Acts chapter 10. Thought I'd talk this morning.
Something a little kind of had laid up on my mind. There's a lot of talk that goes around
the internet. A lot of discussions, debates,
arguments, I guess, sometimes, and everything on when does salvation
take place? Is salvation something that happened
that was declared before all things were made? Is it something
that happens in time, at the cross? Is it something that happens
whenever you believe? whenever you are baptized. A
lot of people use the word saved in the context of whenever they
first come to know the Lord, whenever they, what we would
call, when they were converted, whenever they were granted repentance
and faith, they would use that term of salvation there, saved.
I was saved on such and such date, or I was saved here or
there or wherever. But the discussion goes deeper
than just the timing of salvation. Was it eternally? Was it at the
cross? Was it in time when we believed
or anything? It goes deeper than just the
timing, although that's very important. And I believe that
Scripture bears these things out. But it goes to the fact
of what actually is salvation. Okay? And do we in time experience
that salvation or actually receive or get that salvation? Are we
actually saved at that point whenever we believe or whenever
we are born or whenever we are whatever? When is it that we
have been saved and is our hearing the gospel, believing the gospel,
what saves us? You know, there are a lot of
people even among those who believe in sovereign grace who teach
that it is the preaching of the gospel and then the hearing and
believing of the gospel that one is now saved. You're saved
because you heard the gospel and believed the gospel and therefore
you're saved at that point. And so my question or my message
this morning is wanting to deal with does the Bible teach We
are saved because of what we believe or what we know. Is it
the knowledge that we have been given by God? Is it the faith
that we have been given by God? Is it the belief, the point of
belief when Jesus saved us? When Jesus saves his people from
their sin? When Jesus justifies his people? When Jesus sanctifies his people?
When Jesus does these things? Is it based upon our beliefs?
believing something. And of course, among sovereign
grace believers, there's also the discussion of whether you
have to believe so much of this, and if you're not believing so
much of this, then you're not, you know, some may even say not
elect. Some, like myself, would say
that if somebody's not believing the true gospel of God's imputed
righteousness by sovereign grace, by Christ's finished work alone,
based upon Christ's finished work alone, They might be elect,
but they're just not yet believers. They've not been brought to repentance
and faith yet. They still have not yet been
converted by God. And so, can there be Arminians
who are an elect of God? Absolutely. I was an Arminian,
but am I an elect of God? I hope so. I've been given a
hope in Christ. I believe that he is my salvation. towards him as my righteousness
alone and everything. I was an Arminian. I believed in free will. I believed
it was based upon my decision that I had to make the choice
either to accept him or to reject him. I believed all those things
for many, many years. Does that mean that I wasn't
saved? No, I was saved. I was saved even whenever I was
in a state of unbelief, as is all God's children. are saved
during their state of unbelief. They may not be converted. They
may not be given faith. They may not be showing forth
the works or the fruits, the works of righteousness, which
the Holy Spirit works in us. They may not be showing forth
those things at the moment, at that time, but yet they are truly
saved. Why? Why are they saved? Well,
because salvation has nothing to do with what we It has nothing
to do with what we know. It has nothing to do with where
we go to church. It has nothing to do with any
of those things. Salvation is based solely upon
God's predestination and Christ's finished work and the Spirit's
quickening and giving life. Now, the quickening and giving
life That comes as a result of being elected. It comes as a
result of Christ dying for us. The finished work of Christ on
our behalf, Christ as our substitute, is what purchased all the inheritances,
what purchased all the blessings and the benefits of salvation
for His people. And the Spirit is the one who
is the one who works these works within the child of grace. And
it is God who, before the foundation of the world, declared these
things to be so. So, our salvation has nothing
to do with what we do in time. It has nothing to do with what
we know, how much or how little. It has nothing to do with where
we go to church. Now, are those things important?
Absolutely they are. Where you go to church, is that
important? Absolutely it is. We should not be going to a church
that preaches a false gospel. We have warnings of that all
through the scripture. Jesus in Revelation, he himself
is calling his people out of the harlot. And whenever I say
the harlot, I'm talking about anything that preaches a false
gospel. Some may call it an Arminian church. Some may call it Catholicism,
Buddhism, Hinduism. They may call it all these other
names of all these other different groups. You may go to some cult
church or you may go to some whatever, all of them are part
of one harlot church. There is Christ's church, everything
else is a counterfeit. There is Christ's gospel, everything
else is a false gospel. There is the truth and everything
else is a lie. And so, is it important where
you go to church? Absolutely it is. We need to
be going to the church that preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ. We
need to go to a church that is based and functions and is ordered
by the Word of God and not by our whims, not by our emotions,
not by what we think. Okay? And so, salvation has nothing
to do with whether you've been dipped in water, or been sprinkled
with water, or been waved a wet rag at, you know? It has nothing
to do with that. But is that important? Absolutely
it is. Does the Bible prescribe how
we should be baptized? And who should be baptized? And
who should be doing the baptizing? Absolutely it does. The Bible
teaches that Christ gave the ordinance of baptism to the local
church to administer. The local church administers
baptism and the ones that Christ gave to baptize are those who
believe the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who believe the
true gospel of Jesus Christ are commanded to be baptized in water
and the way that they are to be baptized is by fully immersion.
They are to be completely submerged. Does that have anything to do
with your salvation? No, but that is how we show forth that
we identify and believe and identify with our union with Christ in
His death, burial, and resurrection and our being in Him, Him being
our substitute, and that we are accounting that that is our death,
burial, and resurrection, that He is our righteousness. All
that is what we proclaim. So if you're a child of grace
and you've not been baptized, you need to be baptized. If you
believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, you need to be baptized. Christ
commands us to be that, but does that save us? No, it does not
save us. Does that wash away your sins?
No, it doesn't. It's a picture of your sins being
washed away, but it is not the actual washing away of your sins.
The washing away of your sins is by the blood of Jesus Christ. That's why we sing the song.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
That's what washes away our sin, is the work of Jesus Christ alone. So salvation does not depend
upon what we know, what we don't know, where we go to church,
what ordinances we've fallen under. It doesn't have to do
with any of that. However those things are important,
we need to follow the Bible's prescription for how that should
be done. Find a church that preaches those
things and practices these things. And there we find fellowship,
one with another there. But salvation, brethren, goes
back to the work of Christ alone. We are saved by His work, and
that is an effectual work, meaning that it is applied to our account. It is applied to our record.
