Let's turn together to Acts chapter
10. Acts the 10th chapter, our text
this evening will be verses 34 through 44. Then Peter opened his mouth and
said, Of the truth I perceive that God has no respect for But
in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness
is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is
Lord of all. That word, I say ye know, which
was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee
after the baptism which John preached. How God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,
for God was with him. We are witnesses of all these
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 whom he 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 whom give all the prophets that through his name,
whosoever believeth in him shall receive the remission of sin.
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them which
heard the word." Oh, may God grant that in this verse. Peter
was at Caesarea preaching the gospel of Christ to Cornelius
and his household. And in verse 42 he tells us why
he was there. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, commanded
us to preach unto the people. Before our Lord ascended back
into heaven, he left his church with a specific responsibility
to fulfill. The responsibility was given
to his church at large. It was given to the apostles
of Christ specifically. And it was given to those who
asked the apostles should come preaching the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He commanded us to preach. Let's turn to those passages
again where that's found. In Matthew chapter 28 is the
first. Matthew chapter 28 and verse
18. In all four gospels and in the
book of Acts, the Spirit of God has recorded for us This commission
which our Lord Jesus Christ has given to us is recorded in all
five of those places so that you and I might pay particular
attention to it, that we might recognize the importance of the
responsibility placed upon us. Matthew chapter 28 in verse 17,
when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted him. And
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power, all authority,
all authority, is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore." Now quite literally,
that might be translated, while you're going. While you're on
your way through the world, while you're making your pilgrimage
through this world, he's not specifically saying that certain
men ought to go out and do this, but he's saying that as all believers
make their pilgrimage through this world, see that you do this. While you're going through the
world, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world." You have this
given again in Mark chapter 15 and verse 15, or Mark 16 rather,
and verse 15. Our Lord said to his disciples,
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. That's the
commission he's given. He gave it in different words
altogether on another occasion in John chapter 20. We'll skip
the one in Luke and turn over to John. John chapter 20 and
verse 21. Our Lord said to his disciples,
peace be unto you. As my Father hath sent me, even
so send I you." The Father sent him into the world for the purpose
of redeeming and saving his people. The Father sent him into the
world to accomplish the salvation of his people. And in the same
way, God the Father has sent you and me into this world to
accomplish the salvation of his people. That's a marvelous He sent us into this world that
through our witness, through the preaching of the gospel done
by us, the fulfillment of Christ's work shall be accomplished and
the people of God shall be saved by the gospel that we preach.
He said, as the Father has sent me into the world, even so send
I you. And he equipped us for the work.
When he had said this, he breathed on them and saith unto them,
receive ye the Holy Ghost. And then in Acts chapter 1, in
verse 8, you'll remember that just before he ascended into
heaven, he told them, he told his disciples, that early church,
that they would indeed be witnesses unto him unto the uttermost parts
of the earth. He said in verse 8, you shall
receive power, authority, after that the Holy Ghost has come
upon you, and when the Spirit of God has come upon you, and
you have received that authority which God alone can give. Then
ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Now Peter was faithful to the charge that his master had given
him. It didn't matter where the Lord
sent him. Peter went forth preaching the
gospel. It mattered not who his hearers were. He preached the
gospel to them. It mattered not what the likely
result of his preaching might be. He was a preacher, and so
he preached the gospel. Sometimes he stood before men
who had in their power, as far as earthly power is concerned,
to put him in prison or to have him slaughtered, even as they
had done his Lord. It mattered not. The Lord God
sent him to preach, and therefore he preached the gospel with boldness
and with clarity. It didn't really matter how large
the congregation might be or how small the group might be
to whom he preached. He left that to God's providence.
Peter preached to the people whom God gathered, those people
whom God was pleased to call together to hear his word. He
was willing to preach to thousands in the temple. He did so on the
day of Pentecost and on other occasions. Preached to thousands.
Great, thronging crowds came together to hear the word that
he preached. He was willing also to stand before the Sanhedrin,
those 70 stern-hearted, calloused religious men who'd made up the
Jewish Sanhedrin, stood before them in just the same way and
preached the gospel. And here we see Peter down at
Caesarea in the house of a Roman soldier by the name of Cornelius
and he's preaching to that one man in his living room and the
few friends that he gathered around. He preaches the same
thing. He preaches exactly the same
to Cornelius as he did in the temple when there were thousands
gathered around on the day of Pentecost. This is our responsibility
as a congregation of believers. We believe the gospel of the
grace of God, and he commanded us to preach. That's what he's
called us to do. It's our responsibility and our
privilege. I don't care for the term responsibility,
but at the same time I recognize we do have some responsibilities.
