Cornelius: Quickened Before the Gospel

Q: What does the Bible say about quickening and conversion?

Quickening is the act of God giving life, while conversion involves the granting of light and the turning from false beliefs to the truth. In the Bible, quickening is understood as a supernatural act of God where He imparts spiritual life to an individual. This contrasts with conversion, which is the subsequent experience of receiving light and understanding truth, allowing the individual to repent and turn towards God. As seen in Acts 10, Cornelius was quickened to a degree where he was devout and feared God, but he had yet to fully comprehend the gospel and what it meant for salvation. Thus, quickening is an initiation into spiritual awareness, while conversion can be seen as an ongoing transformation and growth in understanding God's truth.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of ongoing conversion is true?

Ongoing conversion is supported by the Christian experience of continual growth in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ throughout a believer's life. The doctrine of ongoing conversion maintains that repentance and conversion are not merely one-time events, but rather a lifelong process of being transformed by the grace of God. This is reflected in 2 Peter 3:18, which encourages believers to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Throughout a believer's journey, they will face new truths and often need to repent from misunderstandings and false beliefs. This continual learning reflects the transformative nature of true salvation, as believers are led deeper into God's truth by the Holy Spirit.

Q: Why is understanding the difference between quickening and conversion important for Christians?

Understanding the distinction helps Christians recognize the different stages in their spiritual journey and the necessity of both life-giving and enlightening works of grace. Recognizing the difference between quickening and conversion is crucial for Christians as it clarifies how God works in the lives of believers. Quickening refers to God imparting spiritual life, enabling an individual to begin their walk of faith. Conversion then involves the illumination of truth, which allows for genuine repentance and faith in Christ. This understanding helps believers appreciate God's sovereign work in their lives and encourages them to pursue continual growth in faith and obedience. Without this clarity, one may mistakenly believe they have fully arrived at salvation without recognizing the ongoing journey of faith and the role of the Holy Spirit in revealing deeper truths.

Q: Can a person be devout and fear God without being converted?

Yes, a person can exhibit devoutness and fear of God while still lacking a full understanding of the gospel, as seen in the case of Cornelius. The case of Cornelius illustrates that one can be described as devout and showing reverential fear towards God without yet having full comprehension of the gospel message. While he lived righteously and prayed to God, he had not yet received the gospel as preached by Peter. This shows that a person can have a sincere desire to worship and live rightly before God without necessarily having yet experienced full conversion. This understanding highlights God’s work in preparing hearts for the gospel, as He may have already granted certain truths to individuals before they hear the complete message of Christ.

Q: How does the story of Cornelius illustrate the concept of being quickened before receiving the gospel?

Cornelius was quickened to have spiritual life and exhibited qualities indicative of true faith before Peter preached the gospel to him. Cornelius's experience exemplifies that an individual can be spiritually alive and respond to God in devotion even prior to receiving the full gospel message. The angel's visitation and the acknowledgment of Cornelius’s prayers signify that he had already been prepared by the Holy Spirit. His devout nature and fear of God displayed the effects of quickening, although he lacked a complete understanding of salvation through Christ. This narrative underscores the sovereign grace of God at work in individuals before the formal preaching of the gospel, demonstrating that His elect will respond to His call, preparing them to receive the truth of the gospel when it is proclaimed.

Acts chapter 10. We. We could go. We started looking last week. At the. The difference between conversion or what we call repentance. And quickening. The Bible teaches that these are separate works of grace that God does in the sinner. And I will say that these are works that God does in the sinner. It's not results from something that the sinner has done. That it is works that God has done in the sinner.

The quickening is the giving of life. And repentance is the giving of light. Okay. That's the difference between the two. A lot of people kind of merge those together, but quickening is the giving of life where repentance or what some would call conversion is a giving of light. God gives us light, gives us to understand truth. And in that he gives us to believe that truth.

And so whenever we begin to believe what was once hidden from us. And if it was hidden from us, that means we didn't believe it. We didn't know it. We didn't understand it. It was hidden from us. I didn't know that. Well, then when light is given to us, God teaches us that.

Then I believe that. And because God has given me divine faith, that faith believes on that. And so I changed my mind about what I used to think to now what I now think. I've been brought to conversion, I've been converted from thinking this way to this way, or as the biblical term is, I have repented from thinking this way, and now I am turning to here. I've turned from idols and idol worship to God, and God does that.

God is the one who turns us. God is the one who grants us repentance. God is the one who converts us. or turns us, okay? The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and he turns it whether so ever he wills, right? I'm paraphrasing that. But God is the one who turns us. He grants us repentance by giving us teaching of the Holy Spirit and giving us the light of the truth. And then we believe that.

So there's a difference between that. A dear sister called me this week after listening to last week's message. She was watching on YouTube and contacted me this week and she asked me a question and I don't think I was extremely clear about it last week, but I'll bring it up this week. And going forward with what I'd like to talk about this morning, she asked me, she said, Do you believe that conversion is a one-time thing or an ongoing thing? And I told her, I said, as I understand the scriptures to be, that it is an ongoing thing. It's not a one-time thing. I'm not converted or I don't repent once and then that's it, I'm done. That repentance is a long time, lifetime thing.

The Lord is continually bringing us into more and more light. And every time he brings us into moral light, we repent of the things that we thought differently. OK, so we are continually being converted to the truth because that's what we're talking about, right?