It is applied to who we are before we are ever born. And so what happens in time is
just the manifesting of that. What happens in time is just
the evidential work of what God has already predestinated before
the foundation of the world. What is happening in time is
the revealing of that, the knowledge of that, us growing in the grace
and knowledge of that, salvation that was already given to us
in times past. We find that before we get to
the part in Acts that I'm getting to, turn to 2 Timothy, a verse
that we're well acquainted with. I use this verse quite often.
2 Timothy 1, verse 9. 2 Timothy 1, verse 9. It says, Who hath saved us and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works. So
see there, brethren, it doesn't matter what you know, what you
don't know, where you go, and what you've done when you get
there. Okay? It's not according to our
works. And I would even include that
doesn't have anything to do with our good works that is wrought
out in us by the Holy Spirit. Our salvation has nothing to
do with our fleshly works or the spiritual works that is wrought
in us by the Holy Spirit. Salvation has nothing to do with
works, period. Good works or flesh works, bad
works. It has to do with the work of
Jesus Christ alone. So he says here, who has saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us when? When we believed, when we gained
knowledge of the gospel, when we became Calvinist, although
we don't believe in Calvinism. I mean, that's an offensive thing
in a way. Was it according to his purpose
and grace which was given us whenever we believed, whenever
we joined the church, whenever we were baptized, whenever we
did enough good works? No. When did he give this salvation
to us. He gave it to us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. That's when we were given salvation.
That's when we were given salvation. Salvation began before the world
began. Salvation was secured. Salvation
was manifested In the coming of Jesus Christ and His work
on the cross, it showed that God had saved His people by the
work of Jesus Christ and declared it to be so by the coming of
Jesus Christ accomplishing all that the Father had given Him
to do in the covenant of grace. Look what it says. All that's
eternal. All that that we just read in
verse 9 is before the foundation of the world and is eternal.
But look at verse 10. But it's now made manifest. We
talked about this word before. What does the word manifest mean?
It means brought to light, to make evident. Okay? We are made evident. I've used
this illustration before in shipping and receiving. There is a manifest. It shows what all's in there,
right? Whenever at work, we will go
and install a new x-ray room. Whenever the x-ray room gets
there on the truck, Okay, there's this truck, there's all this
kind of equipment in there, and we don't have any clue what all's
in there. I mean, we have a clue what's in there, because we know
what goes in the x-ray room. But we have this truck, you don't
see anything in there, and the guy gets out of the truck and
he hands you this paperwork, and on this paper, it has everything
listed on there that's in that truck. It's the manifest. It's revealing everything that's
come in this shipment. This is what's in this shipment
right here, okay? Whenever you fly on an airplane,
an airplane has a manifest. It has everybody that's contained
in this airplane. So that if it ever crashes and
they're starting to look for people, they have a manifest.
They know who was exactly on this plane and who wasn't on
this plane. So what does the manifest do? It reveals who all
was actually in the plane. Okay? Well, whenever we talk
about being manifested, we are saying that something that already
was, see the x-ray room was already in there and this paper just
reveals what's already there. Okay? It already reveals what's there.
So, but it's now made manifest. What is now made manifest? The
salvation that was given us before in Christ Jesus, before the world
began, is now made manifest. It's beginning to become evidential.
It's becoming to be shown. It's becoming to be revealed. to be known, brought to light,
right? That's the word that we're going
to see here in a minute. But is now made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and
hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. So see, the gospel was never
intended to give life. The gospel, the preaching of
the gospel, was never meant to give life. It was meant to bring
life to light. It's to reveal that we had life
before the foundation of the world in Christ Jesus already.
Our life was hid with Christ in God before the foundation
of the world. And so that life that is shown is shown by the
gospel. What is the life that flicks
on and shows, ba-ba-ba, there it is. It's the gospel. The gospel tells us or manifests
to us what was already there. So whenever people hear the gospel
being preached and all of a sudden now they begin to believe it
and they repent of what they used to believe and they turn
from what they used to believe and what they thought was how
you performed righteousness before God and realize that righteousness
can only be had if Christ does it for you. and that we're only
trusting Him. Whenever the point comes, whenever
we begin to believe that and we receive that as our own, say,
yes, that's how I've been saved. That's who I'm looking to. That's
who I'm trusting in. I'm not trusting in my own worth.
At that point, when we begin to do that, that's not when we
were saved. That's the manifesting of the
salvation that we already had. It's the revealing of the salvation
that was already purchased and wrought out or purchased for
you and is now being wrought in you. Whenever I use that word
wrought, I mean worked in you. That's what that means. It's
being worked in you. That salvation is being worked
in you. Well, how is salvation being worked in me? The Holy
Spirit is granting you the ability to repent of false thinking and
to believe or have faith in Christ alone. See that's being revealed,
it's being manifested. The life has always been there,
but it's now being revealed. We've always had this life, it
was hid with Christ and God. But now, in this vessel of flesh,
that life is made manifest, and we see faith, we see belief,
we see repentance, we see these things. and immortality. The gospel brings forth and shows
forth, and a lot of times people don't really deal with that part
of it. Now we say that we have eternal life, but a lot of people
believe that we get eternal life the moment that we believe. Soon
as we begin to believe, then God gives us eternal life at
that point. If that was the case, then eternal
life is not eternal, it was partial from that point forward. But
eternal life is that very thing, eternal life. And that eternal
life is actually Christ's life. It's actually Him. It's His life
that we receive. We receive His life. That's why
Jesus uses the illustration of an eye in the vine near the branches. That life that goes into the
branch comes from that vine. That tree out there, those branches
that are out there, you see some of them are dead and some of
them are alive. Why is that? That's because the
life of that tree flows into those branches. Some of those
branches don't have life that flows into them. They look like
a tree. You think it might be part of
the tree, but there is no life in that. Just as now in churches
you'll find there are some that look like Christians, talk like
Christians, act like Christians to some degree, but there really
is no life in them. And there are some that are alive,
and whenever they have life in them, what does it do? They show
forth fruit. Well, what is the fruit that
the Bible talks about? It's the fruit of the Spirit. It's not
the fruit of our labors. It's not the fruit of our works.
