The name of the message today
is Jew and Gentile. Jew and Gentile. We'll continue
our study through this book. Now, last week we looked at the
vision that Peter won and he was told, or no, the angel appeared
to Cornelius and said, send three men to, three men who are coming. Well, today we're gonna see him
arrive at that place that God has ordained. And then next week,
we'll see the message that he preaches to all things out, all
things out. Remember, it's not by chance
that Peter's in Joppa. It's by the hand of God. It's
by, oh my. It's not by chance that we're
all here together today. It's by God's decree. And by
together, worship in the king. Isn't that amazing? It's just
amazing. Okay, so three of Acts chapter
10 together. Says this, now when Peter doubted
in himself, now isn't that, Peter doubted. Do we ever doubt? Too many times to count, right? Our dear brother Peter's just
like us. God had shown him a vision. Says Peter doubted. He doubted. in himself what this vision which
he had seen should mean. Behold, oh no, we're supposed
to read this together. Stand up, my bad, we're supposed
to read this together. Acts 10 verses 17 to 23, I'm
sorry. Let's read this together. Now
when Peter doubted in himself What this vision which he had
seen should mean, behold, the man which were sent from Cornelius
had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate. and called and asked whether
Simon, which was surnamed Peter, was lodged there. When Peter
thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three
men seek thee. Arise, therefore, and get thee
down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them.
Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him, from
Cornelius, and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek. What is
the cause wherefore ye are come? And they said, Cornelius, the
centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, in a good report
among all the nations of the Jews, was warned from God by
an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words
of thee. Then called he them in, and lodged
them. And on the morrow, Peter went
away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him. Okay. Now we have been taught, and
we have seen through our studies in the scriptures, that the Lord
Jesus Christ is in absolute, complete control. And let us
rest in that. Not doubting, but we're in the
flesh, right? But let us just try to rest in
that truth that he's in full control. Nothing happens outside
his permissive will. And we've seen how in control
he is, that it's absolute control, and he sends his preachers to
whom he wills, and they go down there, they preach the gospel,
and then he's, in this book, we've seen him send them off.
He went to Lyda, Peter went to Lyda, but before Lyda, he went
through all these villages preaching the gospel, then he came to Lyda,
then he's at Joppa now, and now he's gonna go to Caesarea. All
by the will and providence of God. All by God's direction. And also, God's timing is perfect.
It's absolutely perfect. You ever think of that? It's
perfect. He was in Lyda at the perfect
time where he saw that man. He was in Lydda, was called Joppa,
in the perfect timing of God. If he hadn't been in Lydda, he'd
have been up in Jerusalem, it'd have been a lot further for him
to come. But he's in Lydda. So, those friends of Dorcas,
they hear about him, and they send, because she's a faithful
saint of God, right? She's a faithful believer. Well,
they send for him, and he's just down the road. And now, he's in Joppa, The angel
of the Lord tells Cornelius, send down some men and fetch
Peter, he's in Joppa. Okay. Oh my. So his timing's always perfect.
Well, Peter's having this vision, there's three men on their way
to him. He didn't even know it. He doesn't even know it. And
then look at verse 20. Arise, therefore, and get thee
down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them.
Look at what he says in the verse before that. Behold, three men
seek thee. God sent them, didn't he? Cornelius sent them, but
God is the one who ordained all this to happen. Isn't that wonderful? My, oh my. Peter in verse 20 was to doubt
nothing. We see he's just a man like us.
He's doubting. And in verse 17, and then he's
told in verse 20, you don't need to doubt. And these three men
are sent from Cornelius. They'd made inquiry at Simon's
house. We see that in verses 17 and
18. They stood by the gate and they
called for Peter. And they asked whether Simon,
whose surname was Peter, was in the house. Well, he was there,
wasn't he? Just like God had told Cornelius,
he was there. And then again, Peter, in the
vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.
