The Conversion of Cornelius

Q: What does the Bible say about the conversion of Cornelius?

Acts 10 details how Cornelius, a devout Gentile, was visited by an angel and instructed to send for the Apostle Peter, who preached the gospel to him. In Acts 10, we learn about the conversion of Cornelius, a centurion in Caesarea who was devout and feared God, even before knowing the gospel. He prayed regularly and gave alms to the poor but was not yet saved. God, in His providence, sent an angel to Cornelius, informing him that his prayers and charitable deeds had been acknowledged. The angel instructed him to send for Peter, who would tell him what to do. This illustrates God’s sovereignty in orchestrating both the seeker’s heart and the preacher’s mission, thereby demonstrating that He actively draws His elect to Himself, even among the Gentiles.

Q: How do we know God's election is true?

The doctrine of election is affirmed throughout Scripture, emphasizing that God chooses certain individuals for salvation based on His mercy, not on human effort. The truth of God's election is reinforced in various passages throughout the Bible. In Acts 10, Peter realizes that God shows no favoritism and that acceptance is based on grace, not ethnicity or merit. This theme is also prevalent in Ephesians 1:4-5, where Paul states that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world for adoption as His children. The consistent biblical witness emphasizes that salvation is not earned; rather, it is a gift from God granted to those He sovereignly decides to save. Furthermore, Romans 8:28-30 discusses the Golden Chain of Redemption, indicating that those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Q: Why is the doctrine of predestination important for Christians?

Predestination assures Christians of God's sovereignty and the certainty of salvation for those He has chosen. The doctrine of predestination is crucial for Christians because it provides assurance that salvation is entirely the work of God, not reliant on human actions or decisions. This doctrine is rooted in the belief that before the foundation of the world, God chose certain individuals to be saved, establishing a firm foundation of hope and security in Christ. Romans 8:29-30 highlights this by outlining God's purpose in foreknowing, predestining, calling, justifying, and glorifying those He has chosen. Understanding predestination promotes humility and gratitude among believers, recognizing that grace is unearned and that God takes the initiative in salvation, as illustrated in the conversion of Cornelius.

