Acts chapter 10. I want to dive
into this story. I took a little bit of extra
time reading that to kind of set the table for the message. But as in verse 33, immediately
therefore when Cornelius is recounting this by the providence of God
that was brought to pass in his life, and he's telling God's
servant Peter, You've well done that you have come. We're most
happy that you have come. And I've gathered all my friends
and all my family, and we are all here present before God Almighty. And that's how we meet today.
We are all present here before God Almighty, before God, and
we are here to hear Not what you think, not the philosophy,
not the current issue of the day, not the politics of the
day, not the moral issue of the day. We are all here to hear
things, all things that are commanded. We want to hear what God says.
We don't want to hear about the issue of the day. We want to
hear what God says from His Holy Word, things commanded, commanded
of God. We have in this convergent story
of Cornelius a marvelous written display of the sovereign providence
of God, how he works in the life of his people, how he worked
in Cornelius, and at the same time, he was breaking down that
old prejudiced heart that was still in Peter. showing Peter
that what God had cleansed, don't you call any man common or unclean,
those whom I have chosen and called and blessed. God prepared
Cornelius to hear the gospel, but God also blessed Peter to
go to a house of a Gentile and to lodge with him and to stay
with him. The Lord is preparing to call
out his sheep He says, other sheep I have which are not of
this fold, them I also must bring. He's preparing to call out his
sheep among the Gentiles, and he's going to display unto us
this will happen in the exact same way that he saved his elect
among the Jews. The same way. By his sovereign
grace, we believe through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved even as others. As Peter stood up in Acts 15,
11 is recorded, through the means he has ordained. Through the
means he has ordained. Several times in this chapter,
it talks about the words that God would have us speak. Commanded to preach the gospel.
We're here to hear what God says. God has ordained the preaching
of the gospel to the calling out of his sheep. My sheep will
hear my voice, I know them, and they will follow me." We've seen
this method of grace several times already in our study through
the book of Acts. Peter preached at Pentecost,
and God blessed a multitude of people. Philip was sent down
into the desert country to one man, a black man from Ethiopia,
who was studying Isaiah 53. And Peter, Philip rather, began
at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus Christ. Crucified as the only Savior,
the only Redeemer. We've seen this story again when
Ananias was sent down to Osaul of Tarsus. And he told him, God
had chosen you to be a vessel of mercy and to preach the gospel. Cornelius, it says in verse 24
of our text, Cornelius, as he waited, he called together his
kinsmen and his dear friends. And then it says in verse 33,
he says, we're all here present before God to hear the things
commanded of God. Here to hear. I've experienced
this in my life. I've experienced God gathering
a people together to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that's what's going
on in Kingsport right now. That one family. Desiring to
hear the gospel. And they have sent the word out
to all their kinfolk. And when we go, they're here
to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can think of
another experience I had in this matter. Back about 25 years ago,
there was an individual a man who became interested in the
gospel of God's grace, and he started watching Pastor Mahan
on the TV, his TV program, back about 1981, 1982. Several years
later, the man fell in love with Christ and the gospel and called
Pastor Mahan one day and said, if I would build a building sufficient
to hold a congregation, would you come and preach the gospel
to my family? And Brother Henry said, well,
sure I would. I'll do that. We'll send the gospel preacher.
You provide the building. So the man right away, about
1985, he started building. He bought some property and constructed
a building. And in that year of May 1986,
the word went out. into all that community, that
God's servant was coming to town. He had God's message. So he gathered
all of his family, all of his friends, and they were all here
to hear what God's servant had to say. And in May of 1986, I
chauffeured my pastor up to that place that this man had built
and established for the gospel to be preached. Some of you folks
are still here that were in that meeting. I'm talking about what
happened right here. Right here in 1986. They were
all here to hear. This building was packed out
for three days. And we came and we preached the gospel. And God
was pleased to establish a gospel ministry right here. And we can
still say we're here to hear. We're here to hear. Paul's family still here worshiping
God. And his family still supports
this ministry by prayer and by other means. We're all here to
hear. Now, here's the message. Here's
the message. Peter opened his mouth. Verse
34. Peter opened his mouth and he
said this, of a truth. I speak the truth. Could God's servant do anything
less than speak the truth? Of the truth, I'm going to speak
the truth, Cornelius, and I know you're prepared to hear the truth.
