Peter's Message was Jesus

[00:00:00] Let's turn to Acts, chapter ten in our Bibles. [00:00:07] We'll start in verse number 33 of Acts, chapter ten. Lord willing, we'll conclude chapter ten tonight and actually go into chapter eleven as well on, on another subject. But I want to look this morning at the mess message that Peter brought to Cornelius. Those of you that have been here and have been able to follow along in our study, we have seen that Cornelius has been visited by an angel of God and has been told to call for Peter. And there's a lot that goes into that. We'll look at that a little bit in detail today, but there's a number of undercurrents that are running throughout this story. It's not just God wants to save a man. That's obviously the case, but there's a big change in God's economy that he's making here. And so we want to look at verse number 33 kind of pick up in the middle of this story. [00:01:06] The Bible says in verse number 33 of Acts ten immediately therefore I, that being Cornelius, sent to thee, Peter, and thou hast well done, that thou art come. Now, therefore are we all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. So we see this, as I said before last Sunday, this is kind of an ideal audience. This audience is expectant. Their hearts are open. [00:01:34] And oftentimes when we talk to people, that's not the case, but in this case, their hearts are open. He is ready to receive whatever Peter's going to say. But up to this point, as far as we know, peter has not been given any specific direction as to what he is supposed to say. [00:01:53] So when God doesn't give any specific direction as to what Peter is supposed to say, how did Peter choose what he is supposed to say and therefore what comes out of his mouth? You know what it is, it's going to be his core message. [00:02:11] Whenever you're called upon, and this doesn't happen very often, I admit. Whenever we're called upon to make a statement and we don't know, we're just say someone said, I want you to get up and speak at this event, or whatever. I know one time Brother Stewart mentioned how he was asked to go, I think, to the Lions Club or the Rotary Club or something like that. What message is he going to bring to those people? Well, what do you think he brought? Probably similar to what Peter said, right? Because that is the core message. That's what we want to talk about today. Verse 34. Then Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. [00:02:56] 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 of 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. [00:03:23] And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day and showed him openly not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. [00:03:58] To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. [00:04:08] While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished as many as came with Peter, because that on the gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify. God then answered Peter, can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, then prayed they him to tarry certain days. Let's pray together. [00:04:45] Our Lord, who come to you first, thank you for this message. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your people that have come to hear it. Lord, I pray that you would please do the preaching, that you would please do the teaching, the instructing. I pray that you would work and move among us. And, Lord, we commit this time to you. It's not a time where we get together only to socialize, to fellowship, but it is a time that we set aside to seek the Lord, to draw nigh to God. And, Lord, you promised that if we draw nigh to you, that you would draw nigh to us. But, Lord, help us to draw nigh to you with our hearts, not just with our bodies and not just with our lips, even as we hear Your Word this morning. Lord, please give grace and help to us and accomplish what it is that Your Word has that needs to be accomplished. Please give grace in Jesus name. Amen. [00:05:42] So Peter is giving. What I want to jump right into is the core message. [00:05:49] This is the message with Peter not knowing what he's supposed to say. This is what is in his mind. This is the message that he tells everybody. [00:05:58] And what Peter was preaching, in essence, is Jesus. Now, in verse number 36, the Bible says the word all right. The word is a reference to his core message, the word which God sent unto the children of Israel. That's important, especially when you look at it from a doctrinal perspective, which we'll look at in a minute. The idea that God, this salvation in Christ, Jesus Christ, he was the savior. He came to be the savior of the Jews. So the Jews, without any doubt, have a special place in God's economy. These people have a special place in God's economy. Jesus came to save the Jews first. And we that are not of Israel, that's me, that's most of you, pretty much all of you have gotten in on that salvation. We have been made part of it by the grace of God. That word he said, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. Now, hold your place here very quick. We will only be gone a minute. All right? So we'll come right back here. Look at Isaiah. Chapter 53. [00:07:05] Isaiah 53. [00:07:15] Of course, this is a reference, a prophetic reference to Jesus speaking of the Jews. The Jews, as I understand it, I'm sure there's differences of opinion, but the Jews explain this away, that this is not a reference to Jesus. Obviously, some say it's a reference to Jeremiah, but it is obviously a reference to Jesus. Verse four. Surely he this is a reference to the servant in chapter 52. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. Notice this clause here. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Notice that it says in Acts, chapter ten, the verse we just read that this word which God sent unto the children of Israel was preaching peace by Jesus Christ. Peace by Jesus Christ. There's a few things about peace I want to mention very quickly. [00:08:30] In Isaiah 53, verse five, the Bible says the chastisement of our peace was upon him. What does that mean, the chastisement of our peace? A chastisement is a punishment, okay? It's just another word for a punishment. Now, usually the word chastisement is used in a corrective punishment. That is, with the end of not being punitive. That is just to punish, but to bring a person back. Now, when you think about in this particular passage, this is a passage written to the Jews, right? So the fact that Christ came and we know the Jews went astray from God to this day for 2000 years, no, more like 2500 years, the Jews, the Hebrew people have been astray from God. Now, I know we see what's on the news and we feel great empathy. And I am, of course, by no means saying that they deserve that or anything like that. That's not the case at all. But on a spiritual level, they did reject their Messiah. [00:09:38] But here's the thing. By the time that jesus came, the Jews had already gone far away from God. In fact, at the time of Ezra, you remember, there was just a small group, really, of the whole, a remnant that had turned back to God. But even then, that remnant had almost all gone away from God by the time Christ came some 500 years later. [00:10:01] So the Lord says in Isaiah that the chastisement of their peace was upon Christ. In other words, a punishment was required so that these wayward people of God, the Jews, could be made at peace with God. That's what this verse is saying, a punishment was required. Remember, I said chastisement is corrective punishment, right? Corrective. Well, that's speaking directly to the Jews, how that God wanted to bring them back to him. And the ultimate fulfillment of that is Jesus, when Jesus came. And one day, the Jews, the Bible plainly teaches the Hebrew people will as a nation turn to God and will be brought back finally back to God. That will happen. [00:10:55] But there was a punishment required to give peace with God. Now, here's what I want you I know we're talking about Jews here, but this extends also to the Gentiles, to us all, the rest of everyone else. [00:11:07] The reality is, Romans, chapter three, verse 17, says that we sinners. Sinners do not know peace. There is no peace. They do not have peace with God. [00:11:21] There is no peace. The Bible says, saith my God to the wicked. The reality is that those that live in sin and listen, when I say that, I want to be clear. When I say those that live in sin, I'm not referring to just their lifestyle. That is not just a lifestyle. That is a condition. [00:11:42] Those that live without God in sin, who throw themselves at sin, there is no peace in that. They live without peace. [00:11:52] They live without peace. And a lot of things are brought in to substitute peace. A lot of things are brought in. Pleasure usually is used as a cheap imitation for peace, but they don't have it. God says they do not have peace. Sinners do not know peace. [00:12:15] Now, you just look at yourself. Just look at yourself. Do you have peace? And when I say peace, I'm referring to that kind of tranquility and calmness of heart and soul. Do you have that? [00:12:27] If you don't, why not? [00:12:30] It could be that you don't have peace because you don't have God. [00:12:37] That could be the case because the Bible doesn't describe a sinner as someone who does not have peace. [00:12:45] Many people want peace. Everybody wants peace. But many people you see, there's two kinds of peace. There's that tranquility of spirit that I'm talking about, where you're calm, that kind of assurance, where you're not troubled. You think of how many of you have ever been like to go to the lake. But I know Brother Lester likes to go to the lake. And you go into some of those coves, right in those coves I used to go as a kid on Lake Kiwi. We go into those coves and the water's like glass. It's peaceful. That is a perfect illustration of peace. But there's another kind of peace, and it's the kind of peace that we have with another peace with God. Not peace in our heart as an individual matter, but peace with God. [00:13:30] You see, here's the thing. [00:13:33] Many people want the first kind of peace, the Glassy Lake peace, but are not all that interested in peace with God. It costs too much. They don't want it. [00:13:45] They want sin. [00:13:48] They want to transgress. They want to live in rebellion and alienation from God, and they want peace while they do it. You see, they don't want peace with God, but they want peace in their