Rise, therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting
nothing, for I have sent them. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ had
told them He was to go with these three men. So what's he gonna
do? He's gonna go with these three
men, isn't he? But he knows the journey's a little ways, and
they've traveled all the way there, so he says, stay the night
here with me, and we'll go in the morning. Again, that's not
Peter doubting or hesitating, right? That's him looking at
them and saying, you need to rest. You need to rest. And they gave him some information
about Cornelius. Notice he was a just man. That
means he was just in the eyes of God. And the only way a person
is just in the eyes of God is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
So he's looking to the Messiah. And Peter's going to tell him
he's already come. He's already come. The only way we can be
called just men or just women is in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ and by his perfect righteousness. There's no other way. It's not
possible for a human being to make ourselves just before God,
is it? But we are, think of this, we
are made just by the just one, by the sinless one. And his name
is the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his blood to redeem our
eternal souls. And all who come to him, all
who cast themselves upon him, shall be saved. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, yeah. Remember the Philippian
jailer? What must I do to be saved? Well,
if there was something for him to do, Paul would have said it,
right? Paul looked at him and just said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Do you
believe? That's the question, right? Do
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the saving of your
soul? Praise be to God if you do. He gets all the glory and
honor and praise, and if you don't, cast yourself upon Him. He's the only Savior of sinners. No other way for a sinner to
be saved, and that's what we all are. There's only two kinds
of sinners in this world, you know that? Saved and lost. Saved and lost. My oh my. By the grace of God, We born-again,
blood-washed believers can say, we're safe sinners. Praise His
mighty name, His goodness and His mercy being shown to us,
isn't it? My, oh my. So Peter went down
and greeted these men that Cornelius had sent. He identified himself. He said, I'm Peter. And he asked
them to explain again why they had come. And they told Peter,
they gave him some information, Cornelius was a just man who
feared God. Do you know the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom? But fools despise wisdom and
instruction. And this fear here is not, it's
not a fear, it's not a fear like a slave would feel for their
master. It's not that kind of fear. It's a reverent fear. Isn't it? We have a reverent
fear for our God. He's God. He's a sovereign king
over all. There's not one thing that happens
in this world that he does not know about or does not allow
in his permissive will. Now what does he have to do for
us to be wicked? Just leave us alone. Brother Travis, what's he have
to do for us to be saved? He's done it all. Amen. He got
to do everything, doesn't he? And he's done it all. We teach
and preach a finished work. It's already done. Christ already
accomplished the work 2,000 years ago. No wonder Paul said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Just look.
He's already done the work. Just look to him by faith. And
if you do, we know We know. We don't put any hindrances up.
We know that that's given to you just as it was given to us
to believe on Christ. So we say believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Cast yourself upon him. He's
the only hope of sinners. The only one. My oh my. So Cornelius feared God. He had
a reverent fear for God. He's a born-again, blood-washed
saint, beloved. My, oh, my. He feared God. And he was also thought well
of by the Jewish nation. And Peter would have, knowing
by this report that Cornelius was a Gentile prostitute into
the Jewish religion, And the three men had told Peter that
Cornelius received a message from God through one of his holy
angels. God only talks to his people, doesn't he? Yeah. He speaks to us through this
word, doesn't he? He speaks to us through this
word. Oh my. Even today he speaks to us through
his word, but this is the, do you know that this is the only
revelation God will give us? is all found in this book. If
you hear somebody say, I got a word from God. This is the place where God speaks
to us, by his spirit. There's no personal revelation
anymore. None. But does God the Holy Spirit
speak to us? Absolutely, through this word. Think of what you know now about
Christ you didn't know before. How do you know that now? Some
religions say, well, because I learned it. Well, the born-again
blood-washed believer says, God revealed it to me. Everything
I know, he's revealed to me through his word and through the preaching
of his word. Oh my. It's wonderful. God the Holy Spirit's still moving,
isn't he? Yes, he is. He's drawing in the Lord's people
through the preaching of the word. He's saving souls, even
today. My, oh, my. God's still moving. Do you know why? The only reason
Christ hasn't come back yet? Because there's still sheep to
be saved. And when that lost sheep is saved, it's over, beloved. It's over. My, oh, my. So these three men told Peter
that Cornelius had received a message from God through one of his holy
angels. And one of the things he said
is to send for Peter. Go get Peter. He's in Joppa at
the house of Simon and Tanner. And so what did Cornelius do?
He obeyed, right? And he sent these three men,
one of them being one of his soldiers. And so the angel of the Lord
told Cornelius that he would hear words from Peter, telling
him what he, Cornelius, was to do. And Peter would have known
that Cornelius was a Gentile because he's a Roman centurion.