I perceive God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation
he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted of
him, accepted of him. My first point is this. Salvation
is by the free and sovereign grace of God. God's mercy, God's
grace and love are completely unmerited. We don't merit mercy. It's not based upon who you are,
nor what you have done, is it? Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy. He saved us. It's not based upon who you are,
black, white, young, old, bond-free, educated or uneducated. It just
doesn't matter. Grace is no respecter of person. He'll have mercy on whom he will
have mercy. You see what he's saying here?
Grace is not attracted nor rejected or repelled by any good or evil
in us. It's totally outside of us. Not
of him that will it, nor of him that run it, but it's God that
shows mercy. That's what's being said here.
God is no respecter of person. Grace is no respecter. Mercy
is no respecter. God will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. And then he said, in every nation,
every nation, every nation, Revelation 5 talks about, out of every kindred,
tribe, nation, tongue, and under heaven, He'll have a multitude
of sinners washed in the blood of Christ, who sing unto Him,
unto Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.
To Him be all the honor and glory, both now and forever. In every nation, he that fears
Him, what is it to fear God? To worship Him. It's to honor
Him. It's to look to Him with the
highest esteem in your heart. Holy and reverent is God's name. In every nation, He that fears
Him, worships Him, loves Him, and works righteousness is accepted
of Him. Now, I know what the natural
man thinks. When he reads this, works righteousness
and accepted, right away we equate that if I do good enough, and
produce enough that I'll be accepted of Him. Isn't that what the natural
man thinks? Based on salvation, based upon my performance? That's
not what that said. That's not what's being said
there. Who are those who work righteousness? Who are accepted? That, like all other verses,
has to be looked at in the light of all Scripture. To work righteousness
is to renounce self-righteousness, and to look to the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is all my righteousness. That's how this sinner is justified
before God, based upon the merit of Christ, based upon the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is called the Lord our righteousness. We've learned those names. The
children have learned those names. Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Sid Canu,
the Lord our righteousness. That's how we are accepted of
him. It says in Ephesians chapter
1 that we're accepted in the beloved who is our righteousness. That's Peter's message. That's
our message. The sovereign grace of God. Second
point is this. The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel. Here's the necessity of preaching.
The word which God sent. The word. That could also be
referenced to the word, the Lord Jesus Christ, the word which
God sent unto the children of Israel. Preaching peace. Preaching peace. Everybody's
interested in peace. Peace. How are we going to have peace
with God? Well, just do the best you can.
Everything will be all right. Just live a peaceable life. Everything
will be all right. The problem is everything I have
is sin. The problem is I'm born in sin. I've transgressed against God's
holy law. God's angry with the wicked every
day. And by nature, I'm a wicked man. By nature, I can't satisfy
God. I can't recommend myself unto
God. I can't, as some people say,
I'm trying to make my peace with God. You can't do that. What does that say? Peter didn't
say, well, you don't make your peace with God, Cornelius. He
said, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. Peace by Christ is peace
by sacrifice. It's peace through strength.
It's peace through power. It's peace by the blood of Christ.
Turn to Romans 5, look at this. Romans 5, peace with God. You get that issue settled and
everything else will fall into place. Seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness and all these other things will
line up in due time. Romans 5.1, look at this here.