to sell anybody here a bill of
goods. We're not trying to present a position that we have
taken and trying to convince you to adopt the same position. We are earnestly and sincerely
trying ourselves, this pastor, these other elders who speak
to find out what this book says about God, and about us, and
about eternal life, and about this business of redemption.
I want to know the Lord, don't you? I want to know his word,
and that's the reason I especially enjoy what he did a moment ago,
taking Hebrews 2 and just going down through there and seeing
what God said. And that's what I want to do
tonight here in Acts 10. Let's see what God says about
the conversion of this Gentile, Cornelius. I call this message,
The Conversion of Cornelius. And let's just begin reading.
I'm going to try to speak from verse 24, but I want to lay a
foundation for what I believe God would have me say. by beginning
and just find out what's going on here. What's the setting?
What led up to all of this? Now, chapter 10, verse 1, there
was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius. He was a Gentile. He was a centurion of the band
called the Italian band. He was an important man. He was
a wealthy man. He was a family man. He was a
man who had men under him, working for him, a centurion. But it
says in verse 2, he was a devout man, and he was one that feared
God, walking in what light he had. He didn't know Christ, he
didn't know the gospel. He hadn't been saved. He was
one of those sons, one of those brethren whom God had chosen,
but he didn't know it. But he feared God. He had an
interest in the things of God, and sure there was something
else about him. He was a man who gave much alms to the people. He cared for his neighbors. He
cared for those who were without. He was a generous man. He was
a devout man. He was a God-fearing man. He
was a generous man. And he was a man who prayed.
He called on God. But he didn't know the gospel. Verse 3 says, "...he saw in a
vision," evidently about the ninth hour of the day, that would
be about three in the afternoon, an angel of God coming in to
him and saying to him, Cornelius? When he looked on he was afraid,
of course he was. And he said, what is it, Lord?
And the angel said to him, now watch this, thy prayers and thine
alms are come up from memorial before God. Here was a man interested
in God, interested in the things of God. Oh, how wonderful it
would be to find someone interested in the things of God. And these
things have come up for a memorial before God. And now send men
to Joppa and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter. He lodgeth
with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside, and
he'll tell you what you ought to do. And when the angel which
spake unto Cornelius was departed, Cornelius immediately called
two of his household servants and a devout soldier of them
that waited on him continually. As I said, he was a man of authority. And when he had declared all
these things unto these three men, he sent them to Joppa. Now
then, see what's been going on in Joppa. On the next day, as
these men were coming towards Joppa, oh, the providence of
God, the good providence of God. As they went on their journey
to Joppa and drew near unto the city, Peter went up on the housetop. They had those houses with a
flat roof, and they had places to sit up there and do other
things. Peter went up on the housetop
to pray about new six hours, and he became very hungry, and
he would have eaten. But while they made ready, he
fell into a trance. Now, there's something you have
to know here, and it's just so you find out from reading the
word of God. You know, you just don't, it's
like that verse you took a while ago, taste of death for every
man, you just don't take that out and put it on the wall and
say that's what that means. It means what it means. Brother
Barnard said one time, a man told him, well, the Bible means
what it says. Well, yes and no. It means what it means. And to
find out what it means, you read all the word of God, all scriptures
given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable. And no scripture
is of any private, singular interpretation. It doesn't, it's got to fit the
rest of the word of God. Now, what if these Jews, clear
back there. had nothing to do with Gentiles,
wouldn't enter the house of a Gentile, wouldn't speak to a Gentile,
they'd go around the city to avoid a Gentile, they were separate
people and they were commanded that way in the Old Testament.
And Peter, if these men had just come to him and said, there's
a Gentile, I want you to come to his house and preach the gospel,
he wouldn't have gone. He just would not have gone.
That's all there is to it. So watch this now. He fell into
a trance, verse 10. God's preparing the preacher
while he prepares the hearer. He's prepared Cornelius and he's
preparing the preacher. And he saw heaven open and a
certain vessel descending upon him, under 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 earth, things
that were in the Old Testament forbidden for the Jew to eat.
Certain things he just could not eat, certain things he was
not supposed to eat, and he didn't eat. And here were these things
on this sheet or on this vessel, things that he had never touched
in his life. He had never eaten these things
and wouldn't eat them, and the boys said, he was hungry, remember,
and they were fixing some dinner. And the voice said, Peter, rouse
Peter, kill and eat. And Peter said, not so, Lord,
not so. Now, this man here, this man
is 50 years old, or probably older, and schooled in that tradition,
and schooled in that ceremony, and schooled in those dietary
laws, and schooled in that Jewish separation, and devout in these