It's the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit in us.
The working of the Spirit in us. Particularly, and I would
say majoritably, in doctrine. In belief of what Christ has
done. The faith in Christ. That's made manifest, but a lot
of times we don't talk about that, that the gospel, part of
the gospel preaching is to show forth that this life and this
immortality that we have is different, and nobody else has that. We
have that. We are a peculiar people, the Bible says. We're
not like the rest of the world. We're not of this world. Me and
my Uncle Tom was talking about this earlier this week, and how
sometimes we skip over these things. that the Bible says that
we are not of this world. Well, that's crazy. That's all
we've ever known is this world. How is it that we are not of
this world? That life that is in the child of grace that comes
from above, from not of this world. That's what we have, that
eternal life. That eternal life is not of this
world. It's from there, wherever God's at, from wherever Christ
is. That's where the life comes from.
So why do I say all this? Why is this important? Why the
distinction? Well, because so many people
put so much emphasis, and I'm not saying that we should take
away emphasis of preaching the gospel, but they say that unless
somebody is preached the gospel and they hear the gospel, then
they can't be saved. Therefore, that's why we have
all these people having to have missionaries running all over
the world and thinking that they're saving the world by their preaching
of the gospel and everything like that. There are people being
lost and going to hell because nobody ever reached them with
the gospel and that blood can be on our hands because we didn't
preach the gospel to somebody and everything. These are all
things that come from man's understanding or man's wisdom about the gospel
and about salvation. That's not what the Bible teaches.
And so we make these distinctions and it's unfortunate or sad that
sovereign grace people argue about these things and the fact
that they say that we believe that salvation is by grace alone,
through faith alone, and Christ alone, for his glory alone, all
the five souls, whatever they are, and everything. But yet,
they'll turn right around and say that unless we believe this,
then we can't be saved. And go so far to even say that
somebody is a non-elect or say that somebody is a reprobate
or say that somebody isn't a child of God because they don't believe
in sovereign grace yet. Well, I would have been condemned
then for all the years that I was believing in free will and all
these other things that I was believing. I would have been
condemned by everybody that believes sovereign grace if that was the
case. I would be condemned on that part. But it was in due
time. in God's time that He revealed
His Son in me, that it was made manifest. There was a time that
God had appointed for the Holy Spirit to give me understanding
and grant me repentance, as it is with every child of grace.
Now, back to Acts 10. Why do I say that? Well, I believe
that there is a place in the Scriptures that shows forth this
very thing. Well, number one, I believe the
Scriptures teach that that salvation is by the work of Jesus Christ
alone and it isn't by preaching of the gospel. But there is importance
in preaching the gospel. We're to preach the gospel. We
do that. We don't believe in not preaching
the gospel. We are accused of that because we believe in predestination
and election, especially absolute predestination and election.
We are often said to not believe in preaching the gospel, and
that's not true. We believe in preaching the gospel.
We just know what the Bible teaches about who the gospel's for and
who's gonna hear it, and what the purpose of the gospel is.
It's not to cause people to be quickened. It's not to cause
people to get saved, okay? So Acts chapter 10, in Acts chapter
10, we see the story of Cornelius, and I believe that Cornelius
is a great example of a man who was born from above already,
before he ever heard the gospel or ever met Peter. I believe
that Cornelius was a man that was born from above and had yet
been granted repentance and faith to believe the gospel. He had
not heard the gospel. But yet God still had saved him
and there was some form of activity of the work of the Spirit in
him to some degree. And I believe whenever the Bible
teaches that they're among those who are made in the good soil,
whenever they spring up, that some are tenfold, some are twentyfold,
some are fortyfold. Some have little faith. Some have much faith. And it
is Christ who deals out or meets out or measures out that amount
of faith to each one of his children. And I believe Cornelius was one
of these men who God had already saved because of Christ, who
was elected before the foundation of the world, sanctified in Christ
Jesus, justified by the blood of Christ Jesus, completely saved,
but yet had not been granted repentance and faith and had
not yet understood or been revealed his salvation. and I believe
this is a bit, is bore out in the word of God here. So let's
look at Acts chapter 10, and I'm gonna go ahead and I'm gonna
read the whole verse, so bear with me, and then we'll talk
about it. It says, there was a certain
man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called
the Italian band, 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
said he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord? And he said
unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial
before God. So his prayers and his alms come
up before as a memorial before God. He says, And now send men
to Joppa and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. He loves
one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside. He shall tell
thee what thou oughtest to do. And when the angel which spake
unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household
servants, and a devout soldier of them, that waited on him continually. And when he had declared all
these things unto him, he sent them to Joppa. On the morrow,
as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city,
Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour.
And when he had become very hungry and would have eaten, but while
they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven open
and a certain vessel descending unto him as it had been a great
sheet knit at the four corners and let down to the earth, wherein
were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth and wild
beasts and creeping things and fowls of the air." These were
things that the Jews were not allowed to eat, right? He said,
And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. And Peter said, Not so, Lord,
for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And
the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common. Now that's very important.
What God has cleansed, do not call that common or unclean. This was done thrice, and the
vessel was received up again unto heaven. Now while Peter
doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should
mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made
inquiry of Simon's house, and stood before the gate, and called
and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged
there. While 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 whereof ye
are come? And they said, Cornelius the
centurion, a just man, and one that feared God, and of the good
report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God
by an holy angel to send for thee into the 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. And the morrow after they entered
into Caesarea, and Cornelius waited for them, and had called
together his kinsmen and near friends. And as Peter was coming
in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped
him. Okay, now here's Amanda in fear
of God, been praying to God, giving alms, had good rapport.
The Bible says was a just man, but yet here he is, he comes
and he falls at the feet and begins to start worshiping Peter.