Now, think of this. A Jew was forbidden from entering
into a Gentile house. It was forbidden by the Mosaic
law. It was forbidden for them to
have anything to do with the Gentiles, except trade. But one thing they could not
do, they were not to enter into a Gentile house. So Peter, He's doubting, what
is this vision? What is this, what's going on?
God tells me that what he's made clean is no longer unclean. What's? Ah, he's gonna go to a Gentile's
house who the Jews thought were a bunch of dogs. Unclean dogs. He's gonna find out that what
God makes clean is no longer unclean. Think of us. Christ died for the ungodly,
right? That's us. Christ died for the unjust. That's us. And what's he done? He's made us just. He's made
us holy. We're sanctified in Christ. My, oh my. So that which God's
made clean is no longer to be called unclean. Hence, we call
ourselves saved sinners, don't we? I ain't nothing but a saved
sinner. That's all I am. I'm not gonna
graduate from that. Even in glory, I'm still a saved
sinner, are you? Right? Praise in our great God. We see him face to face. Be absolutely
amazing. So look what it says here in
verse 23, these three men spend the night in the house of Simon,
the tanner. And they would have no problem
staying with him. They were Gentiles. They would have no problem staying
with anyone. They're Gentiles. And then it says, it says in verse, look at note
this little wee bit here in verse 23, and certain brethren from
Joppa accompanied him. So then he called on them and
lodged them. And on the morrow, Peter went
away with them and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him. So
they didn't go alone. There was brethren in the Lord
who came with them. And think of this, as Peter's
heading to this Gentile house, God's revealing to him, More
and more, he's probably meditating on the fact that what God has
cleansed, that call not uncommon. What God has cleansed, that call
not uncommon. And it's being revealed. We're
going to see it be revealed to Peter. So now other Jewish believers
are accompanying him the next day. They left Joppa and they
arrived in Caesarea As we see in verse 24. Look at verse 24. As they're entering Caesarea,
Cornelius is waiting for them. And on the morrow they entered
into Caesarea, and Cornelius waited for them, and had called
together his kinsmen and near friends. Look what he's done. He's eagerly waiting for them
to come back. And not only is he waiting, he's
called together his kinsmen and his friends. You got to hear
this man. Oh my. Now Peter's in for a surprise. We're going to see. He's in for
a surprise. He thinks he's just going to
talk to Cornelius. Oh my. The Lord going to give
him a hearing. Oh my, this is wonderful. But
see the desire for Cornelius to have his friends hear the
gospel, and his family hear the gospel, hear these words from
Peter? And Cornelius, knowing about
how long it would have taken for his servants to get to Joppa
and back, he gathered his kinsmen and his near friends, And he's
anxiously waiting for him. Now, he's a man of influence.
He's a centurion, which is a soldier over 100. And he's in charge
of over 100 men. I don't know which number he
was in the centurions. The centurions had, I think,
numbers one to eight. And if you were the eighth one,
you were the lowest centurion. But if you were the number one
guy, you were the highest centurion in that legion. So I don't know
what rank he is. It doesn't say. But we know he's
a centurion. He's a leader. He has influence
and power. But here he is, he's gathered
his kinsmen and his friends together, and he's patiently waiting to
hear from God through his ordained preacher. Now, this should be the sincere
desire of all of us as we gather together, right? Brother Brian,
in his prayer, mentioned that we should desire to come with
open hearts saying, Lord, teach me. You know, what am I going
to learn today? Right? I always get excited when
I'm going to sit down and listen to a message, because it's just
like, OK. And it's true. God always reveals
something to us, doesn't he, through a message, always to
our hearts. And so he's ready. And not only
is he ready, he's got his kinsmen and friend. You imagine they're
talking, who's this Peter guy? Some Jewish guy. Somebody might
say, well, I heard he was with that Jesus fella. Or Cornelius
might've talked to them already. Some of them may already be believers.
We don't know. Look into the Messiah. Some of
them might say, he's gonna come tell us about the Savior, the
Messiah. Oh my. So he's gathered his kinsmen
and his friends. And they're eagerly awaiting
to hear a word from God through the preaching of the gospel. Look at verses 25 and 26. And
as Peter was coming in, Canaanites met him and fell down on his
feet and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying,
Stand up. I myself also am a man. This does occur in religion,
and unfortunately, it does occur in the grace movement, which
is called preacher worship. We have to be careful of preacher
worship. I'm just a man, right? All the grace preachers were
just men. Follow Christ, that's who, follow Christ. I follow
Christ, let's follow him together. Right? Let's look to him together.