Christ was delivered for our offenses and raised again because
He justified us. Romans 5.1, therefore being justified
by faith, faith that looks to Christ to substitute, we have
peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God based upon His
sacrifice. Find the book of Colossians chapter
1. We have peace with God. Oh, blessed peace. Reconciled
under God in Christ. Colossians chapter 1 verse 19,
For it pleased the Father, it pleased the Father that in Him
should all fulness dwell. Colossians 1 verse 19. having
made peace, having made peace. He's already made peace for His
children. He's already reconciled us unto
God. Sin separated us from God. He
reconciled us unto God, having made peace through the blood
of His cross by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him
I say, whether things be in earth or in heaven, and you that were
sometimes alienated, enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now has He reconciled. and embodied His flesh through
His death to present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable in
His sight. Peace through strength. Peace
through His sacrifice. Peace with God. He made peace
with the blood sacrifice of Himself. That's what He's saying here.
Back to the text. The Word of God, the Gospel,
is to be preached and published everywhere. Preaching peace. Peace by the Lord Jesus Christ. Saying that He is. He's not going
to be Lord someday. He is Lord right now. That's how Peter started this
whole thing. God had made that same Jesus
whom you crucified. God had made Him both Lord and
Christ. Preaching peace. John the Baptist,
he pointed people to whom? Not to the law. He said, behold
the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of God's elect, His world,
the elect world. Paul and the other apostles pointed
sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Lord. He is Lord. Not by something I do. God made
Him Lord. by His decree, talking about
His office as mediator. In His person, He is God. But
in His office, He's designated as the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all in creation,
in providence, and most especially in salvation. God has given Him
power over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as
many as the Father has given Him. Here's the third point. of this
message found in verse 38. The word published throughout
all Judea, John preached the gospel, the apostles preached
the gospel, John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet.
Verse 38, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit,
Holy Ghost, and with that went about doing good, healing all
that were oppressed of the devil, God was with him. God was in
him. We declare, here's what he's
saying to Cornelius in his house, we declare that Jesus of Nazareth
is the Christ. He is the Messiah. Those Jews
were looking for a Messiah. Peter declares unto him that
the Lord Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Christ of God. He is the anointed of God. Turn
back to the book of Luke, chapter 4. Our Lord, when he came to
his hometown of Nazareth, Luke chapter 4, Jesus of Nazareth,
this man who was hated and despised, they called him a wine-digger,
a gluttonous man. They said this man's a devil,
he has a devilish spirit. This man who's despised and hated,
he is the Messiah. He is the Christ, and that's
what Peter is declaring. He is the anointed of God, the
Christ of God. Luke chapter 4, verse 16, when
he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his
custom was, he went into the synagogue on a Sabbath day and
stood up for to read. He observed the law. And there
was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when
he had opened the book, he found a place where it is written,
this is from Isaiah 61, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
he hath anointed me, he is the anointed, to preach the gospel
to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captive, recovering of sight,
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, gave
it to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that
were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto
them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. He is
the Christ. Don't look for the Messiah to
come. He has already come. We declare unto you that Jesus
of Nazareth is the anointed Messiah. He is the Christ. He is the anointed
of God. In all his offices, prophet,
priest, and king, he's anointed of God. As the prophet that God
said, I'll raise up a prophet, he'll speak unto you all the
will of God and the word of God. You'll hear him. He's my servant,
my anointed. He's God's prophet. to reveal
the Father unto us. He said, no man knows the Father,
but he to whom the Son will reveal Him. He's hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. He is that anointed
prophet. He is the Christ. To reveal the
gospel to us, He is the priest of God. Like Aaron of old was
anointed. Aaron and his sons were anointed
in that office. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
great high priest. anointed of God and blessed of
God to represent us and to put away the sin of God's people.
He obtained for us eternal redemption with His own blood, and He is
the anointed King. He rules and reigns over everything,
all powers given unto me in heaven and in earth. In this life, as
the surety of His people, He honored God's law. It says there
He went about doing good. He couldn't do anything but good.