To whom great privileges are given, great responsibilities
are required. And so it is our responsibility
and our privilege to proclaim the gospel of Christ in the age
and generation in which we live. May God grant that we may never
lose sight of the purpose for which we exist. I trust that the Lord will make
it to be so. I believe he has in measure.
I believe as we faithfully serve him to the best of our ability
by the power of God's Spirit, he will yet continue to increase
but that it might be said of you, as it was said of the church
at Thessalonica, from you sounded out the word of the Lord among
all nations. So that from you, the word of
this gospel is sounded out, so that men and women everywhere
hear the word of the gospel of the grace of our God. The church
of Christ, you and I, in this town, in this community, in this
age and generation in which we live, our Lord said, you are
the light of the world. Now what's he giving you light
for? So folks can see by it. That's the reason he gave it.
You don't take the light and hide it. We'll look here. We've
got the light of the gospel of God's grace. Nobody else has
got it. We'll keep it in here. We'll enjoy this light. No, our
Lord said you take the candle out and you let it shine forth
so that all men might see by it. He said you're the salt of
the earth. The salt of the earth. He doesn't mean by that that
you're better than other men. He doesn't mean by that that
you have rare qualities that make you to be exceptional people
with whom the world just couldn't get along without. What he means
by that is that you, the people of God in this world, preserve
the earth. You preserve God's judgment from
falling upon the earth. You are the salt of the earth.
The Church of Christ is set by God in this generation, in this
place, for one purpose, and that is, he commanded us to preach. The Church of Christ is not a
social club. The Church of Christ is not a
theater for entertainment. I was talking to a fellow today,
he doesn't know any better. He asked me, he said, I don't
suppose that y'all have a lot of use for it. pre-recorded music
and cantatas and such things as that in your worship services,
do you?" I said, you suppose right, we don't have use for
those things. We're not coming together as the people of God
for entertainment. Now, it's not wrong to have entertainment.
There's nothing wrong with that. It's wrong to have entertainment
and do that in the name of preaching the gospel of Christ. We come
together as the Church of God for the furtherance of the gospel.
Not to entertain, not to keep folks pacified, not to please
people, not to gather a crowd, but simply to declare the gospel
of God's grace. The Church of Christ is a preaching
center. That's what we're here for. A
center from which the gospel goes out. The Church of Christ
is a sounding board for the gospel of the grace of God so that we,
as God's people together, carry on this work of the gospel ministry.
We do so in a lot of ways. We do it through our missionary
endeavors, tapes, tracks, every means that God gives us, the
radio broadcast. In a few months now, we'll be
having our Bible conference. We have that conference for a
number of reasons. I'd like for you to enjoy the fellowship with
other believers. I'd like you to hear the gospel
preached by other men, but primarily, primarily, we have the conference
so that you might hear. And so that you might have opportunity
to bring others to hear the gospel of God's grace at least that
one time in a year. That the gospel may be sounded
out from this place, that men may hear and believe. So the
march is coming next week over to Bryantville. There's a reason
for that. There's a reason for that. gospel ministry. Specifically,
this is my responsibility as a gospel preacher. Turn over
to 2 Timothy chapter 4. I'm not much of a sentimentalist,
but I do take serious things seriously. When I was ordained
to the gospel ministry, my pastor, as many beforehand, read this
pastor's scripture in my hearing and delivered a charge of the
gospel ministry to my heart and soul, a charge which I willingly
accepted, a charge which I felt God had placed upon me, and it
is dead serious in my heart. The apostle says, I charge thee
therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the quick and the dead at his appearing in kingdom.
Preach the word. Preach the word. That's what
a preacher's supposed to do. The preacher's business is preaching.
I ran into a fellow the other day, Shelby and Faith were out
shopping and I was standing around waiting for them to get done
and this fellow came up to me and he was talking to me about
all the problems and responsibilities of being a pastor. He is a butcher,
but he knew all the answers, you know, and all the right understanding
of things. After all, he'd been in church
for 30 some, 40 years maybe. He was telling me, he said, it's
just too much for one man to bear. He said, the pastor's got
so much counseling he has to do, so much visiting he has to
do, and he's got to carry so many problems for people and
all those things. Now listen, listen. If you are God's children,
if you're God's children, if you're believers in Christ, you
don't need somebody to sit around and hold your hand when you go
through difficulties. It's good to have somebody around that
you know cares, but you don't need somebody to psychologically
massage you and see to it that you don't go out and go crazy
when you go through some trial. If you're God's children, if
you're believers, you simply need instruction in the gospel
so that when the trial comes, you can bear the trial. You don't
need counselors and psychologists and nursemaids and somebody to
go and visit with you every day and sit with you at the hospital.