Because I need to look to him as much as you need to look to
him, right? We're all, we're all fellows in a ship. Bruce
Crabtree said, you know what fellowship means? It's fellows
in a ship. We're all rowing together. I like that. My oh my. But, but see, here
he's bowing down. He's made a mistake here, but
Peter, Peter's going to be gentle with him. Peter's made his own
mistakes too, hasn't he? Just like we have too. And the
Lord's so gentle with us, isn't he? He's so gentle with us. He's
so merciful. But look what Peter took him
up saying, stand up, I myself also am a man. Remember the preacher's
just a man, saved by the grace of God. And we desire you to
worship Christ. Worship Christ. Now Cornelius
is a man of faith, but he's still got a lot to learn. Right? He's
got a lot to learn. And that's why our Lord sent
Peter to him, to instruct Cornelius and others in his household,
the things concerning Jesus Christ, how to worship him, how to conduct
oneself before him and before others. And we know Cornelius
made a serious mistake here by falling down at Peter's feet
to worship him. But Peter quickly corrected him
and he was gentle with him. That's how we should be. We should
be gentle with one another. Loving with one another. Loving
with others, too. Right? What does God tell us? Love our enemies. Pray for them
who despitefully use you. Right? Oh my. But he's made a serious mistake
here. Peter corrected him. How? Just by lifting him from
his feet. Taking his hand. Look at it. Peter took him up.
Probably took him by the arm, brought him up, and said, stand
up. I myself am a man, also a man. I'm just a man like you, Cornelius.
We're of the same clay. We're, as Bertrand used to say,
we're hewn out of the same quarry of humanity. Some folks think they're better
than others, they're not, they're just like us. My dad used to
say, everybody puts their pants on the same way in the morning,
right? Whether you're rich or poor or
in between, it don't matter. It don't matter. And Peter was God's ordained
apostle. He held a high office, the highest
office that could be held in the church of the living God.
And yet he says, I'm just a man. I'm just a man, don't worship
me. Worship the one I talk about,
worship the King. Even Paul said that, right? He
said, I'm determined to preach unto you Christ and Him crucified.
We preach not ourselves, we preach Christ. Peter, again, had nothing to
boast in, just like any of God's born-again, blood-washed saints.
We don't have anything to boast in of ourselves, of our giftings,
or of anything we do. We can't boast in any of it,
can we? We have to give God the glory, because he's given that
to us. And the more we exercise it,
as Donny Bell said to me as a young preacher, the more you exercise
the gift of preaching, As we've seen with Jill with the piano
playing, the more you exercise that gift, the stronger it gets. It's amazing. And God gets all
the glory. I personally marvel that he called
me to preach. But he did. Gave me a message. Here I am in Elmont, Michigan,
preaching to folks I love. Isn't that incredible? all by
the grace of God and the glory of God. It's absolutely amazing. And Peter was just a sinner saved
by grace, all through the merits of Christ alone. And that's how
we're saved, right? We're saved by the merits of
Christ. We're saved only by the work of Christ. We can't claim
anything. The only thing we contribute
to our salvation is our sin. And that's the negative part,
isn't it? Henry Mahan used to say that.
The only thing we contribute is our sin. God's done all the
saving. The whole reason he had to die
is because of our sin. But praise God, he did die for
our sin. Oh, my. In that verse you read, Brian,
oh, my. It's sure. No man can take that away. Praise
is my name. So what can we learn here? Well,
we can learn that no man or woman is to be worshiped other than
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who we should worship
and adore. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
And God himself became a man to save us. What a great cost.
What a great cost. Oh my. I put that in the Bolton this
week. God had bought us with a high price. What's the price
He purchased us with? His blood. Didn't cost us anything. But He shed His blood for us.
He gave His life for us. My, oh my, what a high price
that the Son of God had to die on a cross bearing the wrath
of God in our place to save us. And that His blood redeemed our
souls, purchased our souls. What a Savior, what a Redeemer
is Jesus Christ our Lord. And what a high price for our
salvation. And you know what? Saint said
this yesterday. He did it with joy. He went to the cross with joy.
Yes, the joy of knowing he's saving his bride from their sins.