We're talking about being. Being grown in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's something that the Lord is teaching us about himself, about ourselves and about his salvation. OK. That's what we are growing and we're growing in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that is a lifetime thing. That is a continual thing.

It isn't something that just drops on us at the beginning and then we now have it all. And if we'll just appropriate the means, we can expand our mind and understanding to all of it faster. Long as we just, you know, you know, some people think that, you know, well, we have the Holy Spirit who teaches us all truth. So we ought to be able to open up this book at any time we want and be able to discern all the truth.

Well, that's not true, brethren. I can tell you that from experience. And if that's not true to the scripture, then my experience is outside of the scope of God's word. And so don't listen to me. But from what I understand, I grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That means that there's going to be things that I didn't know that I'm going to come to know and the things that I thought I knew, I have to repent of that and turn to what is true. And if that's the case, my whole lifelong journey is going to be me repenting of me being wrong because I, in my flesh, can only think in the wisdom of man, in the knowledge of man, in the thoughts of man and in the doctrine of man. It's only by the Holy Spirit that we are able to discern and know spiritual things. And so I am at the, I'm at the mercy of God to reveal truth to me.

And he does that in his own time. He, like I said, he doesn't just buy, you know, you know, whenever I work at some places, I have this little flash drive that I carry around with me that's got certain stuff on there. And I stick that into the computer and boom, I download all the stuff that's needed for that computer. And there it is all at once. And now it has everything that it needs to do what it needs to do.

That's not how the life of Christianity works. God doesn't at the very beginning when he quickens you, downloads everything into you. He grows us in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is there. Now, we may not understand some things, but we kind of maybe have a propensity to think, you know, hey, I kind of think that might be true. There's a lot of things that to me, I, before I even heard it from anybody else, before I ever heard a preacher preach it, before I ever read it anywhere else or anything else, had some thoughts about what that scripture was saying.

And then all of a sudden, the light came on. The Lord shined his light on that. And now I thought, man, I never saw it that way. I never thought about that way. I never come from that angle. The Lord brought me to it from a different direction that I had been, you know, ingrained with the thought of this. Now I'm seeing it in a different way.

And wow, that all of a sudden opens up everything else in the scripture and it all being tied together and it all not being, you know, having to figure it all out. It all just falls into place. You know, that's growing. and learning and by God's grace, being given more light. That is the conversion experience or the repentance that God is working in his people. So that sister, when she asked me that, you know, I explained to her, I do think it is something that we experience over our whole lifetime. And if somebody comes to you and says, you know, they know everything that there is to know about the scriptures, you know, they can go and discern everything that's in there.

The Lord has done a marvelous work in them that he hasn't done in me. So I'm still learning and still growing and still finding error in things that I once knew. And thankfully, the Lord is delivering me from my ignorance of a lot of things. And I may still be ignorant in a lot of things. But so anyway, difference between quickening and conversion.

Now, the reason I brought that whole study up last week is because when we come into what we're going to look at today in Acts chapter 10, as it pertains to Cornelius, because I believe Cornelius is a great example that the Bible puts forth of somebody who has been quickened, but is yet not truly been converted by the gospel message.

He has been given life and there is some godly things in this man's life, but yet this man has yet to believe or know what his salvation came from, how his salvation came to him, what his standing is before God and how that standing was made perfect before God. And so Peter comes to Cornelius later and preaches that message to him, and whenever he does, him and his family believes on that, and they are baptized, and we see that there is the firstfruits among the Gentiles here with Cornelius. But there's this debate whether or not Cornelius was actually born again before Peter got there, or did Cornelius get born again after Peter preached to him, And so the age old debate among Christians, especially among sovereign grace people, and even within the sovereign grace circles, is whether or not quickening comes by the preaching of the gospel, or does it come outside of the preaching of the gospel? Now we know up until the point before Peter came, that Cornelius had not been under the preaching of the gospel. And we'll see here in a minute, some things, but let me read down through chapter 10 here of Acts, if you'll follow along.

It says, starting in verse 1, it says, there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band. So that means that Cornelius was a Roman, or at least an Italian, and he was a centurion, which meant that he was the leader or he was over a Thousand men Right, that's what a century is as a thousand So if he was a century and that means that he was the leader of a thousand men So he was pretty prominent fellow, right? but it says here that Cornelius was a devout man and One that feared God. I want you to pay close attention to these adjectives that Bible uses for him He was a devout man that feared God with all of his house. So that meant all of his house also was devout and feared God.

OK. It isn't the old Presbyterian order because Cornelius believed automatically all of his house was under the covenant. OK. They believed and was devout just like he was. There was a work that was done in them, right? A devout man and one that feared God with all of his house, which gave much alms, which meant that he was generous, that he give 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, he was afraid and said, what is it, Lord? Now, notice how he responded. You know, this angel came in and talked to him. And he immediately 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.

That meant God knew what was going on and God was pleased with what Cornelius was doing, and now send men to Joppa and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. He lodges with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside. He shall tell thee what thou ought'st 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 them, 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 he became very hungry and would have eaten, but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened 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 and there came a voice to him rise peter kill and eat but peter said not so lord for i have never eaten anything that is common or unclean now that was That was the stuff that was ingrained in Peter's mind because of the old covenant.

Under the old covenant, the Jews were not allowed to eat anything that was unclean. So that's why they didn't eat pig, okay? That's why they didn't eat anything with blood in it, okay? They were not to eat anything that was considered unclean that God had told them was unclean. And so Peter had not, until this time, had not eaten anything unclean.