You need somebody to declare the gospel of God's grace to
you so that your heart and soul may be prepared when trial comes,
so that you can endure those things. It's a preacher's responsibility
to preach the gospel of God's grace, and that's the whole of
his responsibility. The instant in season and out
of season Reprove and rebuke. Exhort with all long-suffering
and with doctrine. When they will hear, preach.
And when they will forbear, preach. When men delight in what you
say, preach it. And when men get upset at what
you say, preach it. Preach the word, he says, instant
in season and out of season. Verse 3, here's the reason. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lust shall
they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned
unto fables. But watch thou in all things,
endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof
of thy ministry." Now, it is not my responsibility to build
the church. It is not my responsibility to
get results. It is not my responsibility to
be a good social mixer. I won't be a sociable fellow
and I won't be as much as I possibly can at the disposal of men to
use when they need me. I won't be around to let folks
know I care and I'm concerned. But my friends, the responsibility
of the gospel preacher is that he give himself relentlessly
Relentlessly to the business of preaching the gospel. Of preaching
the gospel. I'm thankful that in this place
we have no difficulties in that regard. I recall some time ago,
Nancy would find me using penetration. It has been something I've used
a number of places. I was away when Nancy's mother
died. When I came home, I I met her at the door that Sunday morning
and I told her that I'm terribly sorry that I wasn't able to be
here to visit with you when you lost your mother. She said, that's
okay. You were doing what you're supposed
to be doing. That's the attitude you ought to have. That's the
attitude you've displayed. All of God's people ought to
have that attitude towards the ministry. God's servant is to
be about the business of preaching. Look here in 1 Timothy chapter
2, or 2 Timothy 2, I'm sorry, it's 1 Timothy 4. Verse 12. Paul says, let no man despise
thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in
conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Shall I come give attendance
to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine? It's necessary for
pastors to preach. It is to feed the people with
knowledge and understanding that it give attendance to reading,
exhortation, and doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is
in thee, which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on
of the hands of the Presbyterian. Meditate upon these things. Give
thyself wholly to them, that by propheting may appear unto
all. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in
them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them
that hear thee. Now in the sermon that is our
text this evening, here in Acts 10, The Apostle Peter preached
to Cornelius. He told those people who were
gathered with Cornelius in his house that he was preaching by
divine commission, and by the example that the Holy Spirit
here gives us, we learn what must be preached if we're to
fulfill our responsibilities. All who are sent of God to preach
will preach the same message that Peter preached. Let me just
give you three things quickly concerning Peter's ministry here.
Notice first that Peter was sent as God. God put him in the ministry,
God told him what to preach, God told him where to preach,
and God told him when to preach. He sought the direction of God's
spirit in providence and through the word, and God granted it,
so that he went from place to place as he was directed of God's
spirit to preach the gospel of God's grace. Secondly, Peter
preached with divine authority. You'll notice that he says, of
a proof I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. And
he quotes the scriptures throughout the message that he's delivering.
He is constantly saying to Cornelius, this is the authority for what
I'm preaching. God said it. God said it. Thus
saith the Lord. That was the authority of Peter's
ministry. As the Scourge said, every true minister must speak
because he's commanded to speak. He must speak what he is commanded
to speak. upon the authority of the Word
of God continually. In other words, the preacher's
doctrine must be exactly the doctrine of God revealed in the
Scriptures. The preacher's doctrine must
be, thus saith the Lord, to the law and to the testimony, Isaiah
said, if they speak not according to the word of this prophecy,
it is because there is no life in them. And then thirdly, I
want you to notice that Peter's sermon, his message, essentially,
was always the same. We won't look at the passages
tonight, but you compare Acts chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter
4, and chapter 10. In chapter 2, Peter was preaching
on the day of Pentecost to unbelieving Jews. In chapter 3, the Apostle
Peter was again preaching to unbelieving Jews as well as those
Gentile proselytes who were gathered in the temple. In chapter 4,
Peter was preaching to those men who were themselves desiring
to put away the name of Jesus Christ altogether, that group
of Sanhedrin who would, if they had it in their power, have put
Peter to death if they could have done so without causing
such an uproar. And then here in chapter 10,
Peter's preaching to Phinehas, a Jewish Gentile who was proselytized
to the Jewish religion. And this message that Peter declared
is almost exactly the same as what he preached on the previous
three occasions. He preached to the men the same thing. Essentially
always the same message for what he was preaching was Christ and
him crucified. And that's the message we have
to declare. Our Lord has commanded us to preach. But what are we
to preach? What kind of preaching is it
that both honors God and is useful to the souls of men? The answer
to that question we need only to open the book of God and read
those sermons that are recorded by the inspiration of God's Spirit,
those sermons that were delivered by the apostles under the direction
of God's Spirit, those men being moved by the Spirit of God to
preach as they did. They preached with authority.