He's saving the ones he's loved for eternity. And he does it joyfully, willingly
giving his life. Oh, what a Redeemer, what a Savior
is Jesus Christ our Lord. And he fully accomplished it
all by himself. Our salvation is fully accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing left to be done.
It is finished, means it's finished. It's perfect. My, and God will not share his
glory with anyone, will he? Oh no, he won't. He has ordained
that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the glorified God-man, is
the object of worship, and he must be worshiped. In God's people,
we willingly worship Him now, don't we? We willingly worship
Him. We worship Him in spirit and
truth. Do you know what this, listen to this, what it says
in Psalm 130, verse four. It says this, there is forgiveness
with thee. Well, how? You must be born again. Oh, there's forgiveness with
thee. There's forgiveness with God. But how? Well, here's the
good news. Here's the good news of the gospel.
Sinners, though we are deserving of God's eternal wrath, we may
yet obtain the forgiveness of sin. Oh, my. All our sins. So the God of heaven is glorious
in his holiness. I mean, he's glorious in his
holiness, beloved. He's glorious in his righteousness.
He's glorious in his justice. He's glorious in his truth. And
yet he delights to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. He
delights to forgive sinners, those who have been the object
of his love for maternity. And this matter of forgiveness
is an absolute certainty. How do we know that? Well, because
David speaks this. There is forgiveness. It's a
certainty. There is forgiveness. How? Only
in Christ. How do we know there's forgiveness
of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, we know because
God forgives sins because it's his nature to do so. And we know
that God forgives sins because all the prophets, all the prophets,
and all the ceremony sacrifices of the Old Testament proclaim
that he would. There's someone coming. There's
someone coming. And we have been taught, beloved
of God, These wonderful truths by God the Holy Spirit. And we
know that God forgives sin because he sent his only begotten son.
He sent the word of God into this world to die the just for
the unjust. That we might what? Receive the
remission of sins. Oh, marvel at this wonderful
truth, sinner friend. There's forgiveness with God
because He proclaims it in the gospel. And every believer in Christ
can say, I know that, I know that the God of heaven forgives
sin. Every believer can say this, I know He does. Because He's
forgiven all my sin. Oh, we all testify that as believers,
don't we? God forgives sin, he forgave
all mine. Praise his mighty name. But not only is the forgiveness
of sin certain, so also is the matter of the justice of God
being fulfilled. Because God in his holiness and
truth And justice cannot simply pronounce the sinner forgiven
because his law must be satisfied, right? It has to be. Scripture says, the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. Therefore the Son of God took
upon himself human flesh. Living in perfect obedience.
I mean absolutely perfect obedience. In thought, word, and deed. Perfect. No sin. God incarnate in the
flesh. And Christ accomplished the fulfilling
of the law for us. And in his perfect righteousness,
which God required of man, right? It's required of us. How good
must, or how, how must we be in order to stand in the presence
of God? We must be perfect, but we're
imperfect. But God in Christ has made us
so that God says, Your sin and iniquity will I remember no more.
We have the righteousness of God the Son that he worked out
for us upon this earth, and we're clothed in that perfect righteousness.
Marvel at that, beloved. Marvel at that. The law was fully obeyed by our
substitute. He was our representative before
God, but still our sins had to be paid for. The law is fulfilled,
but still our sins have to be paid for, right? Oh my. So our love and redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, voluntarily gives himself up into the hands
of the law of God to suffer and die as our substitute, to pay
the price that God's demanded for our eternal souls. And heaven
endured the most extremity of God's infinite wrath. I mean,
his wrath was poured out upon Christ for all our sins. Remember? We're bought with a
high price. Oh my. God's infinite wrath,
injustice. Christ declared, after he had
bore it all, he declared, it is finished. My, our salvation's complete. He obtained eternal redemption
for us, beloved. My, he brought in everlasting
righteousness. Now God in justice cannot charge
those for whom Christ died. Oh, he can't charge us with our
sin anymore because Christ died in our room and place. Isn't
that wonderful? for our sins, and God is faithful
and just to forgive us all our sins. So, sinner friend, if you
do not know Christ, this is the Redeemer we trust. He bought
us with His own blood. He purchased us. Oh, look to
Him and live, the Scripture says. Look to Christ and live. May
God make it so. So, rejoice, beloved of God,
because this This forgiveness is entirely free. It's entirely
free. Faith can't put away sin, can
it? But Christ put away our sin. And then he gives us, the Holy
Spirit gives us faith to believe. After we're born again, he gives
us faith to believe. And now we spend the rest of
our lives trusting in Christ. So this is the message that Peter's
gonna deliver to the Gentiles. Let's read verses 27, verses
27 to 29. Knowing that faith receives the
forgiveness of sin, trusting in the merits of Christ alone.