But yet God here is giving him a vision of all these unclean things, what he thought was unclean, come down out of heaven in this sheet, and he told him to kill and eat it. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, and he said this, what God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice, and the vessel was received up again into heaven.

And 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 for Simon's house and stood before the gate." Now we're fixing to learn what that sheep vision meant, okay? We're gonna learn what that means here in just a few minutes.

But one thing to note here, brethren, At this point, Peter was still living under old covenantal works, okay? He was still living. Remember, we're in this transitionary period between Christ's ascension and Christ coming again in judgment against Jerusalem and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and the end, the official end of the old covenant and the bringing in of, or the manifesting of the new covenant. So Peter here is still living like he was under the old covenant, eating things and got about to teaching some stuff.

Verse 16, this was done thrice and the vessel was received up into heaven. Now while Peter doubted in himself what his vision, which he had seen should mean, behold the men 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, 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."

So this is an appointment of God. God appointed What happened at Cornelius's house? Cornelius sending these men, these men coming to Peter's house, or coming to Simon's house to visit with Simon Peter. Came Simon Tanner, Simon the Tanner's house to visit with Simon Peter. And now God is informing Simon Peter about what God's plan is with these men coming to him. Verse 21, 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. And this is how the Holy Spirit caused Luke, who wrote Acts, to pin this down about Cornelius, a just man and one that feareth God "'And of good report among all the nations of the Jews "'was warned from God by a 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.'" Okay, so some of the Jews that were with Peter went with Peter down to Joppa, or went from Joppa, down to Caesarea. And on 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, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him." Now, this is a point where it looked, you know, I see that, you know, Cornelius was quickened, But he didn't know the gospel because at this point he thought because this man is being sent by God That this man is someone who needs to be worshipped. So he doesn't know What he needs to know yet, right?

And so what does Peter say verse 26, but Peter took him up saying stand up I myself also am a man and as he talked now, I'm gonna make a side note here Notice Peter said stand up I myself also am a man. So he's basically saying, hey, don't worship me. I myself am a man, meaning that I am of no importance. I am not one to be worshiped.

Now, what does that tell you about the Catholic religion? The Catholic religion believes that Peter was the first Pope. And they worship Peter as they do all the apostles, all the saints that they claim to be saints. They worship these people. They bow to these people. They pray to these people. They ask these people to intercede for them to God. But they believe that Peter became the first vicar of Christ. The first representative of Christ on the earth. That's what the Catholics believe. Peter himself is telling you right here, don't worship me. I'm of no importance. I'm a man. just like everybody else is. He was saying there's no difference in me and anybody else. The only difference that you see about me is the office that I hold.

God has chosen me to be an apostle, and he has given me special abilities to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ during this intertestamental period, during the old covenant and the new covenant. Christ had appointed apostles to be the foundation of the church, to bring the doctrine that he had taught them and to show for signs and miracles to the Jews who were unbelieving because the Old Testament had told them that these things would take place at the coming of the judgment. The Old Testament told the Jews, when Christ comes in judgment, these things are going to happen. The Gentiles are going to come in and start believing. God is going to bring the Gentiles in. There will be signs and wonders that will be done. The apostles were given those special gifts of speaking in tongues and healing and all the things that they were given to do to validate this gospel, this church, and the coming judgment that was about to come upon Jerusalem.

And so Peter says, hey, don't worship me. I'm of no importance. I'm just the messenger that's being sent. Okay, I'm about to tell you who you need to worship. Look what he says here. And as he talked with him, he went in and found many that were coming together. And he said unto them, ye know how that it is an 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 now Paul is telling us what the sheep thing is. The sheep thing wasn't necessarily a vision to tell you it's okay to eat pigs or whatever you, you know, unclean things, right? Now, because the old covenant is gone, we're free to eat that. I like eating pig. Matter of fact, bacon is one of my favorite things. Pork chop, lovely. pulled pork wonderful every year i make several of them that has come to us because the old covenant is gone but that's not what that dream meant whenever god brought that sheep down to peter to tell him hey it's okay for you to go ahead and eat all this stuff even though that's what it did mean eventually in the ending of the old covenant peter here is is giving us the interpretation of the dream that God give him of the sheep come down from heaven. So whatever anybody else tells you, Peter is the authority on what that meant.

God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying as soon as I was sent for. I asked therefore for what intent you have sent for me. And Cornelius said, four days ago, I was fasting. Pay close attention to what Cornelius was doing. He 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.

Send therefore to Joppa and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter. He is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the seaside, who when he cometh shall speak unto thee. Immediately therefore I sent to thee and thou hast well done that thou art come.

Now therefore are we all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. So he's saying, we're here to hear all things whatsoever God has commanded you to tell us. 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. So here, Peter, again, is giving more of the interpretation of the dream that he said a while ago, God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean, but he says that in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.

Okay, now we're gonna learn about how we fear and how righteousness has worked. Okay, the Arminian looked at these things and say, there you go. We have to do these things, but the Bible teaches differently. You just have to find where the Bible teaches other things about this stuff. Look at all of it and see what the Bible says.

He says the word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. Now notice the word which God sent unto the children of Israel. The word which God sent to the children of Israel was the Old Testament. Right.