And here we have an example of that apostolic preaching. This
is the message that God has sent us to declare. Our God has commanded
us to preach these things and preach them as we will. To preach
the gospel involves six things. that I see here in this passage.
I'll give them to you as we go along. First, to preach the gospel
is to declare the sovereignty and the freeness of divine grace.
I know I insist on that almost every time I stand in this pulpit.
I do so with good reason, because that's the place where men are
most prevented. You've often heard me give you the example
of Martin Luther. He said, the loyalty of a faithful
soldier His loyalty is proven in that place where the battle
rages hottest against his kingdom. That's where it's at. And a gospel
preacher is loyal to Christ as he declares that point of gospel
truth which is most rebelled against by the kingdom. I exist
upon the freeness and the sovereignty of God's grace, simply because
this is the thing about which men are most antagonistic. They
will hear many things, but not this message of God's absolute
sovereignty. But this is what Peter declares.
He said, first thing out of his mouth, when he came down from
Cretaceous, 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 ease. What Peter
declared first was that God is no respecter of persons. Simply
put, what he's saying is that nobody's got a claim on God.
Nobody, no matter what his heritage may be, no matter what his pedigree
might be, he has no claim upon God, because God's grace, his
mercy, his righteous goodness to men is absolutely free and
sovereign upon men. So that God has mercy on them,
go ahead. so that it is not by the will of the flesh, nor by
the will of man, but of God that shows mercy upon men, that men
are born again by his Spirit. And God's church, his kingdom,
is a universal kingdom of believers. Peter says God's grace isn't
limited to the Jews, it's not limited to the Gentile white
nation, but it's among all men of every nation. For in every
nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted
with him. are scattered throughout all
the nations of the earth. And God's elect in all the nations
are one church and kingdom. Now here Peter is describing
the character of God's elect, not the cause of His saving mercy,
but the character of those to whom God has been gracious. Those
who are born of God fear Him. That has reference to the first
table of the law, they honor God. They believe God. They worship
Him. They endeavor to walk before
Him in sincerity and in truth. Those who are born of God perform
works of righteousness that has reference to the second table
of the law. They love their neighbor. Those who fear God do. Those
who are born of God have been given a heart by which they love
one another. Our Lord exemplifies these works
of righteousness that are described here by one thing that He said. Let me just give you that one.
He said, whoso shall offer so much as a cup of cold water in
the name of the disciple shall not lose his reward. Now what
he's saying is, those who are born of God, they walk before
God and one another with loving kindness to one another and they
show that loving kindness by their deeds to one another. Those
being born of God, are accepted with him, accepted through the
merit to the substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. The first
to preach the gospel is to declare the freeness and the sovereignty
of God's grace. But secondly to preach the gospel is to proclaim
peace and reconciliation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter
says in verse 36, the word which God sent unto the children of
Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. The gospel that we are
sent to preach is the gospel of peace. It is the word of reconciliation. Our ministry is the ministry
of reconciliation. When our Lord was born upon this
earth, when he came into this world in human nature, the angels
of God declared, peace on earth. They proclaimed peace by Jesus
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ himself,
just before he was crucified, proclaimed peace by him. He said,
hi, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
me. And all the apostles of Christ and every true gospel preacher
proclaims peace by Jesus Christ. This is the message we declare.
Turn to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse
19. The apostle Paul is here telling
us what the work of the ministry is. Back up to verse 16 if you
will. He said, wherefore henceforth
know we no man hath the flesh. Yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Now what
he's saying is this, we don't judge men after the flesh, and
we don't esteem men after the flesh, but rather, we who believe,
looking upon one another in Christ, esteem one another in Christ,
in our position in Christ. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and
behold, all things have become new. Now I know that generally
when we read that verse of scripture, we think about that as describing
what change takes place within the believer. Now I recognize
that the believer is made new in Christ. But in this passage,
he's talking about reconciliation. We are no longer at enmity with
God. The problem that existed, our sin, that which stood between
God and our soul has been removed. And we are now made new in Christ
Jesus before God Almighty so that we are holy and without
blame before him. And he says, and all things are
of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and
hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. We come preaching
reconciliation, peace by Christ. This is the word, to wit that
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you
in Christ's name, be reconciled to God, and be reconciled on
this basis. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Amen. You must be reconciled to God. You must be brought to terms
of peace with God. And God alone makes the terms
of peace. And that term which is given
is Jesus Christ himself. The only way to have peace with
God is by faith in Christ. That's the only way. Christ Jesus
has obtained peace for us. by his own precious blood. By
his blood he satisfied God's wrath, turned away God's judgment
from us, put away our sins, and made peace between God and our
souls, so that God in him was reconciling us to himself, not
imputing our sins to us, for he imputed them to his own. The
Lord God offers sinners terms of peace in the gospel, and the
terms of peace which he offers, surrender. That's all. Surrender. terms of peace which God gives
to you, if you would be at peace with God, is bow down to his
Son, surrender to his Son. That's the only way to have peace
with God. Peace comes to men. They believe on Christ Jesus.