That kind of sounds crazy, doesn't it? He says, but Peter took him
up, saying, stand up, I myself also am a man. Now let me just
say this on a side note. I don't mean to get off on this
too much, but the Catholics believe that Peter was the first Pope.
and you see how much the Catholics revere the Pope, all the pomp
and circumstance around the Pope, how all the gold and all the
stuff that he wears, the hats, the rings, the staffs, all the
junk that they do, and how they would dare not say anything bad
about the Pope, and how they kiss his hand and ring, and all
that kind of stuff, and how they give all this reverence to the
Pope. The Pope himself declares that he is the vicar of Christ,
or that he is the mediator between God and man, that they come to
him, and he's the one who mediates salvation to the people. Okay,
so the Pope is this, and all these people worship the Pope,
and they believe that Peter was the first Pope. Well, here, Peter is saying,
don't worship me, I'm just a man. So that should tell us something
about, we shouldn't be worshiping the Pope, okay, he's just a man. church anyway. He said that Peter
took him up saying, stand up, I myself also am a man. And as
he talked with him, he went in and found many that were come
together. And he said unto them, you know how that it is unlawful
thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come unto
one of another nation. But God hath shown me that I
should not call any man common or unclean. So Peter began to
understand that What God was showing him with those animals
coming down and him to kill and eat those things and everything
and not call them things common that God has cleansed had to
do with the Gentiles. The inclusion of the Gentiles.
The Jews were not supposed to mix and mingle with the Gentiles
unless the Gentiles had converted to Judaism. That was the only
way that they could mix and mingle with the Gentiles And so for
the fact that Peter came into the house of this Gentile showed
that Peter had been taught by God that all things Jew and Gentile
had been brought together into one and formed that there were
people of God from every tribe, nation, language, and tongue.
And so he knew that he was being called a Cornelius because Cornelius
was not common or unclean. Therefore came I unto you without
gain, saying, As soon as I was sent for, I asked, therefore,
for what intent ye have sent for me. 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 thine
alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. So he said,
this is what the man told me to do. That's what I did. Here you are, and we're all gathered
here to hear whatever it is that God's told you to tell us. Then Peter opened his mouth and
said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. Okay? Why did he say that? Well, because he realizes that
God now has brought the gospel to the Gentiles. Now, Paul was
already preaching to the Gentiles. Paul had already had the discussion
with Peter and the rest of the council at Jerusalem about God
sending people to the Gentiles. But now Peter himself was experiencing
the very thing, God sending him to preach the gospel to these
Gentiles, who also were included in the people of God, who was
included in the ones that Christ had saved already. All right? And so Peter is now realizing
that, and he himself is gone to do this. He said, 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. Now look
at that. He that feareth him, and we already were told that
Cornelius feareth him, right? He already feared God. Now this
was before he heard the gospel and supposedly was saved. See,
the preachers of the gospel regeneration group, the preachers of the knowledge
for salvation group, the right knowledge to be saved group,
would have said what Cornelius was believing, the fact that
he was bowing at somebody's feet and worshiping him, showed he
didn't believe the gospel. But yet the Bible said that he
feared God and worketh righteousness. There
was righteousness being worked out of him in the fact of what
he believed, What he did, how he acted and reacted, those things
were being worked in him by the Holy Spirit. And Peter said,
I know that now in every nation God hath those that fear him
and worketh righteousness. He said, I know that everyone
that feareth and worketh righteousness is accepted with him, is accepted
currently. He already, before he even started
preaching this gospel to Cornelius, knew Cornelius is a man accepted
of God. This man is already accepted
of God. Now look at verse 36. 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,
who 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 the quick and the dead. To
him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever
believeth in him shall receive remissions of sins. He's preaching
the gospel now to Cornelius. Verse 44, while Peter yet spake
these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word.
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished
as many as came with Peter. These were the Jews that came
with Peter from Joppa. Because that on the Gentiles
also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost where they
heard them speak. with tongues that magnify God. Now, this isn't
the tongues that you hear of in these Pentecostal churches
today, where they're like, that you see on TV, Benny Hinn, Kenneth
Copeland, and all these guys that are acting like idiots,
okay? This is not the biblical tongues. The biblical tongues
were actual languages that were being spoke. People were speaking
in languages that they did not know, but yet God had given them
a gift to be able to speak in a language that they had never
learned and proclaimed the glory and the gospel of Jesus Christ
in another language to people that knew that language. That's
what tongues were. Tongues were something that was
a gift to be able to proclaim the message. But there was another
reason that gifts were given. The gifts were given, especially
the gifts of tongues, was given as a sign to Jews that God was
working in the Gentiles, that God was also doing what He was
doing, and that this whole Judaic system had been crumbled to the
ground and left desolate, and that what Christ had built, began
to build, there while He was there, in the formation of the
church, in the laying of the foundation of the apostles, with
the teachings that He had given them, the faith once delivered
to the saints, that all those things, that as he began to build
those things, that everything that was there, that
those people that heard that, that God had included them in
all of that. And that the Jews who were rejecting
that, whenever they seen them speaking in tongues, that brought
their memory back to the Old Testament. which said that people
that would be talking in languages and other languages would be
a sign of their destruction. And it very well was. It was
the sign of the destruction that was to come upon Jerusalem in
AD 70 whenever God brought in the Romans to literally destroy
all of Jerusalem and millions upon millions of Jews were killed
during that time. God destroyed it all. sure at
all as he had promised he would. And so what this is saying is
not that we ought to evidence our salvation by whatever. It is showing that this right
here was a sign because those Jews that came down, it was a
sign to them that what's being preached in this gospel is true.
What God has been doing in bringing in the Gentiles is true. And
so it linked them with the first believers, the first church.
And so, he says, while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy
Ghost fell on them which heard the word of they that were circumcised,
of the circumcision, which believed were astonished as many as came
with Peter, because that on the Gentiles he also poured out the
gift of the Holy Ghost, for they heard them speak with tongues
and magnified God. Then answered Peter, can any
man forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received
the Holy Ghost as well as we. And he commanded them to be baptized
in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry
certain days." Okay, so Peter preached the Gospel, Cornelius
and them believed the Gospel, the Holy Spirit empowered them
to hear and believe the Gospel, They began to believe the gospel
and showed in evidence this gift of the Holy Spirit that was given
to them as a sign to the Jews that of their inclusion. And
what did Peter do? Peter commanded them to be baptized.