heart simultaneously. [00:14:01] But here's the problem. Colossians, chapter one, verse 21 teaches us this sinners cannot have peace, cannot have that kind of peace they want so long as they are alienated from God by sin. [00:14:18] You cannot have peace in your soul. [00:14:22] Not true peace, not lasting peace, and not real peace. [00:14:30] That is peace. That is actually true. [00:14:34] Yeah, we can dilute ourselves into peace, but there's no way to have real peace apart from peace with God. Peace with God brings peace in the soul. [00:14:48] One reason why people are so troubled is because they know in the depths of their soul they are not right with God. [00:14:55] And whatever you might pile on top of that to camouflage that fact down in the depths of their soul, they know it is not well with God, and nothing else matters if that's not the case. [00:15:12] But Ephesians, chapter two, verse 14 says this that Jesus is our peace. [00:15:20] There is no way it is impossible to have peace with God except for Jesus. [00:15:29] Sin is too ugly and God is too holy. [00:15:33] It is not possible. There's only one way of peace, and that way is Jesus himself. [00:15:43] Colossians, chapter one, verse 20 says this not only is peace only by Jesus, but you can kind of dig a little bit deeper. How does Jesus give us peace? The Bible actually says that. Specifically, it says this there is only peace by the blood of his cross. What does that tell us? We talk about the word, the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ. Blood of Christ. And some people are revolted by that. They're repulsed by that. But listen, it's not that we have some sort of desire to talk about the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ was shed when Christ became sin for us. He died as the sinner in the place of the sinner. He bore the sinner's punishment. He took the chastisement, the punishment that was required to bring us into peace with God. You see, he became God's enemy that we might be brought in peace with God. [00:16:43] That is the blood of christ. That is why the Bible says there is peace. Colossians, chapter one, verse 20. I'm going to read it because it's a powerful verse. [00:16:54] It says this and having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile, remember peace, reconciliation all things unto himself by him, I say whether they be things in heaven, things in earth or things in heaven and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblamable and unreproval in his sight. [00:17:29] There is no way to have peace with God apart from Jesus Christ. [00:17:34] There is no way to have peace with God apart from the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. What have you done with Jesus? [00:17:46] Look at Peter's message, if you would, back in Acts chapter ten. [00:17:57] I just want to say this to kind of start on a negative note. We'll get to the positive part in a minute. But Peter's message to Cornelius that we just read, when he had an opportunity to talk about the core truths of salvation, eternal life, forgiveness of sin, he mentions that in verse 43. When he has an opportunity to talk about that, he does not talk about how they need to get saved. Notice his message was not, listen Cornelius, you and your group, you need to get saved. Now, is that a valid thing to say? Absolutely it's a valid thing to say. But that's not what Peter said. [00:18:40] His message was only and completely about a single subject, and that subject was Jesus Christ. [00:18:50] His emphasis was not on what they must do, but what Jesus had done. Notice what he says. Listen to all the and as we look at these verses and the various points of them, remind yourself of one Corinthians chapter 15, verses three and four. The Bible says, Let me get the first give me the first word and I declare unto you the Gospel. [00:19:16] He says how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and not only that and that he was seen. That's what it says in one Corinthians chapter 15. That's the message of Paul. That's the gospel of Paul. But Peter's saying the same thing. Verse number 36 preaching peace by Jesus Christ. Verse 37, 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, and who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed. So again, he's just talking about Jesus. Jesus came. He uses the human name of Jesus, that is Jesus of Nazareth, identifying listen now identifying the historical person as the Savior. Our faith is resting in an historical person. Jesus who was real. He's not a figment of our imagination, who was invented by biblical writers. This is what people say invented by biblical writers long after, centuries after Jesus actually lived. And they kind of reinvented the person of Jesus, that's bunk. [00:20:39] Jesus of Nazareth was a historical person. He was anointed by the Father. He went about doing good. Notice remember we talked about Tabitha, how that this believer was known for her good works. Well, she had a good example. Jesus was her example. He healed many that were sick. He had compassion. [00:21:00] He delivered many people from the power of the devil. That's what verse number 38 says. He had power over the devil, for God was with him. Verse 39 and we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. So