He is goodness personified. Remember when Moses said, Show
me your glory, and God said, I'll make all my goodness pass
before you. He is goodness. That's talking
about Christ, the coming of the Messiah. He said, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. He went about doing good, healing
all that were oppressed. of the wicked one. Even the devil
recognized him as God Almighty. Why have you come to torment
us before the time? Even they fled at his presence
and bowed to him as Lord, as God's Christ. And then it says
that God was with him. Immanuel. Go over here to Matthew
chapter 1. This Jesus of Nazareth, He is
the Messiah. He is exactly what He's called,
Savior, Jesus. Call His name Jesus. Matthew
1.21, She shall bring forth a Son. Matthew 1.21, Thou shalt call
His name Savior. What does it mean? Jesus, for
he shall save his people from their sin. Now all this was done,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which
being interpreted is God with us." God was in Christ reconciling
us unto himself. The fourth point is of Peter's
message is found in verse 39. We are witnesses of all things
which he did, everything which he did, all that he has said
and all that he has done in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem,
and we are witnesses of this too, of his crucifixion. They slew him and they crucified
him and they put him to death. We are witnesses of these things.
We preach how Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Turn back to Acts chapter 2.
Remember our study from the second chapter? We preach how Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. Acts chapter
2 verse 22. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by
miracles, wonders, and signs which God did by him in the midst
of you as yourselves? No. Also no. Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel for knowledge of God, you have taken
and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. You killed the Son
of God. God raised him from the dead.
Now look back to the text again, Acts chapter 10. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. What does this mean? To preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified is not just to declare that He
died. Everybody's saying that, aren't they? It's to declare
how He died according to the scriptures in fulfilling all
things and what He accomplished. What did He accomplish when He
died? Four things. put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself. He shall save His people from
their sin. He justified them by His blood. We're justified by the blood
of Christ. He redeemed us from all sin by
His blood. We're redeemed not with corruptible
things, but with the precious blood of Christ. The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, all for whom He died. Can any sinner perish if he paid
their sin debt? God forbid it. God forbid it. He laid down his life for the
sheep. There is no condemnation to those
who are in Christ. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God the last? It is God who justifies. It is
Christ who died, day rather, risen again. He's even at the
right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. That's the
good news. Just not that he died, but what
did he accomplish? Salvation. He said it's done. It is done. It is well done. Look at verse 40. Here's the
fifth point to this message. Verse 40. Him, God, raised from
the dead. Him, God, raised from the dead. You check me out on this. All
through the preaching in the book of Acts, beginning with
Peter, every sermon that's recorded talks about his resurrection. Thirty-seven, thirty-eight times,
every sermon talks about his resurrection. God raised him
from the dead. What is the significance of that?
The significance of that is this, what he did was accomplished,
put away our sin, justified and redeemed us, but more than that,
accepted of God. When he by himself purged our
sin, he sat down at the right hand of God. The body of the
Lord Jesus Christ ascended to glory. and is sitting on the
throne of God right now. He's accepted, and we're accepted
in Him. God raised Him from the dead. And it's not just a spirit thing,
it's a bodily thing. A bodily resurrection. The body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The glorified God-man. is in
glory, the forerunner for us has entered in. Seated! I'm in Him. Where the head is,
the body is close behind. What's through the head is through
the body. In Ephesians chapter 2 it talks about us already being
exalted and seated in the heavenly in Christ Jesus. I'm not there
in my person yet, but in my representative I am, in my substitute I am.
And in reality, one day I will be soon. To be absent from this
body is to be present with the Lord. Now let's go on. Peter in verse 42. Verse 41 says
we're witness of His resurrection. We did eat with Him. We did drink
with Him after He rose from the dead. It's real. The resurrection
is real. Verse 42. He said, we are commanded
to preach this message. We are here to hear all things
commanded of God. We're commanded to preach that
He died for our sins according to the Scripture. We're commanded
to preach that He is the Messiah. We're commanded to preach that
God raised Him and He ascended to glory and seated at the right
hand of God. And He commanded us to preach
unto the people, verse 42. There's the importance of preaching.
Is it necessary? Absolutely. Absolutely. He commanded us to preach unto
the people and to testify that it was He, that it was He. He is that He is. It is He. He is ordained of God,
blessed of God, sent of God, commissioned of God, appointed
of God, died by the decree of God, sent of God as the Lamb
of God. He is ordained of God to be Savior,
to be Redeemer. to be prophet, priest, and king.
