a truth, Here's the truth. I perceive that God is
no respecter of persons. Walter, I believe that is one
of the masterpieces of understatement right there. That's what Peter
said. That's all he said here to Cornelius
that we hear in this message. But the Holy Spirit had to show
Peter a vision. He was hungry and he fell into
a trance. He was going to get something to eat. And he had
this vision. Not once, not twice, but three
times it was told to him. It was shown to him. A big thing
came down, and there were all manners of unclean beasts. And
he said, rise, slay, and eat. And Peter said, no, not so, Lord,
for nothing unclean or common has ever passed my lips. And
the voice said, call that, don't call that which God has cleansed. uncommon Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it if God's
cleansed it guess what it's clean That's the message if God's cleansed
it it's clean And it said it to him three times, and I love
this In verse 15 it says what God
hath cleansed caught that call not thou common Verse 16, this
was done thrice and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
Now, verse 17, while Peter doubted in himself what this vision would
mean. He still didn't know. He's seen it three times. What's
the value of repetition? We need repetition. I'm lucky if I can remember somebody's
name the third or fourth time after I meet them. We need repetition. And God knows what we need. We have only the same message.
We only have this one message. Christ is all. That's the only
message we have. But here, the Holy Spirit showed
Peter a vision and then supplied him with three times. And the
Spirit was clear what God has cleansed, call that not common. Still after it was over Peter
wasn't sure what it meant. He got the message, but he wasn't
sure what it meant Then someone showed up at his door right there
what a coincidence It's amazing how this stuff just seems to
work out Mason No, it's called the purpose plan Providence and
this the direct command of God from both parties from Cornelius
to Cornelius, excuse me, and to Peter. We'll see that here
in a little bit. The Spirit told Peter, arise
and go down and go with them. That's what that vision meant. And Peter sums it up by saying,
of a truth I perceive. It took a lot of doing, but he
perceived it. that God is not a respecter of persons. Now,
this is talking about directly Jew and Gentile. And if you want to branch it
out from the other epistles that are in here, Jew and Gentile,
bond and free, rich and poor, barbarian or Scythian, God is
not a respecter of persons. God is not a respecter of persons. We are. That's our problem. But
God is not and never has been. He has his people and not his
people. That's his. He is not a respecter
of your person. He doesn't care. It doesn't matter
where you were born, what color you are, what language you speak. America is not God's nation. Okay. I want to say that clear
and plain. My wife has been reading this
history book. And if only half of that stuff in this history
book is true, this ain't a Christian nation. It never was. It's a
nation of depravity, of greed, of lust, of whatever. Now, they cloak a lot of things
in religion. A lot of things are cloaked in
religion. A lot of things are hidden. But like I said, if all
that thing's true, I'm ashamed to be an American some days.
Because I've seen the way we act on television. And they want
to say this is a Christian nation. I've been listening to Lloyd
Jones talk about that, about England as a Christian nation.
No, it's not. There is no such thing as a Christian nation on
this world. There is the church. his people
and not his people. And it doesn't matter what nation
you belong to, if you're his people, you're in the church.
And you're my brother, you're my sister. Anyhow, but in every
nation, that's what Peter says, he that feareth him and worketh
righteousness is accepted with him. Peter saying in every nation
means, what does that mean? Not just Israel. That's what it means
to Peter. Not just a Jew, another, a Gentile,
whoever. It doesn't matter. In every nation,
he that feareth, that is present tense, he that fears him. What's the beginning of knowledge?
Fear of the Lord. What's the beginning of wisdom?
Fear of the Lord. What is the instruction of wisdom? Fear of the Lord. Psalms 25 and verse 14 put it
this way. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him. And he will show them his covenant. Psalms 34 and verse seven put
it this way. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him. And delivereth them. Can I say this? The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of deliverance. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of it all. That's what Peter said, he that
feareth him, but then he added this, and. It's not but, it's
and. That worketh righteousness. Again,
present tense. He that works righteousness.
Present tense. You mean y'all believe in works?