That's the only word they had, because at this point, the New Testament hadn't been written. So the word in the Old Testament that was sent to them was the prophets. The prophets gave them the word of God. Moses wrote down the things of God the other writers writing down the things about this is what they had But what does Peter say?

He says all of these things was the preaching of peace by Jesus Christ So he's saying the gospel in the Old Testament is about Jesus coming to bring peace to his people But a lot of people look at the Old Testament something different, oh, well, that's the Old Testament We don't have to pay attention to that That's the Old Testament. They don't teach about the gospel.

The Old Testament is about the law. The Old Testament is about the old covenant. Well, it is, but it's all about Jesus Christ and what he is doing in the new covenant. Right? It says the word which God sent unto the children of Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all.

That the word I say ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism, which John preached." So here again, we have another example of scripture, not just here, but there's other places in scripture, where we see that the gospel of Jesus Christ began with the baptism of John, okay? It didn't begin at Pentecost. It began with the baptism of John. The outward preaching of the revealed gospel began with the preaching of John. So that tells me that John was preaching biblical repentance. John was performing biblical baptism.

He wasn't performing Old Testament washing rituals, cleansing rituals. As some people say, they say John's baptism was of the old covenant. It was a ritual cleansing that Jews already did. No, what John was doing was something completely different. that God had instructed him to do in a certain way for a specific purpose, and it was in conjunction with the preaching and belief of the New Covenant.

The preaching of Jesus Christ. When John preached repentance to those people, it was the repentance that we've been talking about. The conversion from thinking righteousness comes by our keeping the law of Moses. that our righteousness is by our work and our effort, our endurance, to the preaching of, there is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. He is your righteousness. He is your salvation. He is your sanctification. That is your righteousness. Look to him.

That's what John was preaching. That's what John was demanding in the faith of those who were coming to be baptized. And if they did not come believing that, repenting from what they once held, John didn't baptize. And we have evidence of that. We have religious leaders who came to be baptized by John and John said, who's told you about the judgment that's to come, show forth fruits of repentance, then I'll baptize you. So there is something before we just baptize people willy-nilly that they have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is one of the prerequisites to biblical baptism is that they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And if they do believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they are commanded to be baptized, as we'll see here in a minute.

He said, then Peter opened his mouth, said of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. Now, a lot of people take this to say that God doesn't elect people. Whenever I come to the doctrines of grace and begin to preach election, and talk about predestination and everything like that. This is the verse a lot of my friends and family began to go to. Well, God is not a respecter of persons. He doesn't elect one and not another. He's no respecter of persons. Look at the context that we're in, brethren. What's Peter talking about? That God has given him a vision that Gentiles are not considered unclean. and that they are to be received just like the Jew has been received. By faith. If they are of the faith of Abraham, then they are a Jew truly. If they are the faith of Abraham, then they are a true Israelite. If they are the faith of Abraham, they are the elect child of grace. And you are to receive them.

And that's what Peter's talking about here. So the context of this verse, that God is no respecter of persons, basically means that God has chosen his elect out of every nation, every kindred, every tribe, every tongue, that there is not any person group in this world that is not gonna be represented in that one true Israel. So out of that whole world, God has saved his elect. Not just Jew, but Gentile also.

Remember, this is the first time the Gentiles began to start coming in in a large capacity. We know of ones and twos in the Old Testament, but here we are seeing the first fruits of the preaching of the gospel, after Christ's resurrection, after the day of Pentecost, we see that Christ now is moving. Remember, those Jews, and I'm getting off topic, what I meant to do, but wherever the spirit leads here. Remember, Jesus told the Jews, the religious Jews, the unbelieving Jews, he said, your house is going to be left to you desolate. He said, There is a judgment that's gonna come upon you.

And then whenever he was there before Pilate and before the people, Pilate said, I can let this guy loose according to your laws. I can let this guy loose. And they said, you know, we don't want him, we want Barabbas. And he said, you know, hey, this is your king. And they said, we have no king but Caesar.

At that point, That was what had been talked about through the Old Testament, had been warned by Jesus that they were there to fill up the measure of their fathers, which had killed the prophets, had rejected Christ all throughout the Old Testament, had went off into idolatry, had went off into believing all these other things and bringing that into the worship of the true God and mixing that together. And now the Pharisees are carrying this completely out in this day and age with Jesus here. And Jesus said, you will fill up the measure of your father. And they did at that point.

That was their rejection of Christ as their Messiah. And that was the linchpin or that was the final gavel slap of their rejection that was foretold in the Old Testament. And because then they said, and let the blood, let his blood be upon our children and our children's children. That was where God divorced Israel.

That's where it began the countdown towards the judgment. And now we see the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension, the feast of firstfruits with Pentecost. And now it's moving on to the destruction of Jerusalem, just like Daniel had predicted. And so we see Jesus warning these people That now the gospel is going to the Gentiles, which was egregious to the Jew.

And now here Peter is standing to the Jew. He already said it. You already know that I really shouldn't be here according to Jewish custom. I shouldn't be here in front of you. But God has told us something different. What we thought that old covenant was telling us was incorrect. What the Pharisees were ingraining in our mind was incorrect.

God has always had plans for you to be involved in this covenant. He says, the word of God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace to Jesus. The word I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism, which John preached, and how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him, God raised up the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. So God had a specific group of people to show Christ to. and said, and he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all of them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision, that means the Jews that came along with Peter from Joppa, which believed, were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. So they experienced the same thing that happened at Pentecost. Whenever the Holy Ghost came down on the church there at Pentecost, now the Holy Ghost came down on the Gentiles in the same way.