Therefore, all who are listening to this message or who will listen,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. Look at this, Acts 10, verses
27 to 29. And as he talked with them, He went, and so he's talking
with Cornelius now. He went in and found many that
were come together. I think he probably just thought,
well, I'm gonna sit down with Cornelius and we're gonna have a talk.
He comes in and there's a room full of people. Oh my, he went in and found that
many were come together. Peter and Cornelius just talking,
they're walking along. They walk into this larger room,
and as they stepped into this room, it appears that Peter was
pleasantly surprised. The room is full. There's many
people come together. Cornelius had got his family
and near kinsmen, and they were eagerly waiting with desire.
along with Cornelius to hear what God's messenger had to say
to them. And look what he says in verse 28 and 29. And he says
to them, you know how that is an unlawful thing for a man that
is a Jew to keep company or come into one of another's nation.
But God has showed me, look at this, that I should not call
any man common or unclean. What a change that God has wrought
in Peter. So first off, right off the bat,
he's telling them. Now, he's got a captive audience, doesn't
he? He's got a captive audience. But right away, he's telling
them, you know, it's unlawful for me to be here, according
to Jewish custom. But God's showing me, God's showing
me that I should not call any man common or unclean. What a
change for a Jewish man. What a change. Oh my. It says, therefore I came,
look at verse 29, therefore came I unto you without gain, saying,
as soon as I was sent for, I ask therefore for what intent you
have sent for me. Our text tells us that Peter
says, you know, look at this, that is an unlawful thing for
a man that is a Jew to keep company or come into one of another nation,
any other Gentile, any Gentile. So they considered all the other
nations in the world as Gentile nations. He's saying here, I'm
forbidden to even be in this house according to Jewish custom. But God's shown me that I should
not call any man common or unclean. My. And have you noticed this? Peter didn't sit and wait for
a formal chit-chat with them all. He just went right at it, didn't
he? Isn't that amazing? He knows
what he's sent to do. He had a captive audience. And
he's just as ready to deliver the message as they're ready
to hear it. God's perfect timing, right? All set in God's perfect timing.
He's prepared the soil of their heart, hasn't he? Oh my, they're
ready to hear from God through the preaching of the gospel.
I just love that statement that he declared there in verse 28.
But God has showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Peter's understanding of the
vision had now come to pass, hadn't it? Now he's seeing the big picture.
Because remember, he doubted, what was that vision all about?
He doubted. But now, the understanding's
being given to him. By God, the Holy Spirit, too.
Remember, he's the one who reveals the truth to us. Oh my. We can study and become learned
in certain things. You can know doctrine like crazy
and still not know Christ. I was there. My oh my. You can know doctrine up and
down and not know the Lord. But when He regenerates, when
you're born again in the Holy Spirit of God and you see this
truth of Christ's salvation in Him alone, He'll never be the
same. Never be the same. So, his eyes
are being enlightened. Think of this, too. He left with
three Gentiles. The Jews weren't supposed to
have nothing to do with him. And there's other brethren that came
with him, too, right? Could you imagine? They're surprisingly
walking. There's a whole room full of Gentiles? And Peter's
with them? Oh, my. But he was to doubt nothing. In obedience he was to go with
these men, God told him to, at the command of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he was told by these three men who were sent by Cornelius
how an angel from the Lord had appeared to Cornelius, telling
him about Peter. And Peter knew that he was ordained
to preach the gospel. He just didn't know the mystery
that the apostle spoke of in Ephesians 3, 6 that says this,
that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and
partakers of his promise by Christ, by the gospel. But he's starting
to learn that now, isn't he? He's starting to learn. And later
on, we'll see in chapter 11, he gives a report to the saints
of Jerusalem about what happens. It's wonderful. And Peter, think of this too,
he's humbling himself. He's not even supposed to be
in the house with them. He's humbling himself. God humbles
us, doesn't he? He humbles us, makes us realize
we're just safe sinners. We're not to look down on anyone
else, are we? No, no, never forget the rock
you were hearing from. Don't forget where we came from.