things, and just wouldn't touch these things. Not so, not so. I have never eaten anything common
or unclean." And the boy spake unto him again the second time
and said what God hath cleansed, that call thou not thou common. This was done three times. Isn't
it amazing the threes that come into the life of the Apostle
Peter? The threes. But you know the Bible says let
every word be established by the mouth of two or three Three
times he denied our Lord, three times the Lord Jesus got a commitment
of his love, and here three times. You see, the Lord God is going
to teach the Apostle Peter something, and we're hard to teach, do you
know that? Especially when we've been in this thing so long. And he did this three times,
and the vessel was speed up to get into heaven. Now verse 17,
while Peter doubted in himself. what this vision which he had
seen should mean. There was a knock at the door. Behold, the men which were sent
from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before
the gate. And they called and asked whether Simon, which
was surnamed Peter, was lodged there. While Peter thought on
the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.
Arise, therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting
nothing, for I have sent them. Then Peter went down to the men
which were sent unto him from Cornelius, and he said, Behold,
I am he whom you seek. What is the cause wherefore ye
are come? And they said Cornelius the centurion,
a just man, a devout man, one who fears God, and of good report
among all the nations of the Jews, was warned from God by
an angel, a holy angel, to send for thee into his house and to
hear words of thee. Then he called them in and lodged
them. They spent the night there. So
the next day on the Mara, Peter went away with these three men,
and certain Jewish brethren, other believers who were Jews
from Joppa, went with him. And on the Mara, after they had
entered into Caesarea, Cornelius waited for them, and he had called
together his kinsmen and their friends. God told him to go and get Peter,
and Peter would come down and tell him the message of God,
and Corny just went out and got his neighbors, got all his relatives,
and brought them into his house to hear the Word. I'm going to
see something like this a month from today. We're going to Mexico
again, and this is what happened last time I went. There are two
sisters down there in the state of Chiapas. one by the name of
Marta, who lives closer in to Chiapas, and one by the name
of Carmelita, who lives way out in the mountains near the Guatemalan
border, about 30 or 35 miles from Guatemala. And they loved
the gospel. They just loved the gospel. They'd
been brought up under Brother Milton Howard's ministry. And
both of these sisters, every time we go down there, do this
very thing. These services are to be in plan
now. They're waiting for Walter and Milton and I to come. And
they'll go out for the next several weeks, and they'll invite everybody
up and down the road, up in the mountains, all their relatives
and neighbors and friends. And when we get there, they'll
be there waiting. The last time I went to Martyr's House, in
the backyard of that simple little And here, I hate to use the word,
it would be a very humble abode, very, very humble. But in the
backyard, there were over 120 people, neighbors and friends
from up and down the road, and she found out, she knew the preacher
was coming, and she went out and invited them and fed every
one of them. She fixed, what do you call those
things in the corn shucks? hot tamales for all of them,
and then we preached to them. And the same thing up at the
ranch. And that's what you have here.
Cornelius knew that God was sending a preacher to preach the gospel,
the word of God. He went out and got everybody
and brought them over here. Now watch this. This was a tremendous
test. See, the Gentiles, God hadn't
sent the disciples to the Gentiles prior to this. John, in this,
the first fouling of the Holy Ghost upon the Gentiles. So verse
25, and as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down
at his feet and worshiped him. And Peter literally took him
up. What do you see here? Peter literally
took him up and said, Stand up! I myself am a man. I understand
a lot of things here. I know Peter is God's man, God's
hands on this man, in a very special way. He's called of God,
he's sent of God to preach this glorious gospel, God's hands
upon him. Here is a man, Cornelius, who
brought up probably in paganism, like those Catholic people in
Mexico. He's all of the angel of God has appeared to him. He
knows who this man Peter is. This is the man God himself sent
sin for. He was so in awe and in fear
of the whole situation, so wrapped up in it in the favor of God,
when Peter opened the door and walked in, he just fell on his
face. But Peter lifted him up and said
to him, you stand up now. I also am only a man. That's all I am. I myself also
am a man like you. Even not only the apostles, but
the angels of God refuse this sort of thing. Let me show you
something in Romans, right in Revelation 19. You young people here, you see
all this pageantry and Catholicism, and you see how men are elevated
and how they are revered and how their rings are kissed and
people kneel and all. who is being paid that tribute
and homage and whatever, honor, if he were really a man of God,
he'd resent that. If he really knew God, if he
really was a man of God, he wouldn't let men revere him or worship
him or pay that kind of tribute to him. He just wouldn't do it.
Even the angels wouldn't do it. And people may say, well, you
ought not criticize other religions. Well, just to say this, if the
man is a man of God, he wouldn't let you do it. That's all there
is to it. Revelation 19, 10, listen. This