Now, I believe, brethren, just a side note, I believe that the Lord did this to identify and to show forth to the believing Jews to credit to the believing Jews that God was doing what God had said in the Old Testament, I'm going to the Gentiles. So those believing Jews were now seeing what only God did to the Jews. Now he's doing it to the Gentiles. There was that supernatural coming down of the Holy Spirit, being filled with the Spirit or being baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Now, brethren, you've heard me preach this before, that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a one-time event, and that was the Pentecostal experience. When I say that, I mean this is included in that. Even though it happened at two separate times, that experience on the Gentiles was a sign, just like the falling of the Holy Spirit was on Pentecost to just the Jews, God is showing that these Gentiles are included in what happened here. They're included in this same covenant here. This Feast of Firstfruits, that's what Pentecost was, remember? It was the Feast of Firstfruits. That's the day that that happened. The Feast of Firstfruits had come, and now we're seeing the Firstfruits come.

But God is showing that the Gentiles is part of that covenant therefore part of the first fruits. Now, all of Israel has been saved, Jew and Gentile alike. And so Cornelius being a Gentile can be part of that covenant, is part of that covenant. Therefore being part of that covenant is being saved just like everybody else in that covenant. He was saved by the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He was elected from the foundation of the world. He was put in Christ Jesus as his redeemer, substitute, his mediator, as his head.

And in Christ Jesus, he, Cornelius the Gentile, was blessed with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places. So that meant Cornelius was saved before Peter ever showed up on the scene. That means Cornelius was quickened by the Holy Spirit at whatever time that God had appointed for the Holy Spirit to come into Cornelius and give him life. And now, because Cornelius, being one of God's children, has been given faith, Peter has come to preach to him the gospel of grace, and in that gospel of grace, Cornelius, with the faith of Christ, will believe upon Christ.

Watch what we see here. 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, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Let me stop right there, because I want to clarify what's happening here. It says they spoke in tongues. Someone says, aha, there you go.

Speaking in tongues is biblical. We should be speaking in tongues. Brethren, remember again, Biblical tongues is not some of the last time that I got somebody that I'm a mama mama mama, but you see on TV That is not biblical tongues Biblical tongues is somebody speaking in an actual Language that they have not learned So that would be if I would speak in tongues, that would be me speaking in Spanish Russian German Japanese Chinese Portuguese Whatever Portuguese I like to speak Spanish, but whatever, you know what I'm talking about. Me speaking in another known language, but was unknown to me. That was a gift of tongues. The apostles were given gifts of speaking in tongues because they were going about the world to preach the gospel. And whenever they came upon a people that they did not know that language, they were able to preach the gospel to them in that language.

So tongues is not this ecstatic speech that we see on TV and hear on the radio and all this googly gawk that we hear from these television preachers, okay? Or see in these churches, okay? They're everywhere. And listen, this is even becoming common within Baptist church. There are Baptist churches who are beginning to accept speaking in tongues. Crazy. That's not biblical tongues.

What was happening here was these people were showing forth the signs that the people at Pentecost showed forth, which was a fulfillment of an Old Testament scripture that said that you would be judged by people that would speak in other languages. And that's what was going on. It was, again, a signification to Jews about the impending judgment that was about to come upon them. It was a confirmation to the believing Jews that this is the true work of God and what has been prophesied for centuries.

But let's finish reading here. Then answered Peter, can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as we, as well as we, and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, then prayed them, they him, to tarry certain days."

Okay, so here we see the account of Cornelius, and I've taken a lot of side roads here, but the main thing I want us to see is, was Cornelius, number one, was he saved already? Number two, was he already born again? was he already quickened, or should I say given life already before Peter got there? Because I've been told by a lot of sovereign grace people that you can only be born again by the preaching of the gospel. So obviously Cornelius could not have been born again because Peter had not preached the gospel to him. So Cornelius was just a religious person and not a born again person. and therefore they reject anybody who ever has trusted on Christ in a false church or under a false gospel or anything like this, that they couldn't have been saved.

Well, brethren, I believe I was saved while I was in a false church. I believe that I was saved under a false gospel. But it wasn't because of the gospel or not because of the gospel that I was saved. I was saved because of the finished work of Jesus Christ. I was saved because I was chosen before the foundation of the world in Christ Jesus and blessed with all spiritual blessings. And Christ in time came and purchased everything for me. And because I was in him before the foundation of the world, Those blessings are counted to me and delivered unto me in time.

I receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. I receive the quickening. I receive the understanding of spiritual things as light is given to me. I am able to worship God in reverence and fear. I am able to pray to the Lord that his will be done. I'm able to do things as the Lord enables me to bear much fruit. As the Holy Spirit works that out in me, I'm able to do that because of Christ Jesus.

And so brethren, we see that Cornelius is exemplifying somebody that can only be born from above, although he had not yet received birth. And these brethren that are saying that we are in error for believing in immediate spirit quickening. They believe that the preaching of the gospel must precede before they can believe and before they can come to life. But here we see someone who believed, but they just didn't believe rightly. You remember Apollos He believed some things, but he didn't believe rightly.