That's what we ought to do. Whenever someone shows forth
that they believe in Christ Jesus and they believe the true gospel,
that they should be baptized. That's what we ought to do. If
you're here today and you're believing the gospel and you've not been
baptized, you should be baptized. But let's go back, because what
I want to talk about is Cornelius. Was Cornelius saved before he
heard that gospel and believed? I believe he was. I believe he
most certainly was. If you'll first notice, look
back at the beginning of chapter 10, verse 2. If you first notice,
whenever we see what happens here, we see that before Peter
came to Cornelius, before Cornelius had heard the gospel, the Bible
says that Cornelius was a devout man who feared God with all his
house. Now that word devout there, that
word translated here in the New Testament, is translated godly. Okay, that word means godly.
He was a godly man. Cornelius was a godly man before
he heard the gospel. before Peter came and preached
to him. Before his ears were given to
hear and believe and to show forth evidence of belief. He
was a godly man. We see that in 2 Peter 2.9. That
word is used. Look with me if you would in
2 Peter 2.9. So you know that I'm not just making this up to
fit my narrative here. 2 Peter 2.9, the same Greek word
is found here in the 9th verse of chapter 2 of 2 Peter. It says,
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation and
to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.
That word godly there, same Greek word used for devout. The word
that God uses, the word that God defines, devout, is not someone
who sticks with it, necessarily, as much as it is he's a godly
man. Okay? And so from the Bible we
also know that those who fear the Lord are the ones who possess
God's salvation. Turn with me, if you would, to
Psalms chapter 85. The Bible says Cornelius was
not only a godly man or a devout man, But he was a man who feared
the Lord. Look at Psalm 85 and look with
me if you would at verse 9. Psalm 85 verse 9. It says, Surely his salvation
is nigh them that fear him. That glory may dwell in our land. Surely his salvation is nigh
them that fear him. One of the things that shows
forth that the fear of God evidences is that we are His. Those who
fear the Lord are His, that His salvation has come to them. It's only those who are saved
that fear the Lord because the Bible also says that the unbeliever
are the ones who are reprobate, the ungodly. They do not fear
the Lord. There is no fear of God in them.
They do not reverence Him. Cornelius was giving reverence
to God even though he didn't know the Gospel. He was giving
reverence to God. So does that mean we call him
a brother in Christ? Well, no, we can't call him a
brother in Christ until he believes the Gospel. Does that mean he
was still saved? Yeah, he was saved. He was saved. Some people are going to say,
So you mean to tell me that there are going to be saved people
who don't believe in God, saved unbelievers? Absolutely. Every
one of God's people were saved in Christ at the cross and none
of them had yet believed. It's as simple as that, people.
Our salvation is in Christ, not in our believing. The believing
is the evidence of our salvation. So here we see that he was a
man who feared God. So he was a devout man or a godly
man. He was one that feared God. Both
of these are evidences of the Spirit of God in him, right?
Now look at Psalms 103. Psalms 103. Verse 17. It says, But the mercy
of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, upon them that
fear him and his righteousness unto children's children. So
the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. God
didn't show his mercy upon Cornelius whenever he believed. God doesn't
give his mercy on us at the moment of our belief. He gives his mercy
upon us from the foundation of the world. He shows us mercy
by choosing us, by putting us in Christ Jesus. He shows mercy
on us by sending His Son to die as a substitute in our place. He spares us. He gives us mercy. He didn't give Christ mercy.
Christ received all the punishment of our sin. But here it says
here that Cornelius feared God and the Bible here says that
God's mercy is from everlasting to everlasting to those that
feared Him. If you're a fearing person, that means that the mercy
of God has been given to you. So the mercy of God had already
been given to Cornelius. Look if you would at Psalms 147. Psalms 147, look with me at verse
11. The Bible says, the Lord taketh
pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy."
So here we see that God does what? He taketh pleasure in them
that fear Him. Cornelius feared God. God had found pleasure in showing
mercy to Cornelius. Why? Because he believed God?
No, he had not yet believed the gospel yet. But because he was
God's child, because he was born of the Spirit, because he was
in Christ Jesus and received all the benefits that salvation
brings, it was God's pleasure to show him mercy. Look, if you
would, at Romans, or well, while we're there, Psalms 36, verse
1. This is what I was saying just a minute ago. It says, The transgression of
the wicked saith within my heart that there is no fear of God
before his eyes. The wicked have no fear of God. But yet, Cornelius had the fear
of God in him. Look at Romans chapter 3, verse
18. Romans 3, 18. Let's start at verse 1. It says,
What advantage then hath the Jew, or what profit is there
of circumcision? Much in every way, chiefly because
unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some
did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the
faith of God without effect? God forbid. Yea, let God be true,
but every man a liar, as it is written, that thou mightest be
justified in thy saying. and mightest overcome when thou
art judged. But if our righteousness commend
the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous,
who taketh vengeance? I speak as a man. God forbid,
for then how shall God judge the world? For if the truth of
God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet
am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, as we be slanderously
reported, and as some affirm that we say, Let us do evil that
good may come, whose damnation is just. What then? Are we better than they? No,
and no wise, for we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles,
that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way, and they are all together become unprofitable. There is
none that doeth good, No, not one. Their throat is an open
sepulcher, and their tongues they have used to see the poison
of Asp is in their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways, and the way of peace have they not known? There is
no fear of God before their eyes. Now, we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified in the sight, for by law is the
knowledge of sin." Now, as you see here, it says here, there is no fear of
God before their eyes. Those who have not been born
from above, who are still natural, have no fear of God at all. but yet Cornelius had the fear
of God. So Cornelius exemplified characteristics
of those who were children of God, who had been born of God,
but yet all this was before he had ever heard and believed the
gospel. Now the second thing I want us
to look at, if you'll turn back to Acts chapter 10, is that in verse 4 we see, "...and
when he looked on him, he was afraid and said, What is it,
Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers
and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God." So Cornelius'
prayers were come up for a memorial before God, before he had ever
heard the Gospel and believed. His prayers had come up as a
memorial before God. If you'll turn with me to Proverbs
chapter 15, we learn something about the prayers coming before
God. Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 29. It says, the Lord is far from the
wicked But he heareth the prayer of the righteous." Now, we already
know that in Acts chapter 10 and in verse 22, the Scriptures
record that Cornelius the centurion was a just man and one that feared
God. One who is just is righteous. Now, it's not his own justness
that makes him righteous. It's not his own righteousness
that is taken into account of, but it's because Christ has justified
him, and therefore the righteousness of Christ is given to him on
his behalf. He was a man who not only feared
God, but God heard his prayers, and the Bible says that God only
hears the prayers of the righteous, those who have been justified
in Christ Jesus, meaning already saved. The prayers of Cornelius
the unbeliever was heard by God. Why? Because he was a just man. He was a righteous man. Not in
and of himself. Yes, he was an unbeliever still.