is talking about the angel who is speaking here. And I fell
at his feet to worship him, and he said, See thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant, and
of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus, worship God
and nobody else. Holy and reverend is his name.
We are but men. Our Lord said, Call no man rabbi,
one is your master. Call no man father, you have
one father in heaven. We are to respect men who have
certain gifts, but not to worship them. Now, that's just, and this
is what Peter is showing us here, we can learn these things as
we go along. He walked into this room, here
are all these people, and this man, of course this man respects
him. But when he knelt down before
him, Peter yanked him up and said, You stand up, you stand
up, I also, I myself also am a man. Verse 27, and as he talked with
him, he went in and found the many that were come together
to hear the word. Now watch this right here, and
Peter said unto them, You know, you Gentiles, a bunch of Gentiles
there, how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that's a Jew
to keep company or come unto one of another nation. But God
hath showed me, God hath showed me that I should not call any
man common or unclean. I've got to show it to him, that
vision. What God calls clean, don't you
call unclean. God showed that to me. God showed
that to me. Therefore came I unto you without
gainsaying, that is, without hesitation, without objection,
without misgivings, as soon as I was sent for. I ask therefore
for what intent you sent to me." Now, turn with me for the moment,
hold that place there, we're coming back, but turn to 1 John.
And I thought about this by the time when you were reading a
moment ago. Here's another verse that people, if you talk about
the effectual sacrifice of Christ, the meaningful, effectual, sufficient
sacrifice of Christ for his people, here's another verse. they run
to to argue with you. 1 John 2, verse 2, he's the propitiation. Now, you know what a propitiation
is, don't you? Propitiation is mercy seat. I've defined this
and described this a thousand, that may be exaggerated, a hundred
times from this whole text. But propitiation, is it not reconciliation? Is it not sin covered? Is it
not mercy seat? Is it not atonement? Now, Christ
is all those things. He is the propitiation for our
sins. Not for ours only, but also for
the sins of the whole world. And why in the world would the
Apostle John write something like that? Same reason that Peter
said here, I wouldn't go to a Gentile. And what John is saying, not
for the Jew only, because that's what the Jew thought. The Jews
thought, just like in the Old Testament, that a high priest
was a Jewish high priest, and that was a Jewish sacrifice,
and it was confined to the Jews. John's making clear in 1 John
2 that Christ is not only the perpetuation for our sin, but
also for sins of people in many nations. Peter still didn't learn
this very well. Turn with me now to the book
of Galatians. It's like I said a while ago,
we're always so hard-headed. And turn to Galatians chapter
2. Now this was long after this
visit to Cornelius. This happened long after that.
And the Apostle Peter, what's this now? Chapter 2 of Galatians. In Galatia was the church that
had the problem with the Jewish festivals and ceremonies and
laws. There were people who were converted
and brought to Christ, and some fellows came in there and told
them, yeah, you believe on Christ, but you still have to be circumcised,
you still have to keep the law, you still have to keep the Sabbath
day, you still have to pay the tithe, you still have to do these
things commanded in the law. That was an issue in that church.
There was conflict there. And Peter, I thought he learned
that a while ago. He said he did. He said, God
showed me. God showed me. that I ought not differentiate
between Jew and Gentile, bond and free, and city and bond,
and so forth. But in Galatians 2, verse 11,
when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face,
because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came
from James, James was pastor of Jerusalem. He didn't eat with
the Gentiles. Before these brethren from Jerusalem
came down there, he ate with the Gentiles. But when these
Jews from Jerusalem came down, he withdrew and separated himself,
fearing them which were of the circumcision. He's doing the
same thing he said God told him not to do. John, how much longer
was this? It was so ingrained. feast, he was sitting with the
Gentiles, eating with them and rejoicing in God's saving them.
And these Jews walked in and he got up and went on and sat
at another table. You say, well, was that too bad? Well, look
at the next verse. And he sat there and got the
whole church in trouble. And the other Jews dissembled
likewise with him, insomuch that even Barnabas, Paul's sidekick,
was carried away with their dissimulation. Isn't that something? Isn't that
something? I guess we ought not to be too
hard on one another when we are so slow to learn. These men whom
God used, it took so long for them to learn something. And verse 30, And Cornelius said,
four days ago I was fasting until this very hour. And at the ninth
hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me
in bright And he said, Cornelius, your prayers heard, your alms
also are had in remembrance in the sight of God. I tell you
people, seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. I don't care who
a man is. The Bible doesn't say you can't seek God. It says you
won't. But this man was seeking the
Lord. Seek the Lord. And he was seeking God. Now watch
this. In verse 32, And the angel said,
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
to thee." Now, what do you learn from those verses right there?