what Christ did when he was alive upon the earth, he's alive now, but when he was alive upon the earth is a testimony to who he is, because that was all part of the prophetic picture. [00:21:30] All the things he did proved who he was. He verified and he demonstrated that he was absolutely and totally without sin. He goes on to say in verse number 39, whom they slew and hanged on a tree, jesus did all these good works and those things were all seen publicly. Peter himself was a witness to all of those things, beginning from the baptism of John the Baptist. But in the end, Jesus was crucified. [00:22:01] He was killed upon a cross. [00:22:04] But then he says in verse number 40, him God raised up the third day and showed Him openly jesus is alive. He overcame death. He rose from the dead. Peter tells them. And then not only that, and this is where one corinthians continues, chapter 15, it continues and it says, and that he was seen, he says, and showed him openly. Verse 40 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. The fact that Jesus had risen from the dead is one thing, but the fact that it was witnessed and he was seen by at one point over 500 people at once demonstrates that there is no valid cause to believe that Jesus is not alive. [00:22:55] Jesus is alive. [00:22:57] Now, to us in 2023, sometimes that seems like a far off truth, but in 2023, if Jesus is not alive, everything you and I believe is worthless. [00:23:14] If Jesus is not alive, he can't save you. If Jesus is not alive, he can't forgive you. If Jesus is not alive, all the sins you've committed in the sight of God, your Creator, are still there. [00:23:27] If Jesus is not alive, you're still in sin. [00:23:33] But he is alive. He has risen. [00:23:37] Witnesses have seen him. So to us, we've never met, we've never seen Jesus face to face. That will come when he returns for us and finally our faith will become sight. But right now, for you, though you've never met Him, the fact of his resurrection, it must be true or our faith is useless. You know what? It is true. And that is the reason why your faith is not vain, that it has affected you, that it's real. [00:24:09] It's real. [00:24:14] Now, I know you all know this, but this is the message Peter preached, okay? I'm just repeating what he said. Verse number 41. The Bible says not I read that. Verse 42. I'm sorry. Verse 42. And he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. To Him give all the prophets witness, that through his name, whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. [00:24:52] I'll be honest with you. [00:24:57] It grieves me when I see people that they don't do it physically, but I see them spiritually, or maybe in their demeanor, yawn at these truths. [00:25:19] People that come to church all the time, people that sit in pews listen. [00:25:28] And the truths that we've studied about Jesus and what he did for us. [00:25:33] Then we get down to this. Verse number 42. The Bible says plainly that he was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. That's a future event. Listen. That's a future event. [00:25:45] Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. This is significant. Listen. This is the application of all these truths. And people sit on the pew and yawn, they're bored. [00:26:02] They don't care. [00:26:04] They're unmoved. [00:26:07] It doesn't matter to them. [00:26:12] Listen, sadly, that's just the way it is down here in the south. [00:26:21] People are bored with these truths. They don't affect anybody. [00:26:25] They hear them in day in, day out, week in week out at church or whatnot to some degree or another. [00:26:34] But this is the core message. But here's the thing that troubles me, is that we are bored with verse 42. [00:26:44] Jesus is the Judge of quick and dead. [00:26:48] Now, we can yawn at this truth. We can roll our eyes at it, we can ignore it. [00:26:59] But this is a dreadful truth. You know what it means? It means that whether you're alive or whether you're dead, whether you have eternal life or whether you have eternal death, whether you go to heaven or whether you fall into the lake of fire rests solely on Jesus. [00:27:24] He is the judge. [00:27:27] He is the determiner. He is the one who states the facts of the case. He is the one that makes the determination. [00:27:38] And yet we hear about Him, and we yawn, we hear about the truths about Him, and we're unmoved and don't care. [00:27:49] But the very one to whom we should give the greatest amount of attention. [00:27:58] I've been in a courtroom in a very serious matter. You know what that's like. How many of you have ever been to like I'm not talking about, like, a civil trial where it's just money being bought. How many of you have ever been to an actual criminal court case? [00:28:16] That's a sobering experience, is it not, Sister Judy? It is, because all the lawyers talk, and they talk amongst themselves, and they give arguments for the defense and arguments for the prosecution, and they talk about these things. [00:28:31] But you know what? The only thing that matters is what that judge says. [00:28:35] That judge sits in that exalted position on that pedestal behind that bench, and he hears the arguments. And then once all the arguments are made, all the attention goes to that judge because he is the decision maker. [00:28:54] Jesus is this judge, but it's not a matter of prison time or fines or community service or hard labor. No, it's not a matter of that at all. It is a matter of heaven and hell. It's a matter of where you as an individual will be. [00:29:14] It is a matter of eternal significance to every one of us, and he is the judge. And yet to Him, this message is about Jesus. To him. We yawn. We roll our eyes. We do not pay attention. We do not give our attention at all. It's just a common thing. [00:29:31] It should not be. [00:29:36] Two Timothy four, verse one, says this I charge thee therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom? One. Peter, four. Verse five. Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead? So whether you're alive, quick, that's what quick means. Or whether you're dead eternal death, Jesus determines it. And if for no other reason, we should pay close heed to what this message says about Jesus, we don't pay attention to his words. [00:30:18] We don't give heed to what he says. His commands don't carry weight with us. And yet he is the judge. [00:30:28] Well, that's a long time away. You don't know that. [00:30:32] That seems far off. I've never seen any of that. It doesn't change the truth of it. [00:30:40] We have got to stop making light of Jesus. [00:30:50] But in verse 43, he says this to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. I read that first thing I think, knowing the context in which I speak, like, oh, yeah, yeah, I know about Jesus. I believe in Jesus. Everybody believes in Jesus. [00:31:10] Everybody believes in Jesus, but nobody pays any heed to Him. [00:31:14] They believe in the facts, but no one has eternal life. You know what I'm saying? [00:31:23] You see, if you or if I we die without forgiveness from Christ. He is the one who gives it. If you or I die in that case, we take our sins with us to the grave. [00:31:38] Not only are we alive now, but yet dead in trespasses and sins. That's where we are at this moment, right? But if we die in that case, Jesus said, if we die in our sins, we will surely perish. So this matter ought to be a matter of the utmost attention, and yet people just so just pass by. It just won't even let these thoughts enter their mind at all. [00:32:10] Now, notice Peter made no appeal that they believe. [00:32:19] He merely stated the facts about Jesus. [00:32:23] These Gentiles, Cornelius and his friends, they didn't pray a prayer. He didn't lead them in a prayer. In fact, what happens in the fallout of this is just spontaneous. [00:32:34] But it does show us that to believe in Christ, to receive Jesus, to receive forgiveness of sin, to have and receive eternal life, there's no prayer necessary. Now, it's fine if we call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. That's what Romans 1013 says, and that's perfectly fine. But it's not required because they didn't do it. They heard the word. In that moment, that word got into their heart and they finally their ears were open. Their heart was open, and they received it and they took it seriously. [00:33:07] It was at that moment that they were converted. [00:33:10] There was no aisle to come down, certainly no altar or mourner's bench to kneel at. There was no one who dealt with them personally. That's all fine and good, but that is not what happened here. [00:33:20] He simply told them about Jesus and then he applied the truth to them and he just said his message. What was Peter's message? His message was Jesus. The question would be what they would do with these truths. [00:33:37] I'm going to make a couple other points before I finish verse 34. [00:33:46] Then Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. You know what that means in this context? He's referring to the Jew gentile question. Now, let's just make something clear. The Jews, if there is a race of people on the planet that are more privileged than the others, the Jews are that people. [00:34:11] Not white, not black, not Asian, not European, Eastern, Western, not South American. [00:34:18] If there's any group of people that is a privileged race, it is the Jewish people. And here's, just to follow that up, the Jewish people are not white people, okay? The Jewish people are not white. They're actually skin by skin color. Jewish people are actually a mix. Did you know there are Egyptians in the you know, because Joseph married an Egyptian who are very dark skinned and there are Jewish people. You look at the line of Abraham that goes all the way back to Er of the Chaldees, which is present day Iraq. That's where Jacob got his wives. You know that. So it's not a matter of the amount of melanin in someone's skin. It has nothing to do with it. This is referring to a lineage. The Jewish people. If there is any race that is above another privileged, it is going to be the Jewish people. But even that doesn't make them right with God. [00:35:11] Remember what Paul said? We studied that not too long ago, so let's just put that forth. When the Bible says God is no respecter of persons, he's removing even that delineation, even that division. What about our divisions? Well, if that's true, if God is not a respecter of persons, what