You know, nowhere in the Bible does the Bible ever say that Apollos was not a true child of God or a Christian whenever he was going about preaching. But he was preaching wrongly the gospel because he himself had not been preached the gospel correctly. All he knew was the baptism of John and Aquila and Priscilla pulled him aside, taught him more rightly the things of God. But yet before that, the Bible says that he was.

A good man that who going around preaching Jesus Christ. So see, that means that somebody can be in error. But still being a child, God can still be listened, even called of God to preach. And still be in error in some things that goes back to what we talked about last week. About the conversion and repentance.

And what I've started with this morning, that conversion is a lifelong thing. I am preaching and teaching things today, not necessarily this day, but yeah, today. But nowadays, that early Mike at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church didn't believe. My beliefs have changed as I've pastored this church. Why?

Because the Lord continues to grow us in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Cornelius had to be grown in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. But look, let's look at Cornelius. The first thing it says about Cornelius in this thing, look at verse two.

It says he was a devout man. You don't never, never anywhere in the scripture is that word used for somebody who is not already quickened? You can't find that. If you look up that word devout throughout all the scripture, and you'll see that is used always with someone who's already, someone who is a believer. Matter of fact, let's look at a few places real quick. Luke chapter two, same writer as Acts. Luke chapter two, look at verse 25.

And behold, there was a man of Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him." He's waiting for the consolation of Israel. He's waiting for Jesus. What does that mean? Simeon was a devout man.

Now, I'm gonna talk about that word devout here in just a minute, but let's read a few scriptures here. Okay, back in Acts chapter two, Look at verse five. Says and there was dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. OK, so we see here that these believing Jews were called devout men. Look at Acts 22. Verse 12.

It says, in one Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me and stood and said unto me, brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked upon him. Now this was the guy that put his hands and prayed on Paul and Paul's scales fell off. And he told Paul what Paul's destiny was that the Lord had given him to tell him. Remember? He's going to be an apostle to the Gentiles. But it says that Ananias was a devout man. OK. Now.

There's only a couple of places in Scripture where this word behind devout is found. Three times. It is translated devout. And one time, if you'll turn with me to second Peter. chapter 2, 2 Peter chapter 2, and look at verse 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver thee godly.

See that word godly there? That's the exact same Greek word that's behind the word devout when it talks about Cornelius. So we see if we trace and let the Bible interpret itself, we see that the word devout means godly. Now, do you think the scripture anywhere is going to talk about the reprobate as being godly men? Who are the godly? Those who are in Christ Jesus, right?

But something, interesting about this word devout and this word godly there is a biblical definition for the word godly and the word godly doesn't mean your outward actions if you do a word study on this word throughout the scripture you'll find that this word in all of its uses means a inward reverential fear of god meaning that You have an understanding of who God is. An understanding of who you are and how God should be revered or worshiped or reverence.

Now let's think about that a little bit. As it pertains to an outward form of religion and a true inward quickening. A true inward quickening. means that the Holy Spirit of God is in us and now has given us the faith of Christ. It has given us an understanding.

Remember. Whenever we are quickened, we are given to understand our inability. That remember that publican that came before God. I know I'm not worthy. You know, have mercy on me, a sinner. Remember Paul. I know that in me dwells no good thing. That is a gift of the Holy Spirit to know your depravity, to know your inability, to know your wretchedness before God, your sinfulness, to know that you are a sinner and can only sin before God.

That's a gift of God. And here, this man, a devout man, a godly man. And as you trace that word through scripture, you find out that this word is in reverence, an internal reverence given to God as God and all that he is. And you being less than God, not building yourself up in any way because of your undeservedness, because of your sinfulness. Now, that was the heart that we've seen of Cornelius here.

And that is what godly living is. Godly living isn't you being less sinful. Godly living is you reverencing God for who he is, you knowing who you are in and of yourself, and worshiping God in truth, in spirit and in truth to be biblical. That's what godly means.

And so to be a devout man, or to be a godly man, means to be one who has been given to know this God. Well, not all men have been given to know this God and has been given the humility or the poor spirit that we have to know our sinfulness. Because the Bible says blessed are those who are poor in spirit. The ones who the ones who are burdened by their sinfulness and know they can't do anything right before God. That came as a blessing from God. Because the outward man, the natural man, doesn't believe that. He can't understand that. He can't cope with that. He refuses to believe that there is nothing good about me. You mean to tell me there is nothing good about me?

Ask Brother Larry. They came up in the holiness movement, and one of the proponents of that was the Wesley, which brother was it? John, John Wesley, and one of his biggest things that he taught in that Wesleyan movement is that every man has a little spark or a little fire in there. It just has to be fanned into flame, right? That every man has a little bit of good there, okay?

That we are not totally depraved, that we are not totally wretched before God, that we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. That's where Methodism came into play. if I remember my history right, that if we appropriate the methods of holiness, we become more holy, fan the flame, right? Well, the blessedness from God is for us to realize we can't because there is no fire there. Going back to the conversation a while ago about the hymn that we sung earlier about the fallen Adam, okay? Fallen Adam, didn't fall from being already on fire or lit or already spiritual. He was not spiritual. He was created natural. But anyway, not to get into that.

So here we see Cornelius number one was a devout man, which meant that he was a godly man, which means he had reverence to God, knowledge of his unworthiness, and worshiped God. He worshiped God in the truth that he had. And he only had a certain amount of truth. He only had a little bit of truth. We all start out with a little bit of truth. Right now, look, the next thing says about him that it says that he go back to Acts 10. I'm going to get through all this this morning, brethren, but we'll get as far as. As far as I can. Acts chapter 10.