Don't forget the pit we were in and God took us out of it.
He took us out of it. We couldn't get out of that pit
of sin. my he's he's stating that he it's an awful thing for
him to keep company with these gentiles but again he said god
showed me that i should not call any man common or unclean and
we made that statement peter was saying that he understood
the meaning of the vision that the lord had given him well it
was on the housetop of simon the tanner And that truth was
given to him by divine revelation. And Peter understood the meaning
of that vision as he grew in grace. He's growing in grace,
beloved. He's growing in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Listen to what he wrote. Listen to what he wrote in 2
Peter 3, verse 18. And he admonishes all God's children
to do so under the preaching of the gospel. And we know as
we sit that God, the Holy Spirit grows us in grace, but he says
this, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ, to him be glory both now and forever.
Amen. Let us come to service desiring
to hear from the Lord through the preaching of his word, right?
Desiring to grow in grace, knowing that the Holy Spirit is the one
who grows us, Oh my, it's wonderful. And notice that where he says
gainsane, I didn't come to you, I didn't come to you with gainsane. Notice that there and, where is it here? 29, therefore came I unto
you without gainsane as soon as I was sent for. I ask therefore
for what intent you have sent me. Now, gainsaying there means
suddenly and without objection. He left suddenly and without
objection because God had told him to go with him, didn't he?
They slept the night, and just because they slept the night,
again, that was Paul having mercy on those guys, too, because they
were probably deadbeat tired. Oh my. He was told to go with
him, doubting nothing. So he went without objection.
And Peter told these Gentiles who were waiting for him that
he'd come willingly. He didn't have objections. He
didn't say, no, no, I don't want to come. He said, I come willingly.
That's important for them to know. I come willingly. And then he asked this question,
for what intent have you sent for me? And then we see Cornelius
answer him in verses 30 to 33. And Cornelius said, four days
ago, I was fasting until this hour. And at the ninth hour,
I prayed in my house. And behold, a man stood before
me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard
and thy alms are had in remembrance. Are had in remembrance. in the sight of God. Send, therefore,
to Joppa and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter. He's
lodged in the house of one Simon Tanner by the seaside, who, when
he cometh, shall speak unto thee. Immediately, therefore, I sent
to thee, and thou hast well done. Thou art come. Now, therefore,
we are all here present before God to hear all things that are
commanded thee of God. He's gathered his whole household.
He's gathered his kinsmen. He's gathered his friends. And
they're all there eagerly awaiting, awaiting to hear what Peter has
to say. My, and that's what Cornelius stated
there is already, it's a repeat of what we've already studied,
but it's important for Peter to hear these words. It's very
important for him to hear these words. And Cornelius was aware
that Peter was God's spokesman, because he said, we're here to
hear all things that are commanded thee of God. We're here to hear
what God's told you to tell us. What does God tell a preacher
to say? Well, through his word, he says, preach Christ, right?
Because Paul says, I'm determined to preach nothing unto you, but
Christ and him crucified. That's right. All God's preachers are sent
with one commission. Preach Christ. Preach Christ. My, oh my. And you know, in the preaching
of Christ, error will be exposed. Yeah, right? You're gonna know,
we already know through studying Galatians and 1 John, 2 John,
3 John, right? We know, we've seen how error
has been exposed, right? My oh my. You preach the truth,
and the error will be exposed. And so what we do, we put a straight
stick beside a crooked stick, and which one's straight? The
straight stick, right? And then you see that crooked stick, don't
you? See? Oh my. How do you know a man
sent from God? Who gets the glory? Right? Christ gets all the glory, Brother
Travis. Amen. He gets it all. He gets it all.
My oh my. So he's aware that Peter's God's
spokesman. And he tells him he's done well
in coming. But he also says that they're waiting to hear the words
that God's commanded him to tell them. And think of this too. Him as
a Roman centurion and those other people that are there, now centurions
were relatively a wealthy position because you got more of the,
when they raided a town or a city, the centurions received more
than the common soldiers. They always got a little bit
more. So he's probably a wealthy man. And I imagine that the people
he's with are probably, you know, middle class, maybe a little
higher, but they're there to hear the gospel. He's just a
common man like you and I. He's a soldier like Tom. Tom
was a soldier. Tom's an awesome fellow, but we know that he's
just a common guy like us, right? And so Cornelius was just a normal
man, but he's a soldier. He's got a place of authority.