But what else does it say right there? It says that He's the
judge. He's the judge. He's the judge
of the living and the dead. He is the righteous judge of
God's elect. We're judged in Him at the cross.
Our sins were judged in Him. And at the last day, God appointed
a day in which He will judge all men by that man. Turn to
Acts 17. God's elect have already been
judged in Christ. My sin has already been judged
in Christ. But those who die without Christ,
our Lord said, if you die in your sin, you cannot come where
I am. If you believe not that I am
He, you'll die in your sin. Acts 17, look at this. This is
Paul preaching to those philosophers on Mars Hill. At the times of
this ignorance, God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. Jew and Gentile, all men everywhere
to repent, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all that he raised him from
the dead. The standard of judgment It's
not me. It's not another man. The standard
of judgment is Christ. God has committed all judgment
under the Son. All judgment is relative to Him. How do you stand in relationship
to Him? Is He all your righteousness
before God? Is He all your hope before God?
Or some of it? Part of it? To the believer, He's everything.
Christ is all and in all. He's everything. And our sin's
been judged in Him. Now look at verse 43. Here's
Peter's last statement. The seventh thing. We are commanded
to point all sinners to Him. To Him, verse 43, to Him give
all the prophets witness. All the prophets of the Old Testament
all pointed to the Lord Jesus. All the apostles of the New Testament
all pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't they? In His Word. And all God's preachers today
point centers to the God-man, the exalted Lord, Jesus Christ. To Him give all the prophets
witness that through His name. John Gill said one of the old
translations of this is through His blood. through His blood,
through His sacrifice, whosoever believes in Him. It doesn't matter
Jew or Gentile. It doesn't matter young or old,
bond-free, black, white, yellow, pink. It doesn't matter. He is
no respecter of persons. Whosoever believes in Him, this
one Son of God, not a counterfeit Christ now, The Christ of God,
the One that describes of God, Son of God, the One who cannot
fail, who obtained salvation for us by His sacrifice. Whosoever believes in Him, His
Name, for His namesake, His blood, His power, His mediation, one
God, one mediator between God and men, the God-Man, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Whosoever believes in Him, shall
receive remission, forgiveness of all my sins. Let's turn just a few pages over to
Acts 13. Acts chapter 13. This was Peter's message to Cornelius. Now here's Paul's first message.
He's going to say the same thing. Whoever believes on him has life. And having life, we have redemption. Forgiveness of all sin. Acts
chapter 13. Verse 38, Be it known unto you
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, there
it is again. He's pointing sinners to the
Lord Jesus Christ. God-man. The God-man. Through this man, the Son of
God is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Through
His blood, by His name, through His power. By Him, all that believe
are justified from all things which could not be justified
by the deeds of the law. By Him, whosoever believes on
Him shall receive the gift of remission of sins. The wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. As Peter was preaching this message, Three things happened in closing.
God blessed Peter's preaching. Verse 45 down through verse 48. The Holy Spirit brought the message
home to the believer's heart. When Peter yet spake these words,
the Holy Spirit fell on them, which heard the word. The gift of the Holy Spirit was
poured out on them. He brought the message home to
the heart. I can preach and preach and preach unless God blesses
that message to your heart. All you hear is just another
sermon. It's the spirit that quickens, the flesh profiteth
nothing. One day I heard the gospel, and
He blessed it to my heart, and I'm still here to hear more of
Him. Secondly, they gave God all the
glory in verse 46. They magnified God. They spake
with a new tongue. God gave them a new heart. And
they spake with new language, a new tongue. God forbid us a
glory save in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they willingly
submitted to believers baptism. And he commanded them to be baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's people shall be
willing in the day of his power, of his power. Well, Peter preached
a great sermon that day, didn't he? All things commanded be of
God. We are all here to hear God's
Word.