He had not heard the Gospel and believed the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. He believed in God. He believed
in something that was there. He would give honor to God for
who God was. But yet, salvation was already
his. I know people are saying, well,
you're treading on fire and water there because you're saying that
there could be people that could be saved that don't know that they're
saved and go into heaven never knowing Jesus Christ. That's
not what I'm saying. The Bible clearly teaches, we
don't go to extremes, okay? What does the Bible say? Does
the Bible say what it's saying about Cornelius? Absolutely it
does. Did Cornelius believe the gospel before Peter came to him?
No, he didn't. Or he wouldn't have been falling
at the feet of Cornelius and worshiping him. He would have
known more about what Peter was going to talk about before Peter
got there, but he didn't. That's why Peter was sent to
him, was to preach what Cornelius didn't know. But that wasn't when he was saved.
That wasn't when he was saved. So he was a righteous man, not
in and of himself, but because of what Christ did. And some
will say, like I said, some will say, well, Do you believe that
people go to heaven and never know in Christ? No, because the
Bible also says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to
me. That word come there means to
believe on me. All the Father giveth me shall
believe on me. See, there was no way that Cornelius
was going to get out of this life with not have been having
given faith and believing upon the Lord Jesus Christ. You're
saying, Mike, you're saying that there could be people that come
to be given faith before they ever hear the gospel? Absolutely,
I believe they can. You have to be given faith first
to be able to receive that which your faith clings to. We have
to be given the capacity of faith so that whenever we hear what
faith clings to comes, we can cling to it. We can hold to it.
We can receive it. We can believe it. quality that work of faith has
to be there before. God has to give us, grant us
repentance and faith before we can ever believe the Gospel.
And so therefore, the preaching of the Gospel, it doesn't matter
if you ever hear the Gospel until God grants repentance and faith,
then you will never hear what's being said in the Gospel. And
there are people all over this world that hear the Gospel week
after week after week after week who never have heard it in the
spiritual man until God opens up their ears. Was Paul an elect
of God? Absolutely he was. Before he
was on the road to Damascus? Yes he was. Was he a child of
grace? Absolutely he was. Was he saved
before he went on the road to Damascus? Yes he was. Why was
he saved? Because he was in Christ Jesus,
who was his substitute. Did Paul believe the gospel before
he was on the road to Damascus? No, he didn't. Matter of fact,
he was out persecuting those who were preaching that gospel
on his way to Damascus to persecute the church that had spread there
to preach the gospel. And he was there because he did
not believe that gospel. But was Paul saved? Absolutely.
He was saved as much as anybody else was saved. But what does
the Bible say about Paul? Whenever the Lord was pleased
to reveal His Son in me, that was on the road to Damascus.
He was pleased to reveal my salvation, to reveal my Savior, to reveal
the gospel, the truth of the gospel to me. When God was pleased
to do that, I believed. When did Cornelius do that? When
God was pleased to reveal that to him. When did he do that?
When Peter came and preached to him. But was he already saved?
Absolutely he was already saved. So God hears the prayers of the
righteous. You can only be righteous if
Christ died for you. And if Christ died for you, then
you're saved. Now, the third thing, and we're
just about done here. Look at verses 34 and 35. I want you to notice here in verse 34, it says, Then Peter
opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is
no respecter of persons, but in every nation that feareth
him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. See, Peter
realized that Cornelius feared God and that righteousness was
being worked in Cornelius and therefore Cornelius was accepted
of God and therefore being accepted of God was the candidate to whom
the gospel should be preached. And what did Peter begin to do?
He began to preach the gospel. Whenever Peter had realized that
Cornelius showed forth the evidence of one who had been accepted
of God because God's work in him. What did Peter do? He began to preach it to him,
the gospel. You know, oftentimes I speak with people that I work
with and that I encounter, we'll get to talking, especially if
they find out that I'm a preacher. Had that opportunity actually
this last week with a lady that I work with down in Arkansas. She professes to be a Christian
and she knows that I'm a preacher and every time I'm there we'll
strike up some sort of conversation. She'll ask me a question about
something that she may be studying or something that she has a question
about and everything. And things come up and I present
to her the gospel. Why? Because she shows forth
the desire to understand those things. She shows forth a desire
to know Christ, a desire to be right in her understanding. There are some people who also
profess to be Christians, but as soon as you start talking
about Christ to them, they immediately want to change the subject and
go to other things, because you can obviously tell, outwardly,
that they're uneasy about what we're talking about. Or they
have no clue of what you're talking about. Their eyes are just aglaze. Do I continue to keep engaging
them with the Gospel? No, if they have no desire to
hear those things, and I just continue on doing what I was
doing, go somewhere else and do something else. But to those
who show this, that they desire these things, that they show
forth, what do we do? We preach the gospel to them.
I was thankful that my uncle continued to preach the gospel
to me whenever I showed forth the things of God. Was I saved
before I believed sovereign grace? Absolutely I was. My uncle believed that I was
accepted of God and therefore he continued to give me the gospel,
preach to me the gospel. What happened? The Lord, at His
appointed time, desired to show, or it was His pleasure to reveal
His Son in me. To reveal Christ in me, and what
Christ has done for me, and to show me what the gospel was actually
really about. Was I saved then? No, I'd already
been saved. Was I an unbeliever before then?