Peter is standing here and he said, God showed me, not to call
anything unclean, that he is cleansed, and I'm here, and what
do you want? The man then tells him, four
days ago an angel appeared to me and said, Prayers have come
up for God, and they're answering. Now, you send a Joppa, and Peter
will come to him and tell you what to do. What do you see there? Well, I see that angel didn't
preach the gospel to him. I see that angel, that he had
to sin for a preacher. That's exactly it, he had to
sin for a preacher. I'm not saying that an angel
can't deliver the gospel message. I know on the Judean hillside,
one night the angels appeared to some shepherds and said, We
bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people,
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who
is Christ the Lord. I'm not saying an angel can't
preach the gospel, I wouldn't dare say that. Just because we
say things like that, God turned around and sent one to preach
the gospel, because he's not going to share his glory. You
can't put God in a box. But I do know this, that when
that angel stood before Cornelius, that angel did not tell him the
gospel story. Rather, he said, you send for
God's preacher and he will tell you the story. When God spoke
to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, he told him to go
down there and somebody would come tell him what to do. God
is chosen by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. And I do know God sent Ananias to Paul, he sent the
eunuch to Philip, he sent Paul to Lydia, to the Philippian jailer,
because whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved, but how shall they call on him in whom they have
not believed, and how are they going to believe in him of whom
they have not heard, and how are they going to hear without
a preacher? He pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. That's the reason we stand here,
Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday after Wednesday, other meetings,
preaching this gospel, because that's the means God has chosen
to save his elect. Over in Ephesians, he said, "...in
whom you trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation." Let us really go on. Verse 33, he said, "...immediately
therefore I sent for you." And thou hast well done that thou
art come, now therefore, here we are." Oh boy, I love this
right here. Now therefore, are we all here
present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee
of God. We're ready to listen. I remember
one time, we had this preacher school back here several years
ago, and there were about 14 or 15 of the preachers met every
Saturday evening. And we were teaching the Bible,
we were teaching how to prepare sermons and preaching all these
different things. And I realized we needed to teach
some other things, too. We needed to teach English, you
know. Sometimes how you say a thing
is as important as what you say. We need to learn how to speak. You know, good English is accepted
everywhere. bad English just somewhere. And so I asked Sandy
Thornberry if she would give us 45 minutes every Saturday
and teach these preachers some grammar so they'd quit using
these words wrong. So she agreed to do that. And I don't know who it was,
one of her own children or somebody else. She told them she was going
to come over here and that we had sent for her to come and
teach us English. And one of them, it might have
been you, Sean, or somebody said to her, one of the children said
to her, you know, Sandy is a school teacher anyway. And this child
said to her, said, how's it going to feel to teach somebody that
really wants to learn? She said, it's going to be fun. And here Peter is faced with
all these folks, and they're not there to fight with him,
they're not there to criticize him, they're not there to trap
him, they're not there to put their doctrine against his, they're
not there because it's a duty, they're not there for social
purposes, they're there for one reason. They said, here we are,
present before God. to hear everything that you've
got to say." That'd be fun, wouldn't it? Oh, my goodness. My goodness
alive. All right. Then he opened his mouth and
he said, "...of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons."
There's another one of those There's another one of those
scriptures that are quoted out of context to deny God's elective
grace. When we preach that God in Christ
chose a people, and he did, there's no question about that, he chose
a people, chose to save them, elected them. That's in the Bible
27 times, the word elect, elected, or election, not count and choose
and chosen and so forth. He chose a people, selected a
people. He elected a people, set his
love upon them, sent his Son to die for them, and Christ said,
all that he has given to me, I'll lose nothing. And then somebody
comes along and says, well, God is no respecter of persons, the
Bible says, and he does. It says it five times. It says
it in Deuteronomy 10 and 17, it says it in Romans 2 and 11,
it says it in Galatians 2 and 6, it says it in Ephesians 6
and 9, it says it in Colossians 3 and 25. But Peter uses it here accurately,
and as it's written in every one of these places. I'll read
it again. Here's Peter, a Jew, who thought the Jew had a corner
on God. That's what he thought. He thought there was no place
for a Gentile dog in the kingdom of God. He wouldn't have come to this
man's house if God hadn't forced him to. He was separate and apart,
he was a Jew. And when he stood there before
them and they said, here we are, wanting to hear what God has
told you, Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive
that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, Jew or Gentile,
he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted. What's