Yes we do. Yes we do. I don't believe in
works for salvation. I don't believe in works for
regeneration, for conversion. I believe in works because of
regeneration. I believe in works because of
conversion. I believe in works because of
salvation. We are his workmanship created
unto good works. And it was before ordained that
we should walk in them. but we are his work unto good
works. Our works are always the result
of his work. That's the order. Don't get the
cart before the horse. His work always comes first and
our works come. And then this last part of this
statement He that fears in every nation, he that feareth him and
worketh righteousness is accepted with him. Also, present tense,
is accepted. You is accepted. And this is
actually, this is not a noun. This is another one of these
adjectives which modifies a noun. And this is actually an adjective
that is modifying you. With him, you are acceptable. You are accepted with him. It's not that you shall be acceptable. It's not that you will be, you
could be, or even you should be. It says that he is acceptable. He that feareth him and worketh
righteousness is acceptable. We're not fearing him and working
righteousness in order to be acceptable. That's not what Peter's
saying. He's saying that we are acceptable
with him. Because if we fear him, and if
we work righteousness, it's because of his work already in us. Now
everything we have is in Christ. But I do like what he said, what
Peter, the way he phrased this here, he is talking about and
what he's saying, he says we are accepted with Christ. Because
that's also true. Our acceptance is in Christ,
but our acceptance is also with Christ. God accepts us, the Father
accepts us, because Christ brought us to him. First Peter 3 and 18 put it this
way, Peter again, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that for this reason, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the spirit. There's a real sense we were
brought to God when Christ was resurrected. Believers are in Christ and believers
were brought to God with Christ. With Him. There is so much that
we have in Him. However, we must not forget what
we have been given with Him. Buried with Him in baptism, where
and also ye are risen with Him. through the faith of the operation
of god who has raised him from the dead now we are told well let me go ahead
and read it this is right here this is ephesians two five and
six even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together
with christ by grace you are saved but this is verse six and
have raised us up together and made us sit together heavenly
places in Christ Jesus Now I understand he's going in to where he's talking
about faith But understand this Christ was not raised up when
I believed He was raised up 2,000 years ago And I was raised with
him and if you're in him you were raised with him There is
things that go on that went on with him and now we are in him
if we believe He brings us in to Himself, but He brought us
to God when He was raised. And we are acceptable in Him,
and we are acceptable with Him. God hath raised us up together
when Christ arose from the dead. That was 2,000 years ago, and
that raising up then will be brought to fruition,
to completion in time. It's going to be made known here. And I do want to be clear on
this point, there must be both fear him and work righteousness. And then I want to look now, because we'll see this in that
fellow named Cornelius in the first verse. Actually, the first
four verses. There was a certain man in Caesarea
called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian
Band. A devout man, one that feared God with all his house. Now, Luke wrote the book of Acts.
He's writing down what Peter said, but he's also writing this
part when he's introducing Cornelius to us. a devout man and one that
feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people
and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently
about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming into him
and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he
was afraid and said, what is it, Lord? And he said, thy prayers
and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. and the man had never heard a
preacher yet. That's the way it is. You can take it any way
you want. I'm sorry, that's just the way
it is. No, I'm not sorry. I glory in
that. Because that's the work of God.
An angel just doesn't appear to somebody with a message from
God. And then good things happen.
I'm not gonna talk about Balaam. Walter and I talked about it
on the phone. Balaam heard from God in the Old Testament. It didn't
end up well for Balaam. It does for Cornelius. That's
why we've got the rest of this chapter. But you understand,
here is a man who feared God and he gave alms to people. He
prayed to God always. What do we have here? One that
fears him and one that works righteousness. That's what we
got. That's what Luke wrote. That's
what's recorded here. And what did Peter say? Of a
truth I perceive that God's no respecter, and in every nation
he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted. Before
Peter got there, Cornelius qualified. Now, why did Cornelius qualify?
Because God qualified him. God had given Cornelius life
before this. Now, what works are done Fearing
him is not any, there's no doubt. You have to fear the one who's
up there. You have to fear the one on the throne. You have to
fear the true God. But this is the thing. Regeneration
changes you. It does. And you will fear him. And you will work righteousness.
Now Cornelius was here. Cornelius did what he did with
the light he had. And this is what we do. And this
is what I have done. And I've said this before, but
I wanted to put it in here because I think this is appropriate.
Sometimes after regeneration, you figure this out later, okay? You do things and you're not
exactly sure why. And I left the Catholic Church
because I had to. God had convicted me of that
in my heart. And I don't know that I was converted
at that time. I'm sure I wasn't. But I was,
I believe, regenerated. And I may not have knew exactly
what was right. But at that place and that time,
I knew that was wrong. And I wasn't supposed to be there.