are we doing being respecter of persons and dividing up humankind into certain little groups and then treating them differently based upon that? That's not scriptural. The Bible says plainly to honor all men, period. [00:35:42] He says verse 35 but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. Of course he's referring to people that anybody that comes to Christ, then the effect thereof is the working of righteousness and fearing God. But notice what he says at the end of verse 36. He is Lord of all. In other words, in this question of can the Gentiles believe in Christ even though they're not Jews and Jesus came for the Jews, can they believe in Christ? And the Bible says, well, he's Lord of all. [00:36:09] Jesus is the Lord of everything, not just the Jews. [00:36:13] Romans ten, verse twelve says, gives this same principle and it says that the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You know what? That's a quote from Romans chapter ten, verse twelve and 13. But that's actually taken from Joel chapter two, which is a Jewish book in which the Jews are told that whosoever would call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved because after all, he is Lord of all. [00:36:46] But you know what? He is Lord of all. This question of the race is something that could be applied to any human distinction. [00:36:58] Any human distinction. [00:37:01] Verse 42 reminds us of this again and he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. In other words, he's the judge of everybody. Whether you're quick, whether you're alive, whether you're dead, you go to heaven, you go to hell, it doesn't matter. Skin color, race, where you're from, it doesn't matter. He is the Lord of everyone. That's what this is saying. Now why is this is probably the third time in recent weeks that I brought up the subject of race in our church. You know why? Because that is what they're dealing with here. But it has application to us. [00:37:37] This is a racial question. You know what? This is not going to be the last one in Acts. There's going to be a question later as to once they have believed, do they have to now act like a Jew? The gentiles. But for us, there's so many truths here whosoever believeth is that anybody? Is there certain people above others? [00:38:03] By this passage, we see that God is removing any human distinction. Now, if God is removing the distinction between Jew and Gentile in this case, then every other human distinction falls, as well as to the gospel, to salvation, to forgiveness of sin. There is no distinction. [00:38:24] So now we have a time when we have superficial attributes, basically, right? [00:38:33] We divide people up based upon their attributes, which is, in essence, for Americans. It's the amount of melanin in someone's skin. [00:38:43] But this is the death knell to that idea, this over and over. He is Lord of all whosoever he is judge of quick and death. These are statements that are universal. So there should not be any of this. There should not be any of this. Dividing up people into little groups based upon these superficial attributes like we see in our day. And how does that affect what does that say about our church and who we welcome? [00:39:10] And, of course, look, Choice Hills Baptist Church doesn't have any problem with this. I'll be honest with you. You guys are fantastic, and you guys receive everybody with open arms, and that's fantastic. But in our minds and in our hearts, it should also be this way. If God is no respect for persons, neither should we be. [00:39:27] What does that say about missions? You know, there are some churches that won't send missionaries to certain parts of the world, God forbid. [00:39:36] What does it say about our evangelistic efforts? Are there certain places we shouldn't go? [00:39:41] What are our personal views about these divisions of men? Here's the thing. In the news media I'm just being honest with you in the media now, race is becoming such a big deal. [00:39:53] What was once supposed to have been downplayed the divisions of race are now being exalted again. [00:40:01] So back in the day listen, back in the day listen, I'm just trying to be transparent and deal with this issue kind of once and for all, all right? And again, I don't think we have a big problem here. I don't think we have a problem at all, to be honest. [00:40:14] Back in the day, black people cannot join white churches. [00:40:19] That's wicked. [00:40:23] Okay? So as a society, we've moved, right? As a society, we've moved, and that's okay. Now that's acceptable. And now that the idea of colorblindness came, right? And so people are like, well, we don't pay attention to race, right? That's what we do. But what's happening now is we're going to the other extreme. [00:40:40] The current thought on race seeks to elevate race and magnify those same differences. So now we've gone the other direction. But instead of some people looking down on people because they're a different race, now people are identifying themselves as only their race and nothing else. [00:40:58] And that's also wrong. [00:41:00] That's the other extreme. Because the bible still says God is no respecter of persons. That means just because you have certain attributes of you're, of a certain race, it