Absolutely I was. Just because you're an unbeliever
doesn't mean you're a non-elect. Because all the elect at some
point was unbelievers. That's why I also believe that
unbelief is not the unpardonable sin. Then Peter opened his mouth and
said, O truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons,
but in every nation. He that feareth him worketh righteousness
is accepted. Is accepted. So brethren, As
we've seen in this 10th chapter of Acts, we can only conclude
that Cornelius was not only set apart, sanctified, providentially
kept all his life, providentially moved to where he lived by God, but was also born again
and in possession of eternal life before he ever heard the
gospel or met Peter. Cornelius is a great biblical
example of what the Bible teaches regarding the new birth. That
the new birth is based only on the will of God. Look at John
chapter 1 and verse 13. John chapter 1 and verse 13. The Bible says, Which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. We are born by the will of God. We are born of God, by the work
of God. It's not by the work of the flesh. So it's necessary before a man
can even believe or see the Kingdom of God that they be born again.
So the fact that Cornelius already was fearing God, was a righteous
man, a devout man, that all these things were given of his alms,
that those things were evidence that he had already been born
again, but just not have been granted repentance and faith
at the time. Look, if you would, at John chapter 3 and verse 3,
Jesus talking to Nicodemus said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. We have to be born again before
we can believe. We have to be born again before. And if we're born again, that
means we're already saved, brethren. That's not we getting saved.
That is already saved. See, lost and wicked sinners,
they do not accomplish their own new birth. See, we don't
birth ourselves. The preacher don't birth you
whenever he preaches to you. See, it's only when a man is
already born again that he has any desire, just like Cornelius,
to hear and obey the gospel message. What did Peter, whenever God
said, hey, I want to send this man to come down here to tell
you some things, Of course, Cornelius probably had already heard of
who Peter was. And what did he do? He called all of his kinsmen
and all of his servants and all of his household, gathered them
together, and they were sitting and they were waiting for Peter
to arrive. And they said, hey, we're all
here. We're ready to listen to what you have to say to us. What
did God tell you to come tell us? We're ready to listen. See, only a person that's born
again has any desire to hear that and to obey that gospel.
Look if you would at John chapter 5 and verse 24. The Bible says, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath already everlasting life. When Cornelius believed
the gospel on Jesus Christ, whenever he heard the word, remember it
said, and he heard that word, Cornelius heard what Peter had preached. The
hearing ear, the Lord giveth. The seeing eye of the Lord given.
See, those things are all because we've been born from above already,
not to get it, because we've already had it. Right? But here it says, He that heareth
my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation, but is already
passed from death unto life. Listen, we don't pass from death
unto life at the moment that we believe. We already have passed
from death unto life. When did we do that? In the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. When Jesus raised from the dead,
we raised from the dead. We were brought from death to
life when Jesus rose from the dead. That was our resurrection. We
were raised in Christ Jesus. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
2 and verse 14. More familiar verses that we
talk about a lot of times. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14. It says, The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. The fact that Cornelius was receiving these things, believing
these things, had already begun by his godly attitude, by his
godly life, by his devoutness, by his justness, his righteousness
being worked out in him. And again, this is the Spirit
working these things. the things that he's doing in and of himself.
It's the Spirit that's rotting these things in his heart. It's
because he understands these things because he is already
a spiritual man and not a natural man. The natural man cannot perceive. Therefore, nobody can believe
before they're born again. You have to be born again before
you leave. Nobody can hear and understand
before you're born again. Cornelius was already born again. He didn't get saved when he believed. I believe there's other passages
of Scripture that teach these things. If you want to turn,
you can. I'll turn to them real fast. Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse
5. The Lord speaking of the prophet
Jeremiah. He said, Before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified thee. meaning that I have set
you apart, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. God
had already called and set Jeremiah apart to be a prophet unto God. Now, He's not going to send the
unsaved man. He's not going to send the unrighteous
man. He's not going to send the unjust
man, the non-child of God, as the prophet, to be the prophet
of God. He's already the prophet of God. God had already predestinated
him for this work before he was ever born. In Luke chapter 1 verse 15, Luke chapter 1 and verse 15,
the Bible says, speaking of John
the Baptist, This is the angel speaking to John the Baptist's
mother. It says, for he shall be great
in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even
from his mother's womb. Now, how can you be filled with
the Holy Spirit and not be his, not be saved?
Guess what? This was before Jesus even died.
John was filled with the Holy Spirit before Jesus even died,
before the Spirit ever came down upon the church on the day of
Pentecost. He was filled with the Holy Spirit.
There's a lot of people who say that the Old Testament saints,
they weren't filled with the Holy Spirit like we are today.
They weren't filled with the Spirit. Well, the Bible says,
if they had not the Spirit of Christ, they are none of His.
In Peter, we learn that those men in the Old Testament, those
prophets, were looking forward and talking about Jesus, about
the Messiah and the things that they were prophesying because
of the Spirit of Christ that was in them. The Spirit of Christ
was in them. That meant Christ was already
Christ in the Old Testament. Right? So here we see John the
Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's
womb. Was that before John ever heard
the Gospel? Absolutely it was. Romans chapter 9. before the
boys had done anything good or bad. Romans 9, verse 10. Romans 9, verse 10. And not only this, but when Rebekah
also had conceived by one, even our father Isaac, for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, Not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but he so have I hated. Was Jacob saved before he was
born? Absolutely he was. Did Jacob do anything good to
get it? No, he didn't. Did God base his election and
salvation of Jacob on anything that Jacob did? No. Does he base
it on anything that we do? No. Does that include belief?
Absolutely. And lastly, what I already quoted
a while ago, but let's read it so you can see where it comes
from, Galatians chapter 1 and verse 15. Speaks of Paul. Paul speaking of himself here.