When Christ comes to men, and men come to Christ, he brings
peace. For where the Prince of Peace
rules, there is peace. Peace with God. Nothing between
God and my soul recalls me fearfully. Because Christ Jesus is my righteousness,
my redemption, my sanctification. When Christ comes in a man's
heart, he gives peace in his heart so that that man, believing
Christ, walks at peace even in the midst of trouble. And when
Christ comes reigning in a man's heart, he causes him to be at
peace among women. You show me a man and a woman
living together under one roof as man and wife, both of them
who believe, both of them who surrender to Christ, both of
them who are the subjects of the King of Peace, I'm going
to guarantee you, their outflow is an outflow You show me a congregation where
the men and women in that congregation live together under the rule
of Christ, seeking the glory of Christ, the furtherance of
Christ's gospel, I'll show you a congregation that's at peace.
You show me a congregation that's forever in turmoil and strife,
I'll show you a congregation where the King of Peace does
not rule. For He rules. We come preaching peace by Jesus
Christ. And thirdly, preach the gospel
and proclaim to men the absolute lordship and universal dominion
of Christ. He is Lord of all. You see it? Verse 32. It's almost
as though Peter just kindly parenthetically inserted that, just in case I
should pass this over, I want you to understand Christ is not truly preached
until he is preached in his sovereign character as Lord of all. We
come to Christ as Lord, bowing to him with submissive hearts
of surrender. That's what faith is. Nobody
believes Christ who does not know Christ as Lord, as sovereign
Lord. By right of rejection, Jesus
Christ, the God-man, reigns universally as Lord, and men must bow to
him as such. Kiss the son lest he be angry. That's the way to obtain peace.
Christ is Lord of all men. He's Lord of all providence.
He's Lord of all grace. He's Lord of all things. Take
the word to its fullest extent. He's Lord of all. He's Lord of
all. Fourthly, to preach the gospel
is to declare and expound to men the meaning and the significance
of our Savior's finished work. I won't spend a little bit of
time here. I'll be doing more. In verse 37, down through verse
41, the Apostle Peter is telling Cornelius what Christ did and
why he did it. Now, my friends, the deadly error
of modern fundamentalism is that the fundamentalists think that
the gospel is simply to declare the historic facts of the life,
death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. The fundamentalists
think that faith in Christ is no more than a mental acceptance
of these historical facts. Now, I'm not speaking off my
head. I'm just telling you what I've seen. Let me give you a
direct quote. This is from W.A. Criswell. He's
a very famous Southern Baptist preacher. Pastor of the First
Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. Biggest church in the world.
Pastor of the biggest one in the world. Used to be president
of the Southern Baptist Convention. This is what he said. This is
what he said. When a man preaches the historical facts of Jesus,
he is preaching Jesus. When he affirms the historical
facts of the Christian faith, he's preaching the Christian
faith. When he believes the historical facts of the Christian faith,
he's believing the Christian faith. Now that's deadly error. It's deadly error. No man preaches
the gospel until he proclaims the meaning and the significance
of our Lord's finished work. No man believes the gospel until
he understands the meaning of our Lord's work and depends upon
it for his eternal salvation. If it were just a matter of preaching
the historical facts of the gospel, just declaring the historic fact
that Jesus Christ lived, that he died, that he rose again the
third time, witnesses preach it as well as
any president that you could. If that's all it is, make free
access to it. The demons in hell believe it as well as you do.
If that's all it is, just believe in historic facts. No sir. In
understanding the gospel and in preaching the gospel, we understand
and declare to men the meaning of what Christ did, the significance
of what he did. We rest upon his finished work
because we understand how that Christ died for our sins as a
substitute under the wrath of God and satisfied God's justice
now that he rose again as our substitute. And ascended into
heaven as our substitute and reigns as our substitute. How he did what he did. Why he did what he did. Cornelius,
he had heard about Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He heard all that
Christ had done. He heard about all that had happened
to him. And now Peter is taking him aside and he's explaining
to him what all of these things meant. That's what preaching
is. That's what it is. was a Gentile convert to Judaism. And he worshipped God just like
the Old Testament saints worshipped God. He did believe God. But
as he would go in and out of Jerusalem, he would hear about
the King Jesus. And he'd hear about the miracles
that he performed and how they had performed great miracles
that could not be forgiven. He heard how they took this man
Jesus of Nazareth and nailed him to a prison. And they mocked
him and they derided him. and he could not help but to
hear for it was witnessed all across the land having on the
third day Jesus rose again for his disciples had seen him. And
now Peter says Cornelius, let me tell you what it's all about.