Peter saying? Peter is saying this. Our being
a Jew or a Gentile, Rich or poor, old or young, black or white,
honored or despised, does not recommend us to God. God is not
a respecter of a man's position, place, race, or anything else. Who we are does not recommend
us to God. We've all sinned and there's
nothing in us, of us, or about us that merits the favor of God.
God takes no respect to a man's nationality, his race, or his
morality. That's what he's saying. because
a man's a Jew doesn't mean he's in the kingdom of God. I can
say that, he said. But on the other hand, that won't hinder
us from being accepted of God, if he sets his love upon us.
Or I can say this, he said, he saw it for a while here, you
saw a little later he didn't say it, but he saw it here, God's
no respecter of a man's nationality, race, personage, or whatever.
So then he preaches the message. Now I want you to watch how simple
and straightforward Christ-centered and Christ-exalting, this message
is. He didn't start in on the law, he didn't start in on the
rules and regulations. He came, now listen to verse
36, the word which God sent unto the children of Israel, this
is the gospel God sent to us, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. We have peace with God through
Jesus Christ. He made peace by the blood of
his cross. Put away all the enmity, all the warfare. We have peace
through Jesus Christ who is Lord of all, sovereign King and Lord
of all, not a defeated Redeemer or Savior, but Lord of all. Listen,
that word, I say, you know, which was published throughout all
Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John
preached, how that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth. God anointed
him and ordained him and set him forth. anointed him with
the Holy Ghost and with power, and he went about doing good
and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with
him, God was in him. And I'm a witness of all things
which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem,
whom they slew and hanged on a tree. But he didn't stay dead. God raised him up the third day
and showed him openly. God hath made this same Jesus,
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And he 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." Can you see Peter is preaching Christ? He's not
preaching the Holy Ghost, he's not preaching the gifts, he's
not preaching financial success, he's not preaching, he's preaching
Christ. Turn over just a moment to Acts
13. This is what all these men preach. They preach Christ. Turn
to Acts 13, verse 38. Listen to Paul. Be it known unto
you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him, by this man, all
that believe are justified from all things from which you could
not be justified by the law of Moses. He preached Christ. It's what Peter is preaching
here, verse 42. And God commanded us, Christ
commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it
is Christ, it is Jesus of Nazareth, whom you hang on a tree, whom
God raised from the dead, who is ascended and exalted to the
right hand of God. which was ordained of God to
be the judge of the quick and the dead." It's Christ. See his
message? It's Christ. You know, when God brought Peter
down from Joplin, here are these people. You know, if it's like
today's, he'd start talking about his own testimony, his own, how
God delivered him from being a fisherman and made him a preacher
and all this glamour and glitter, but he went right in to Christ.
and preach Christ. And he went on and said in verse
43, and to him, to Christ, give all the prophets witness, Isaiah,
David, Jeremiah, all the prophets, that through his name, whosoever
believeth in him shall receive remission of sin. That's my message
this morning. Believe on Christ. It doesn't
matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile male or female, very old or very
young. You children listen to me. You
know, you young people here, young people 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
14, 15, 16 and on up there, you all have an advantage. What advantage
hath the Jew? Paul asked that one, to much
in every way. You have an advantage. Now you
take Tom there, who stood here while we were talking about Christ.
Tom was brought up in Mormonism, weren't you? brought up in error.
He didn't hear this gospel until you were how old? In your twenties?
He didn't even hear it. And in his twenties, God saved
him as some of the rest of you brought up. Jack, you were brought
up in the Church of Christ with water baptism. And you heard
the gospel and you were a grown man, didn't you? But now you
boys and girls have heard this. You've never heard anything else
but this. It's not how old you are. It's
not whether you're a Jew or a Gentile. It's not whether you're a man
or a woman. Somebody said, I have to be a grown person to be saved. Absolutely not. Any more than
I have to be a Jew. All in the world it's required
us to hear this message and believe it. Hear it and believe it. And you've heard it since you
were children, since you were babies, since you came out of
that nursery at five years of age and sat here. Just like your
little daughter. May I tell this on her? The other
Sunday I preached on divine election, on television now, divine election.
She's what, five, going on six? Preached on divine election.
I came to this question. She was sitting there watching
the television program, Chrissy Cates, almost six years old.
And I came to this point. I said, God elected us to salvation. I said, now let me ask you a
question. Did you choose God or did he choose you? She looked
at me and said, anybody knows that. He chose us. Anybody knows that. Well, you
didn't know it until you were 20, but you kids do because you've