He was a devout man and one that feared God. Now, I'll ask again, can a man who is unquickened fear God? Well, some will say, well, yeah, I mean, I had a fear of God before I was saved, you know. I knew that God could snuff me out at any time or anything like that. That's not what we're talking about when we say the fear of God.

This word fear ties in with that good, this godliness. It ties in with the devoutness. This word fear means reverence. He had a holy reverence towards God. But let's look at what the Bible says about people that have fear. Turn with me, if you would, to Psalms chapter 25. I want to go to these quickly, brother, for the sake of time here. Psalms chapter 25. Look with me at the word for verse 14.

The secret of the Lord. Is with them that fear him and he will show them his covenant, the secret of the Lord, the hidden things of God, the mysteries of God. Remember, Jesus said the mysteries are revealed to you. not revealed to them. They're revealed to you. Why? Because you're my people. He says the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. So God gives them a reverential fear. Because they're his people. If you're a child of grace, you will have a reverential fear. And worship towards God. So that's those who fear him that he shows the covenant to. While you're back that direction, look at Proverbs. Just a few turns over. Proverbs chapter one, verse seven.

It says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. So God has to give us a reverential fear before we can what? What is that verse telling us? Fear has to be given. Before knowledge. What does it say here? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. It's only whenever someone begins to fear the Lord that The Lord begins to reveal knowledge to them. God gives you a reverential fear towards him. And then what do we do? We listen to what he says. So our mind begins to grasp what God is saying. And our heart begins to believe what he's telling us.

As a father, my children, in raising them and disciplining them. Sometimes I had to be harsh with them. Sometimes I had to be loud with them. Sometimes I had to whip them with the belt or switch or whatever it was that we whipped them with, my hand. We had to discipline our children. And whenever I exerted that authority on my children, it instilled with them a reverence to me as their authority.

Which, by the way, is missing in today's society with children and people today. That's why we're living in a in a generation now that we're living in of weak people. That cannot function in life whenever they're told no. Okay, but that's a side note. This authority is not something, I mean, you can ask every one of my children, I'm sure, at least I hope they would all say they loved me, that that authority that I exerted upon them in discipline as they were growing up actually did not make them despise me. It actually brought them closer to me. And you'll find out that whenever you discipline a child, you begin to get more respect from a child, but when you don't discipline a child, you don't get respect from your children.

It's just the opposite, because the Bible tells us that that's how it should be, right? The Bible's right, not Mike. Mike's way is not right, but the Bible is. So whenever we do that, what happens? It instills a fear. Well, once there's this reverential fear, and I'm not talking about a fraidy-fraidy fear, I'm talking about a reverential fear.

That's my father. I owe respect to my father. I owe reverence to my father, not in a spiritual way, but a reverence because of who he is. I'm his child, that's my father. Whenever we have that reverence now, guess what? My children listen to me a little bit better. Whenever I tell them something, they know that it's coming from a place of authority. Now, as all children, and we can make this a spiritual picture as well, all children wander away, all children disobey, all children forget what they hear, all children actively go in the wrong direction sometimes and don't listen to that that word that's given to them, but then they find out, right?

Well, here we see in Proverbs that, Proverbs 1.7, I lost my place here. That the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. So it says Cornelius feared the Lord. It doesn't say here that he despised wisdom.

Matter of fact, he was ready whenever Peter was coming. He got his people together and said, hey, let's get in here. This guy's fixing to come tell us something. We're waiting to hear what you have to say. He didn't despise it. Look at Acts chapter 10 here again and look at what it said about where they were. That's Acts 10, 35. This is Peter talking again.

We read it a while ago, but in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. So that means if you have a reverential or a godly reverence. Towards God. So that means you've been accepted of God. Hey, Cornelius. Fear God. So does that mean that Cornelius was accepted with God? Before he heard the gospel message from Peter? Absolutely, he was.

Why? Because acceptance isn't based upon your actions. Acceptance with God has nothing to do and never will continue to be acceptable by your actions. It's never about what you do. It's always about what Christ has done. And what God does in you is God's business. What God does in you and when God does it in you is God's business. And God will do what God will do. And all things that are ordained for you, whether it be the blessings, whether it be the works, whether it be the experience of your own fleshly sin, God has ordained all of that for your good, for you to walk in for his purpose. So, Cornelius feared God. And it also says that he gave much alms to the people. So, he had a concern for people and he helped people. Look at 1 John, chapter 3, verse 14. 1 John, chapter 3, verse 14.

It says, We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hated his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." Now, that's talking about the brethren, right?

Okay? Now, there's other scriptures that talk about our enemies, but here it's talking about our brethren. How do we know that we have passed from death to life? How do we know in the best way that we can? It's not 100% proof, but it is a outward sign that someone is born from above is because they love the brethren and they help the brethren.

And here Cornelius was giving alms to the people. He was showing his goodness towards them, right? Look at Galatians chapter five. Verse 22. What are the fruits of the spirit? Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness. That word goodness. Is what explains what Cornelius was doing to the brethren, he was showing forth goodness to the brethren. Faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. The Bible says that he prayed always to God. Look with me if you would at Proverbs. Chapter 15. Verse 8.