Let me tell you what it all means. That's what I'm trying to do
tonight. I will tell you what it's all about. I will tell you
what it all means. That's what preaching is. It's explaining
to men the meaning of our Lord's word. Jesus of Nazareth, he is
God's anointed one. That's what Peter told him. He
said, verse 38, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy
Ghost and with power. Cornelius believed that the Messiah,
the Christ, would come. And the word Christ simply means
anointed one. And so Peter says, Cornelius,
you know the Messiah that you've heard about, the Messiah whom
you're looking for, he's come! He's Jesus Christ. That's who
he is. He's God's anointed one. The
Lord was sent by him. God his Father into this world,
anointed of the Spirit above nations. The name that was given
to our Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, was the name of humiliation. It was the name his enemies gave
him, they derided him. Why, that's Jesus, isn't it? But Peter wasn't
ashamed of it. What was considered by men to
be the shame of Christ, by Peter was considered to be the glory
of Christ. humiliation. And so Peter, when he preaches
to Cornelius and when he preaches to others, he says, Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, the despised one, he's the Christ of God. God was
with him. See verse 38? God was with him. God was with him because you
see, he is God. And all the fullness of the Godhead
dwelleth in him. That man who was born of the
Virgin Mary, who walked upon the earth for 33 years, that
man whom they hung upon a tree and watched him die, watched
him in his agony, and mocked him while he died, that man,
he's God. So he worried about that. God was his name. Then Peter told Cornelius, Christ
Jesus hung on a tree. He said, this is what I'm talking
about. That's when they hung on a tree. But God was with him
because he is God. He is God. Don't ever forget
it, my friends. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he
hung upon the cursed tree, and when he cried, it is finished,
and when he bowed his head and said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit and breathed out the ghost, that Christ is
God. I can't comprehend it. I sure
can't explain it, but I know it says. Well might the sun in
darkness hide and shut as low as in when God the mighty maker
died for man to be christened. But preacher, how could the eternal
God die? He can't. He can't. But God joined
the human flesh, gave his life for us. And so I believe in the
eternal God. He was hung upon a tree because
he was made to be a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. And he was hung upon the cursed
tree and made a curse for us so that we might receive the
blessing of Abraham, the blessings of God's covenant grace. And
so our Lord was hung upon a tree. And God raised him up the third
day as the triumph of the Lord. We are witnesses of these 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 over. He was made to be sinned, so
he died, suffering the wrath and the justice of God, suffering
the infinite penalty of sin. And he was buried as a dead man.
Justice has been satisfied by the death of this man, and so
he is dead no longer, but he raised from the dead because
he put a waste to him, and sins no longer. He's buried in the
kingdom. God raised him from the dead,
and God has revealed him to us. Look at verse 40 and 41. Showed
him openness, 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. Now, I know that those
words speak of our Lord's bodily appearance upon the earth with
his apostles. He showed himself to Mary, showed himself to those
ladies, showed himself to the disciples, showed himself to
Thomas. One time he showed himself to over 500 brethren. I know
it's talking about his bodily appearance, but I think maybe
there's a spiritual significance to it. I think maybe there's
some Some spiritual truth to be learned here for us. This
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is God, he's been revealed to
us. God showed him openness in the
preaching of the gospel. In this word, God's shown him
openness. All men could see him if they
had eyes to see him. God's shown him openness. All
men could know him if they had a heart to know him. God's shown
him openly. He's not hidden. He's right here.
He's right here. He's revealed in the gospel.
But you see, God has not showed him to all the people, but unto
us who were before chosen of God. He's shown him unto us by
special revelation. He shows himself to his own,
but not unto the world. And we eat and drink. I hope it's so for your soul.
I believe I've been doing that today, and sitting back here
studying this text of scripture, preparing to preach, searching
out the word in my soul, then refreshed and fed through the
word of God, feeding upon the righteousness of Christ and the
blood of Christ, my soul. We eat and drink. We eat and
drink. Nobody knows what we're talking
about. We enjoy sweet fellowship with him. When Lazarus, who was
raised from the dead, was found eating at the table with Jesus,
so we, being raised from the dead, are found eating at the
table with Jesus from day to day. And Peter said, we're witnesses. We're witnesses. We're witnesses
of these things that we're declaring to you. He said in verse Verse
42, God commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify. That word testify, it's the word
that I use whenever I have to give an oath. We're not required
by law, you know, to say, as they do in the TV shows, they
say, raise your right hand and say, I solemnly swear. Never. Never. Our Lord said, swear it
not by death, I go down to register to vote, or I go down to give
testimony, as I had to do sometime back. Driving without any license,
I had to go to court. When I stood before the judge,
he required that I solemnly swear. I refused. I say I solemnly affirm
that what I'm about to say is a law of self-defense. That's
the word that he uses. He just says he commanded us
to preach unto the people and to solemnly affirm that what
we're saying is the truth of God. I solemnly affirm to you
that it is. I know it because of that which
God has taught me in my soul, that which I've experienced.