been taught this from God's Word. And all you have to do is know
it. You don't have to prove it. Know it. She said, anybody knows
that? And Kathy turned to her and said,
well, why'd he have to choose us? She says, because we're dirty,
rotten scoundrels. That's the reason. Isn't that
so? You dirty, rotten scoundrel.
Boy, I tell you, that's knowing something. You two boys, they've
heard this ever since they was able to hear anything. Don't
put a limit on God. Don't tie God up until you have
to be 30 years old to be saved or 20 years old. God can save
a 10-year-old or a 9-year-old or an 8-year-old. If he hears
the gospel, if she hears the gospel. You've got to hear the
gospel and believe God with your heart. That's the Gentiles here, and
he says to him that whosoever, you see that verse there, verse
43, to him, to Christ, give all the prophets witness, that through
his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission
of sin by believing. Not by learning theology or being
a certain age or from a certain nation or a certain color or
a certain experience, except you all be converted and
become as a little child. You're not going into the kingdom
of heaven. I'm just a child. I really feel like sometimes
I don't know any more about God than these children do. I just
know God is God, and Christ is God, and he redeems sinners.
I believe him. I believe him. I may not pass
the test to some boy of elders, but I believe Christ. My doctrine may not be as straight
on everything. I don't expect theirs is either.
But I believe God. He's all I have. Whom have I
in heaven but thee, and whom on earth but thee? And that's
what he preached to them. And listen, while Peter spake
these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word.
Here you've got two things present. You've got the word and the Holy
Ghost. Those are the two things necessary
for conversion. The Word of God preached, and
the Holy Spirit to make it effectual. While the Word was being preached,
the Holy Ghost fell on them, and they, listen to this, and
they of the circumcision, which believe, were astonished. Those
fellows that came down, as many as came down with Peter, they
were astonished. Why were they astonished? Not
that God saved somebody, but that he saved the Gentiles. That's
what they were astonished. Because on the Gentiles were
poured the gift of the Holy Ghost. The same thing that happened
at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the Jews. They, look
at the next verse, heard them speak with other languages and
magnify God. The same thing that happened
at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came on the Jews happened here
when he came on the Gentiles. And these Jews were amazed that
these Gentiles were saved. And I'll tell you, I'm amazed
God saves any of us. I'm just amazed, that's what
you said, amazing grace in your prayer, I'm amazed. But thank
God he does. And you young people hear me
now, we parents and older folks aren't going to pressure you,
but we're not going to stop you either. We're not going to push
you into decision, but because it's your commitment. It's your,
if you believe with your heart and confess with your mouth the
Lord Jesus, we're not going to tell you. Now honey, don't you
think it's about time you trusted the Lord? We don't do that. And
if you come to your parents or to this pastor and you say, brother
man, I've been raised on this gospel and I believe this gospel
and I believe this Christ. I want to confess him. I say,
hallelujah. I said, praise the Lord. And
I'm not going to set you down and see if you know all the doctrines
either. Because I'd be disappointed if you did. But do you know him? That's the
thing. And Peter didn't. Listen. He just turned around
and said, then answered Peter verse 47, Can anybody here forbid
water that these should not be baptized, which have received
the Holy Ghost as well as we? Baptism is for believers. And
if a person is a believer, you don't deny him baptism. You don't
do it. I'm not going to examine folks.
He commanded them, don't expect to speak with tongues now, because
this is, you read this while ago, these people were given
gifts and special credentials to prove God was with them. And
they spoke in other languages. They didn't speak in this gibberish
that they call in tongues now, they spoke in other languages.
And if God gives you that gift, hallelujah, we'll send you to
the mission field. So you can preach the gospel. That's what
you do when you're speaking another language, is preach the gospel.
But he commanded them to be baptized. And look at this. Let me read
this Acts 10 again. I'll shut my Bible before I finish. They prayed that he... Then prayed
they him to tarry with him certain days. What for? To teach him
the word of God more perfectly. See, when we're saved, when God
saves us, we don't know everything. We've got to be taught. And so
they wanted him to hang around. Now let's go into some of these
other things, and you teach us. But they were redeemed by hearing
the Word. The Spirit of God made it effectual. Isn't that a great chapter? All
right, Mike, come lead us in a song.

The Conversion of Cornelius

What does the Bible say about the conversion of Cornelius?

How do we know God's election is true?

Why is the doctrine of predestination important for Christians?

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About Henry Mahan

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The Conversion of Cornelius

What does the Bible say about the conversion of Cornelius?

How do we know God's election is true?

Why is the doctrine of predestination important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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