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight." Didn't the angel that came to Cornelius say that your prayers have been heard by God and has been brought up as a remembrance before God? Cornelius' prayers were coming before the Lord. They weren't an abomination to the Lord.

Look at John, the book of John, gospel of John, chapter nine, verse 31. It says, now we know that God heareth not sinners. Wait, I thought we were all sinners. Well, we are. But if any man be a worshipper of God and doeth his will, him he heareth. Oh, so if I just do this, then God will hear me.

Well, no, the one who is a worshipper of God and one who is doing his will, meaning believing upon him. God hears him because God is the one who has given him to worship himself and to do his will. God is already at work first in that person. The reason that God is listening to him is not because he is worshiping, but because he is a person who has been given to worship because of who he is. That word, devout man, is an adjective.

That means that's who that person is in themselves. They are devout, they are godly. Not that they are doing something godly. Not that they are participating in something godly. But they are godly. What has made them godly? What has made them revere God? What has made them worship him in spirit and truth. What has made them pray to them? What has made them love the brethren? Every one of those are the works of God in them.

It is not who they are in their flesh. Cornelius is not that in the flesh, but because of the spirit of God in him already, God is working in him those things that are evident of the child of grace that can only be because he is born from above. And this prayer that he prays, Is heard of God is. Listen to of God if you want to put it in those terms. Because he is a child of grace.

And I'll prove that right now. Romans Chapter 8. The verse 15. Verse 14, excuse me. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father. Brethren, we only cry out to God in sincerity, in reverence, in true worship to God, if we are already His. We are sons of God. Cornelius did that because he was a son of God. His prayers and alms came up as a memorial before God.

A couple more here. Malachi. Chapter three. Last book of the Old Testament. Malachi chapter 3, verse 16. It says, And they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. And the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name.

Does this not sound like Cornelius? from what we read in Acts chapter 10? God only makes a book of remembrance to those who are his children, not to the reprobate, only to those who are his children. So Cornelius was his child if his prayer was brought before God as a remembrance. And the Bible says that he was a just man.

Was a good report. Luke Chapter 1. Verse 6. We read this. I'll start with verse five. It says, And there was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abiah, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. So Zacharias and Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord lameness. So here we see that Romans 117, I think will shed a little more light on this. Verse 15, so as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Notice that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Not to those who are unbelieving, but to those who already believe. So the preaching of the gospel is to them salvation of something not in their standing with God. But of their understanding of God. It's saving their understanding, the preaching of the gospel is for the saving of their understanding, growing in the grace and knowledge of God, the conversion, repentance, growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's the preaching of the gospel. And it says, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, that it is written, the just shall live by faith. So Zacharias and his wife was living by faith because it says they were just, they were living by faith. What was Zacharias and Elizabeth looking forward to? You're looking forward to the coming of the Messiah.

Cornelius then, brethren, the Bible says was a just man. Now, if he is a just man, that tells me that he is a justified man. No one can be called just unless they're justified. But there are none just before God. but he was a just man. So that term just is a term for righteousness and it says here that the righteous live by faith.

That tells me that Cornelius already had faith, but he had to grow in that. That faith had to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, we'll stop right there. There's a lot more stuff that can be said about Cornelius We may pick up with some more of that next week if the Lord leads that direction or whether he moves us on, I don't know. We'll see how the Lord leads us. Anyway, does anybody got any comments or anything you'd like to add? Any brothers have anything you'd like to share today? Questions or comments? Corrections? All right. Father, once again, we come before you. And we're thanking you for the many blessings that you've given us in Christ Jesus. Thank you especially for the gift of repentance, gift of revelation, gift of understanding.

Lord, we know that these things only come as you grow us, you enable us, you give us light, you teach us by your spirit. Father, we thank you that as we look through the pages of scripture, the things that we see, Lord, and understand and believe, we know that they came by your hand We pray that you would continue to guide us and direct us in that teaching, Lord, that you would grow us in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, Lord, we pray that you would help us in our infirmities, help us in our ignorance, Lord, and Lord, give us grace to admit whenever we were wrong, admit whenever we are following after something that is false and that we might turn from that. You might grant us repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth. Father, these things are divine and these things are spiritual and these things cannot be done by our own efforts. So we ask that you might guide us, be with us, help us.

Lord, we're holding to your mercy. So Father, we also pray for these brethren here. We ask that you would continue to be with them. We ask the Lord to be with Rosette's family in this time of death. Lord, we ask that you would be with the family, to give them grace and peace, and Lord, that in and through this, that Christ would be glorified. Lord, we pray that you would give them the things to say as they visit with them, Lord, that you would help them to be a witness of truth. And Father, Lord, we just pray that you would guide and direct all of those that are here as they leave this place to keep them safe. Thank you once again for the time we've had here together. Of course, in Christ's name that we pray, amen.

Cornelius: Quickened Before the Gospel

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about quickening and conversion?

How do we know the doctrine of ongoing conversion is true?

Why is understanding the difference between quickening and conversion important for Christians?

Can a person be devout and fear God without being converted?

How does the story of Cornelius illustrate the concept of being quickened before receiving the gospel?

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Cornelius: Quickened Before the Gospel

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about quickening and conversion?

How do we know the doctrine of ongoing conversion is true?

Why is understanding the difference between quickening and conversion important for Christians?

Can a person be devout and fear God without being converted?

How does the story of Cornelius illustrate the concept of being quickened before receiving the gospel?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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