Now fifthly, there's also a word of warning in the gospel. for
to preach the gospel is to declare the impending judgment of men
by Jesus Christ the Lord. Look at verse 42. He commanded us to preach unto
the people and to solemnly affirm that it is he which was ordained
of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead. I give you Soon you will stand before God
in judgment. And God who judges you, that
God before whom you will stand, is none other than the man God,
Jesus. Amen. I want you to turn back
to the book of John, if you will. John chapter 5. I bid you, I urge you, I plead
with you, Prepare to meet thy God. Matthew Kuhl made this statement.
He said, hear the word of God and be persuaded of this, that
Christ whose gospel and word you hear will judge you according
to it. My friends, the judge we must
face is the God-man Christ Jesus. God the Father, now listen to
me, listen carefully. God the Father has turned all
the work of God with relation to me over to the man, Christ
Jesus. Everything, everything. Christ
is the only one who stands between God and me, but he stands between
God and me. God never deals with you as absolute
God, never. He never deals with anybody in
this world as absolute God, never. He deals with everybody through
the mediator. Everybody. Both those whom he
saves and those whom he damns. Listen to what our Lord said
in John chapter 5 and verse 26. John 5 verse 26. As the Father hath life in himself,
so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath
given him authority to exercise judgment also, Because He is
the Son of Man. He's the Son of Man. The Father
judgeth no man, our Lord said, but hath committed all judgment
to the Son. That's what He said. I hear men talk about there's
going to be a judgment. He's Christ. That's for the believers. And then there's going to be
another judgment when God's going to sit out in His absolute glory
as God and He's going to be judged. No, sir. No, sir. Everybody who
hears anything from God, everybody who sees anything of God, hears
and sees it in Jesus Christ. He's the revelation of the Bible.
That's the only way mortal men can see God's in Christ. The
only way mortal men can know God's in Christ. And Christ's
going to be the judge of it. Everybody can stand before the
judgment bar of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He's done it. Everybody. Turn over to 2 Corinthians 5.
2 Corinthians chapter 5. I want you to see this. Now men can twist and turn the
scriptures all they want to, but this passage of scripture
is not talking about sometimes when believers are going to stand
and they're going to be either given great rewards so that they
enter into heaven or they're going to be stripped of certain
rewards because they weren't good Christians. This is talking
about the terror of God. It's talking about the terror
of God. Look here in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 10. We must all, everybody,
everybody, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ
that everyone may receive things done in his body according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Now this is what
Paul says. He's saying every man and woman,
every human being, every angel, every beast, Everybody is going
to stand before God naked. I say naked, I don't mean disrobed.
I mean with nothing but the blood of the Lord. We're going to stand
naked before the Lord. And He's going to judge you in
a body so that you can bear His judgment, be it you or a man.
He's going to judge us in a body for the things that we have done.
whether they be good or bad. And his judgment will be the
judgment of all men, both the quick and the dead. His judgment
will be according to the works of men, both the great and the
minute. So that he said, every idle thought,
shall we call it the judgment, every idle thought, the books
were opened and God judged them, everyone out of the book of the
things done in the body. Our Lord Jesus Christ will be
true, impartial, and just in his judgment. And his judgment
will be final and irreversible. The sentence will be just, whatever
his sentence is. And when he passes condemnation
upon the damned and says, upon them. Those men and women
shall be fully convinced in their hearts that his judgment is just. The Virgin said this will be the
hell of the world. Men who have suffered through
this know that it is Christ who suffered. His judgment is just. The parable tells us Now that the
king came in and found one not having on a wedding garment,
and he said to him, what are you doing here? Why don't you
have on a wedding garment? And that man... Why didn't you
believe? Why didn't you bow? Why didn't
you trust Christ? Why didn't you bow down to my
lordship? Why didn't you bow down to my
scepter? Now listen to me Knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord We persuade me Knowing his terror. This is the rock the stone which
the builders have rejected. He's become the head of the corner
Fall on him and you'll be broken But if he falls on you, he'll
grind you to powder Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men. Let me give you this. Pastor,
how then shall we endure the judgment of that day? As those
who are damned shall be justly damned. Those who are saved shall
be justly saved through the merits of the saints. Look at that passage
in chapter 5. things done in his flesh, whether
good or bad. That's how God's going to judge
you. He's going to require of D.C. Llewellyn and Don Fortner
perfect righteousness, perfect righteousness. He's going to
require satisfaction for sin, absolute satisfaction for sin. When justice is satisfied, and