doesn't make you anything different or better or privileged than anyone else. God does not care. That's what it's saying. [00:41:20] So you see these extremes in society, but the Gospel gets us right on the center, which is right where we need to be. Honor all men, God. The Gospel contradicts all these extremes. You say, Why are we talking about race? Especially if we don't have a problem with that? You know why? Because it's in the text. [00:41:44] This is not a unique human problem or this is a common human problem. [00:41:52] We just need to make sure that our heart is full of love and compassion and our desire to see people save extends to everybody, because this is exactly what our God does. [00:42:04] Look at verse 44 of Acts, chapter ten, if you would, to finish. [00:42:10] While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles would poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. How do they know the Holy Spirit is invisible? Right. Here's Peter's preaching and these cornelius and his friends interrupt him. It says while he was speaking these words, right? So he's trying to tell him about Jesus, and all of a sudden something happens. [00:42:37] And it's crazy, right? Peter's talking, and in the middle of it all, the Holy Ghost is poured out on them. And you can't see that fact. But verse 46 says, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. All right, Paul's, so they start speaking, but not in Greek. Apparently Greek would have been the local tongue there they're speaking, but they're not speaking in Greek. [00:43:06] Whatever language they're speaking in, Peter understands it, because the Bible says they heard them speak of tongues and magnify God. So apparently they knew what they were saying. That's how they knew they were magnifying God. This is there's only one other place in Acts where tongues is mentioned in chapter 19. This is the next to last mention of tongues. But notice this sign was given to them to prove to these Jews that these people had received the same spirit. In other words, God gave to these Gentiles exactly the same thing that had happened in the book of Acts, chapter two, in no different. But here's the difference. Here's the thing I want you to understand about this, is that God is doing something different. He is changing his method. You know what? Everything we've read up to this point said all of these Jews, they would believe on Christ. They would get baptized, and then they would receive the Spirit of God, right? We've read that over and over. Oftentimes, one of the apostles would lay their hands on them and they would receive the Spirit of God, just like they did in Acts Two. It would happen over and over in different times. God's doing something different. Now with these Gentiles, God is doing something new. This marks the point at which God's method, we call it dispensation of his spirit, giving his spirit to a believer, has changed. [00:44:34] Because at this point, there are no laying on of hands, nothing's happening like that. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere in the heart, he actually says in verse number, chapter eleven, I'll cover that tonight. But the moment these people believe they received the Spirit of God at that very moment. [00:44:58] And the proof of that was the speaking in tongues for the purpose. And this was knowable languages so that Peter could see that they had received the Spirit of God in the same way as they did in Acts originally. And then in verse 47, it says, can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we here? You have before. [00:45:19] Previously, the Jews had received Christ, then had been baptized and then received the Spirit of God. We've seen that number of times. But now here the order is different. The Gentiles had received Christ, received the Spirit immediately and then got baptized. [00:45:37] You know what? [00:45:39] That's the way it is now. [00:45:44] This also shows that baptism can't save you. [00:45:48] You know why? Because they were already saved. How do you know? [00:45:52] If baptism is a part of salvation, then they would not have received the Spirit of God yet. [00:46:01] But the Spirit of God, remember, we studied already, is the seal of the genuine article. [00:46:08] They are saved at this moment, and then later they got baptized. So baptism then could not play a part in them getting saved. [00:46:19] They're different, you see, this is the clear. Now, we acknowledge that the book of Acts, it has kind of transitioned. It has gone from one state to another. But the Lord's doing something. Tonight, we're going to study it, because God was trying to get Peter's attention about something big. He was changing. [00:46:39] And that's what we see here. And this is what we see now in our day. When a person believes in Christ, at that moment they receive the Spirit of God as the token of the genuine article. [00:46:49] And then they get baptized. [00:46:52] And the baptism has no part, plays no part in their eternal life. [00:47:00] But all of this goes back to one message, the message of Jesus. [00:47:07] That's what Peter gave them. [00:47:09] What have you done with Jesus? And that's the question I posed to you. [00:47:15] What have you done with Jesus? [00:47:18] Let's pray.