Galatians chapter 1 and verse 15. I'll start reading in verse
11, it says, But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which
was preached of me, of me, is not after man. So what I'm preaching
is not after man from God. For I neither received it of
man. So that means that the gospel that he's preaching, he didn't
receive of man. He didn't get it from listening to men. He
got it from Christ. Christ taught it to him. That's
the same way we get it. There may be men preaching to
us. There may be men teaching to us. We may gain edification
from listening to it. It's because the Holy Spirit
has already wrought that truth in our heart and we are testifying
that what that man is saying, that man is testifying to the
truth, amen, I believe that, that makes my heart leap for
joy to hear that truth. But the truth was made known
to us in a mystic way, if that's what you want to call it. If
people want to call me a mystic, they can call me a mystic all
the day long. If that's what you think mysticism
is, I don't care what monikers and names people give me, Does
the Holy Spirit work irregardless of the works of men? Absolutely
He does. And can He place within the heart
of man faith and belief before he sees and knows? Absolutely
He can because He has to have that capacity there before He
can ever grasp whenever He does hear what's true and knows that's
the truth. So if you want to call that mysticism,
you can call that mysticism. in them? Absolutely he does.
Faith comes by hearing, but hearing comes by the Word of God. How
can your faith be built upon? Well, there has to be an establishment
of faith first for it to be built. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. Faith comes from hearing, but
the hearing has to come first. You have to be given hearing.
You have to be given the ability. That's the new birth. In the
new birth comes the hearing. The hearing hears with faith,
by faith. Faith is that which God has given
to us to believe what He says. What He says doesn't make us
believers, but our faith causes us to believe in what is true
when we hear the truth. Why? Because the Holy Spirit
has already taught us. But when, excuse me, it said,
for I neither received it in man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Brethren, that's Ephesians
3.3. We're taught things by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For
ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion,
how that beyond, you notice how he says all that Judaic system
that they were practicing is called the Jews' religion, it's
not Christ's religion. That religion was made desolate.
People are trying now to keep that religion. They're trying
to mix that religion with Christianity where there were Judeo-Christians.
We're not Judeo-Christians. We are not Judeo-Christians.
We are not Jews infused with Christianity or Christianity
infused with Jewishism, Judaicism, whatever it's called. That house
was left desolate. And all these people in the Hebrew
Roots Movement who are trying to rekindle all the Torah stuff
and all the festivals and the feasts, who are looking to all
these things and stuff like that, they are looking at the shadow
and not the substance, which is Jesus Christ. That was my
soapbox. How that beyond measure I persecuted
the church and wasted it and profited in the Jews' religion
above many my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly
zealous of the traditions of my fathers. Here it is, but when
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, who
sanctified, that's what word separated means, to sanctify.
He sanctified me. I was already sanctified by the
time I was born, I was already sanctified. Wait a minute, I
thought sanctification came after you believed. Now we're progressively
being sanctified. Nope, brethren, we were fully
sanctified in Christ Jesus, not a progressive thing at all. We
were set apart in Christ Jesus. Paul was set apart in Christ
Jesus from before his mother's womb. He said, and he called
me by his grace. See, he was called by the grace
of God. In verse 16, to reveal his son
in me, that I might preach him among the heathens. See, God
called him and revealed God's son in him. Why? So that he might preach the gospel
among the heathens. Why did God save me those many
years ago on the covered tree before I was ever born? Why did
God, before the foundation of the world, save me and call me,
elect me, sanctify me in Christ Jesus, give me life that's hidden
with Christ before I was ever created, before anything was
ever created? Why did, at some point, God finally reveal Christ
in me so that I might preach the gospel Why does God save any of His
people? Because they were elected in Christ Jesus. And He does
it at the cross. Everything is purchased at the
cross, but when do you experience it? When is it manifested? When
God is pleased to reveal His Son in you. When was Cornelius
revealed God's Son? When Peter came to preach the
gospel. Was Cornelius already saved? Yeah, he was. He was. And we can follow the
traditions of men, we can follow the confessions and creeds of
historians and theologians, or we can look at God's word and
we can believe what God's word says about things. If God's word
is clear, whether it's clear or not, it's God's word, it's
still true. But yet we believe what God says
about these things. Anybody got any questions or
any comments? All right, I've gone quite a
bit over, so I don't have word of prayer. Father, we thank you
for this day. Thank you for your grace and
mercy. We thank you for Christ Jesus and whose life we live
and move and have our being. We thank you, Father, that all
things were completed in Christ on our behalf. We thank you,
Father, for revealing Christ to us, in us. We thank you, Father,
for the gospel that declares the mighty works of our Savior,
Jesus. And once again, Father, I pray,
as always, that if there is any here that is your children, that
you grant them repentance and faith, Lord, that they might
begin to believe the gospel, and Lord, that you might also
draw them to be baptized as you have commanded, that they might
follow that commandment to be baptized and that we might add
them to the number of the church, that they might come into the
labors that we have here in the service of Christ and the
worship of God. Lord, we just pray that you just
might be with us as we leave this place, that you might keep
us safe throughout this week, that you might provide for us,
Lord, that you might help us in this day of evil in our country.
Father, we do pray for our nation and we pray for our leaders that
you might give us good leaders. We pray that you might give us
people who honor you. We know, Lord, that the flesh
cannot do anything to gain your righteousness, Lord, but we know
that you can give us good leaders. People that at least hold out
in morality of some degree, turn from some wickedness to some
degree, Lord. And Lord, we just pray that you
give us these leaders. Lord, that you would turn from
our country these who are promoting wickedness, laziness, promoting
perversion in sexuality, perversion in killing babies, perversion
in all kinds of things, of wickedness, of evil, Satanism, witchcraft,
and sorcery, and all these things will We just pray, Lord, that
you just bring your people safely again next week as we gather
together. But Lord, more than anything,
we pray for your return. We see many people talking about
your return is going to happen on a certain day within the next
day or two. Father, we know that that's been happening for years
and years, and we surely don't want to be people who scoff or
be skeptical of things. But Lord, we know that you say
in your word that no man knows the day or the hour. But we do
trust that you are coming. You've said you would come back.
We know that that could happen, truly, at any time. And we do
pray, come quickly, Lord Jesus, for we desire for your return,
that we might be delivered from this body of evil, this body
of sin, that we might be delivered from this world of wickedness,
that we might be with you for eternity. So we pray, Lord, that
you would come. And Lord, we just pray, Lord,
that you just keep your church as you've promised. throughout
these generations, if so, your return doesn't come for another
thousand years. We ask for that you would keep
your people and that you might continue to perpetuate the truth
of the gospel to every generation, just as you've promised. We ask
it all in Christ's name, amen.