righteousness is clearly proved, only then shall you or I enter
into good." And we did. Books were opened. God judged
them. As we've seen, they were given to books. Things they'd
done that didn't good or bad, handed another book to them,
which is called the Book of Life of the Lord. And he calls off the name. I don't know how to do it. I don't suspect it will take
him all the time. But somehow, for our understanding,
is that the only thing. He calls off the name. He says,
uh, Merle Hart, I spoke too far. Here is a book, and I find written in it that
you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and being. And I find in it that you love
your neighbor as yourself. I've searched, and I can't find
one single book. And I can't find one glimpse
of your character, your name, your reputation. I can't find
anything you've done but that which pleases God. Come and inherit
the keys to the parish of Jesus Christ. But, Pastor, you don't know him
well like I know him. No, you don't know him like God
knows him. You see, God knows that there's
a difference. And that's how we should live. So that in exact
proportion with divine justice, being redeemed by the blood of
Christ, having fulfilled God's law in
every job he did, in the person of a citizen, not all life has
been redeemed, but this is a blessing. That's Jesus. That's Jesus. So now I rejoice to tell you,
that in preaching the gospel, our Lord has also commanded that
we preach to all men the complete remission of sins for all who
do evil. Yes, you're going to stand before
God, God the man, in judgment. God the man, Christ Jesus, no
judges. But look at verse 43, to him,
Jesus Christ the judge, to him, Jesus Christ the righteous, to
him, Jesus Christ the God, to him give all the prophets witness
that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive
the remissions. I like that. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You reckon that
can mean me? Well, I reckon you do. I love
you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Preacher, do you suppose that
could mean me? Do you? If you believe, it means you.
You see, he delighted with mercy. God has no pleasure in the death
of a king. God will punish unbelieving men and women He will fix it so that they can
do no more harm. He'll fix it so they can no longer
mar His kingdom. He'll fix it so they can no longer
blacken His creation. He'll shut them up in hell. But
though men suffer all of eternity, no man can give God satisfaction. He has no satisfaction. Oh, but
let me tell you, He has pleasure, infinite pleasure. This is what we must do. This is what we must preach. This is what it is to preach
the gospel. We must declare the sovereignty and the freeness
of divine grace. We must preach peace and reconciliation
through Christ. We must declare to men the absolute
lordship and universal dominion of Christ. We must preach to
men clearly declaring the meaning of our Savior's finished work.
We must warn men, plainly warning them. of the impending judgment
of men by Christ. And we must proclaim to men the
complete remission of sins through the blood of Christ to all who
believe. But there's one thing more needed. If our labors shall be of any
profit to the souls of men. If our labors shall be of any eternal
value to those who hear the word we preach. If the word of God is to be made
effectual in your heart, mine, and the hearts of those who hear
our message, this video tape is going to be going out to a
lot of people. This dissent tape is going to go out to hundreds
of people. The radio broadcasts are heard
every day by thousands, thousands of people. I study hard. I do the best I can to prepare
the sermons with clarity, understanding, according to gospel truth. But
it will all be in vain unless God the Holy Spirit shall fall
upon the very image and make it whole. Look at verse 44. Peter preached to those Sanhedrin
and nobody paid any attention to what he said. that he preached
here, and while Peter yet spoke these words, look what happened.
The Holy Ghost fell on all men. Oh, let us give ourselves relentlessly
to the furtherance of the gospel, believing God. Believing Him,
just give ourselves to this business of making known the gospel. I
call upon you as believers. I call upon you men and women
to make whatever sacrifice, whatever commitment is needed to be made,
that the gospel may be preached. Not just sacrifices and commitments
to this work. And I thank God for you who supply
those needs. But wherever men proclaim the
gospel of God's grace, do whatever you can to see to it that their
needs are met. and pray. Oh, pray for God's power to accompany
the Word. Oh, I'd like one time, one time
before I leave this world, to preach the gospel, absolutely,
in the power of gospel. So that when these words The
Word reaches beyond just your ear and strikes your heart. Pray to the power of God's Spirit
within the ministry of the Word. Give yourself remittance. Do
whatever you can. Whatever you can, by whatever
means. With your own witness, distributing tracts. I saw Alberta
the other day, pick up a tract, take it to someone. Whatever
you can do, whatever you can do, get the word of God. Do what God's given you to do.
He commanded us to do it. And we'll wait on it. We'll wait
on it. I'm not even slightly tempted
to do anything to compromise the gospel just to get folks
coming to church to make a little decision. Not even slightly. God will do his work. He'll do
it to us declaring the gospel to the world. And he'll pay you to keep it.
We'll wait on him to do so. Amen. Let's take our song of
grace Number 11. I'll ask you to stand together.