He's over a hundred men. Very prominent position, again,
in the legions. But here he is. He gathered his
friends. He's gathered his family. And
they're here to hear the word of God. And he knew, he knew
that there was enmity between the Jews and the Gentiles. And
also, now the Romans, they thought themselves better than everybody
else. Nothing's changed, has it? Has anything changed? Nothing new under the sun, is
there? That's why I say, you know, we're all the human race. Right? God's made us one blood. It's man who divides. And here,
the Jews hate each other. The Romans hate the Jews and
everybody else, too. That's not in the Roman Empire.
There's the pride of man, right? There's the pride of man. So
he's fully aware of the enmity, and that the Gentiles despise
the Jews just as much as the Jews despise the Gentiles. And
yet, here they are all gathered together. by God's sovereign
power, by God's sovereign grace. And they're here, they're gathered
together, just like we do every Sunday, to hear the gospel, to
hear what Peter has to say. Oh my, turn if you would to Ephesians
chapter two. We're closed down with, we're
closed with this. A little more after this, but next week we're
going to look at what Peter preaches, which is exactly what I testified
before earlier to you all, that Christ is the only Savior. He's
the only one who can save sinners. Look at this in Ephesians chapter
2. Do you know that the middle wall of partition, there was
a middle wall, the court of the Gentiles in the temple. That
middle wall is broken down now. In the body of Christ, Jew and
Gentile are one. So whether we be Jew or whether
we be Gentile as believers, we're one together. And this is marvelous. We're gonna see how is this wall
broken down? It is broken down by Christ.
This is wonderful, look at this. Ephesians chapter two, starting
in verse 11 and going to verse 17. Wherefore, remember that
ye being... Now he's writing to the saints
at Ephesus. They're, again, they're Gentiles. They're Gentiles. They're outside
the commonwealth of Israel, right? But look at this. This is amazing.
Oh my, this is amazing. Later on, if you keep reading
on in chapter two, it tells us that we're... Oh no, it tells
us in verse 12 that we're now part of the commonwealth of Israel.
That's wonderful. Look at this. Wherefore, remember that ye being
in times past, Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hand. So
that's simply stating that Gentiles are called uncircumcision. We're
uncircumcised dogs in the eyes of, if we were alive during those
times, we'd be considered uncircumcised dogs. And the circumcision in
the flesh made by hands are the Jews. Look at this, that at that
time, ye were without Christ. My, that's where we were, Brother
Brian. We didn't know he loved us from
eternity, but we were without Christ. Look at this, oh, this
is beautiful. Being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope. and without God in the world.
Now, he was watching over us, but in our minds, we had nothing
to do with God and wanted nothing to do with him. But now, in Christ Jesus, you
who were sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. Look at that. For he is our peace. And that's peace with God, beloved.
That's peace with God, who hath made both one, Jew and Gentile,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.
That wall that separated the court of the Gentiles from the
Jews is gone! It's gone! having abolished in his flesh,
that's in Christ, in his death, the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain,
the Jew and Gentile, one new man, so make in peace. So the
only way that a Jew or Gentile can find peace with God is in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ and by his precious blood. That's the only way. What mercy
God's had upon us. What mercy God's had upon us.
That he might reconcile both unto God. The Jews who are saved
by looking to Christ and the Gentiles who are saved by looking
to Christ are both reconciled to God. Both unto God in one
body. He's the head and we're the body.
by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and
preached peace to you. See, we gospel preachers, we
preach peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't
that wonderful? which were far off. That's where
we were. We were far off. Because remember
it said earlier that at that time you were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from
the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the
world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you sometimes were far off, are
made nigh by the blood of Christ. Oh my! It's wonderful. and came and preached peace to
you who were far off, and to them that were nigh, until Jew
and Gentile again. Now as amazed as the Gentiles
were by Peter being in their midst, they would be even more
amazed as they heard the truths of the gospel that Peter was
about to preach to them, which, Lord willing, we will look at
next week. my oh my what a savior what a
redeemer is jesus christ our lord my oh my brother dan can
you