And I didn't need to be there. Well, I was supposed to be there
because I was there. And I heard that, and I left. And I didn't look back. Because
that was the wrong place for me. And believe me, I'm not boasting,
but that was a work of righteousness. Walking out of that place. You do with the life God's given
you. And regeneration does make a
difference. But there's more. There's more. Because this message there was
more to it from this angel to Cornelius but I do want to say
this I'll go out on a limb don't call Cornelius common or unclean that's just the way it is you
know Cornelius was accepted with him because Cornelius was regenerated and Cornelius was to hear a preacher
He was to hear the gospel That's clear Cornelius sent from Peter
by the instruction of God for what? To hear words from thee
that's what they told him when they showed up Said behold the
Spirit said unto him behold three men seek thee arise therefore
get down. This is the Spirit speaking to
Peter, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. Then Peter went down and said,
what do you want? And they said, Cornelius, the
centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good
report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God
by an holy angel. What? To send for thee into his
house. and to hear words of the... God doesn't leave someone regenerate
and unconverted. It doesn't happen. Now, there
is a time scale here. I'm sorry if people have a problem
with that, they do. Okay? Walter and I have talked
about this before and I've talked about it with Earl when he was
alive. You hear people give their testimony and their testimony
is a testimony of the separation between regeneration and conversion.
But they won't admit to it. It's funny, it's funny. I mean,
I understand. And I'm gonna tell you, I know
there are preachers who have preached on Cornelius, but they
won't say anything about this. And some good preaching, because
Christ is preached. What Peter said is true. But
we've got this whole story for a reason. This whole account
is here. And there is a separation in
time. Now, it may not always be there. I'm not saying it always
is. I know there was in my case. I believe there was in Walter's,
because I experienced a good bit of it. And we've talked about
it since then. And I've talked with Earl, and
I've talked with others who do understand this. What comes first,
life or faith? Life comes first. Life always
comes first. But if life comes, Faith will
also come. God told Cornelius to send for
Peter so he could hear it. And Peter came, and Cornelius
said, hey, we're here, present before God, to hear you speak
to us about God. Regeneration changes you. You
want to hear. Cornelius wanted to hear about
the things of God. He wanted to hear. because regeneration
will change you want to. Peter got there and Cornelius
said we're here, we're present to hear all things that are commanded
thee of God because Cornelius desired to hear the preaching
of the Lord because regeneration will change your desire. My wife and I were on the way
up here, we were listening to Lloyd-Jones and he said something
about having a good eye or seeing your Christianity. He's talking
about seeing that you're a believer, knowing that you're a believer.
Debbie made the comment, said that my eye's too sinful sometimes
to behold my Christianity. And I said, yeah, but you're
on your way to church and happy to go there to hear him preached. And she said, yeah. I said, yeah. You're different. There are people
who wouldn't come hear Walter for all the tea in China. I don't
know if that's a racial expression or not. For all the money in
the bank. You can't pay, well you probably
could pay people to be here, but I don't want to. We don't
have the money. They don't want to be here. They don't want to
hear him preach. But Cornelius did. Because of
what God had done to him beforehand. And then Cornelius did hear. Peter came, God sent him, and
Peter preached. You got to have both. There's
no regeneration without conversion. There's no conversion without
regeneration. And like I said, this is the
same message preached here that Peter preached to the Jews that
we're preaching to you now. And to some, it's the savor of
life unto life. And to some, it's the savor of
death unto death. And I can't make any ground good
Cornelius was good ground before Peter ever got there. He was
ready to be sowed. He was looking for the seed to
be sown. He asked for the seed to be sown,
and God sent him seed that was sown. This shows the results of election,
which is unto salvation. both the sanctification of the
spirit and the belief of the truth. The spirit gives life and we
believe through the working of his mighty power. Regeneration changes the elect,
but conversion always comes to the regenerated through his word. It's not that he has to use his
word, that's just the way he's chose to do it. Some days I wish
he had chosen something else. So I wouldn't have to do this.
Other days I enjoy doing this. Or enjoy it before, you know,
I worry about it the whole time before I get here. But sometimes
I actually do enjoy doing this. Because I like speaking about
him. And I like the fact that you want to hear about him. And
I like listening to Walter talk about it. The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is
Lord of all. These are more the words of Peter.
Because Peter, after all this, Peter still had to preach. After
regeneration and his getting there, Peter still had to preach. And there is only the word. which
God sent unto the children of Israel. It's the same word that
we've got today. He is Lord of all. He is our peace. He made peace,
and he is our peace. Verse 40 says, him God raised
up the third day and showed him openly. I gotta hurry. Paul Mahan
said it a week ago, them apostles couldn't get away from the resurrection.
He's right, and neither can we. Because everything we have came
with that resurrection. Everything we have. We were raised
with him and seated with him in the heavenlies. Why? Because
of that resurrection. Why are we regenerated? Why are
we given life? Why do we hear the gospel? Why
do we believe the gospel? Because he arose from the dead
and was accepted by the Father. Him that God raised up the third
day and showed him openly. And then verse 41, not to all
people. Not to all people. But unto witnesses
chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with
him after he rose from the dead. Totally, completely, and bodily
resurrection. That's the apostolic doctrine. We ate and drank with him after
he rose from the dead. That's kind of tough to do if
it's a spiritual resurrection, Walter. It's impossible. He rose from the dead, but he
only showed himself to who he chose before. How simple is that? How plain
is that? And how much ignored, neglected,
and lied about is that in this world? Verse 42, and he commanded
us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he
which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. We have been commanded to preach. I said this morning on the radio,
Christ never asked anybody to do anything. He told us what
to do. He told Peter what to do. He
told Cornelius what to do. He tells you what to do. And
guess what? You do it. It is he that worketh in you
both the will and to do of his good pleasure. And that goes
for all of it. And whom are we to preach? Him. And those that fear him and work
righteousness? Believe him. And to him give
all the prophets witness that through his name that whosoever
believeth in him shall receive the remission of sins. All the prophets witnessed. The Bible is Christ's book. He's
the author and he's the subject. One message. But then verse 44,
while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them
which heard the word. While Peter spoke. He didn't
even get to finish his message. The Holy Ghost fell upon them
which heard. All them. but which hurt. Stephen gave out that warning,
that description of those people that stoned him, that they were
uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Ghost.
If you're in that condition, you will always resist the Holy
Ghost. If you're not in that condition, if you hear, you'll
believe. the saver of life unto life for
some, the saver of death unto death. The same message was preached
unto them as it was unto us, but they didn't receive it. Why? Not being mixed with faith in
them that heard it. God had not worked a work upon
them at that time. Takes the work of God to hear
it It takes the work of God to believe him Christ will bring in Everyone
that is accepted with him Everyone that was raised with him How can you believe it you not
heard I Now how can they hear without a preacher? And how can
they preach except they be sent? Peter was sent, Peter preached,
they heard, and the Holy Ghost fell upon them. They believed. And after you have believed,
you are sealed with the Spirit. I mean, we've spoken of this
before, and I've been planning, this is one of the things that's
been in the back of my mind forever. Because I love this account of
Cornelius. This is the truth of God about
how God saves his people. This is what God did for me.
I recognize that here. Now, I didn't have an angel talk
to me. I didn't have Peter sit to me. But the whole principle
is the same. The salvation is the same. He
works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Regeneration and conversion.
the life to the child of God and the belief of the truth.
It's quite clear that the Lord hears the prayers of one who
feared him and worked righteousness. It says that he did. And this
shows clearly that Cornelius was, before Peter ever got there
or ever even heard of Cornelius, that Cornelius was not just a
natural man at that time. He wasn't. That's clear. if you have eyes to see and ears
to hear. Now if you don't, you won't. And have a nice day. I can't help you. But then when
Peter preached, because Peter was sent specifically to that
house at that time and to preach these words, Cornelius heard
and believed the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. This is the way that Christ brings
us to the Father in time. This is that way. This is His
way. His chosen way. And both happen
to the elect. Regeneration and conversion. Life and hearing the gospel. And believing the gospel. Because
this is God's ordained way. for us in this world. Regeneration changes the elect,
and conversion comes to the regenerated. I heard Lord Jones say something
good this morning, Walter, before we left. And I never thought about it.
I don't know that I ever said it this way, but I don't know
that I can ever say it a different way now. If you're on the narrow
way, you ain't on the broad way. If you're on the broad way, you
ain't on the narrow way. Now he didn't use ain't, because
he's English. But I did, because I'm adopted
West Virginian. My mom's from here. I can claim
it. You're either on the broad way
or the narrow way. And the narrow way is the only
one that counts. And if you're on the narrow way,
it is a way. It's not a destination. It's
not a rest stop. It's a way. You're going to go
that way if you're in that narrow way, if you pass through that
straight gate. Narrow is that way, but it is a way, and you're
going. And God will see to it you get
exactly where you want, where you are supposed to be. because
he's purposed it and planned it from the beginning of the
world, and he is executing his purpose and his plan, even as
we speak. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this place in this time. You alone have the power
to save men. You alone are willing to save
men. Thank you. for everything you've
done for us, to us, in us, and with us. In your son, our Lord
Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.