In the first, in the third, in the last,
and the second, and the fourth,
and the fifth, and the sixth,
and the seventh, and the seventh,
and the fifth, and the seventh,
and the seventh, and the seventh,
Keep the strength for the soul that's strong.
When it bites, they trust you.
There's no need to try.
There's no hope and sorrow.
There's no hope, I know.
There's no hope and fear.
There's no hope, I know.
Keep the strength for the soul that's strong.
Keep the strength for the voice that's strong.
Keep the strength for the magic, for the star.
For the best of yourself, keep the love of man.
Keep the strength for the sound that's the voice.
Keep the voice that's the gift, that's the voice that's the voice.
That is standing in the presence of the high.
Keep the strength for the man.
Keep the strength for the love that's the man.
Keep the strength for the fly.
Keep the strength for the joy that's the sprout.
Keep the strength for the flown.
Keep the drink for thelyn Charter.
When the sun will only cast and we will spend in the high ground.
May we stay, may we stay, may we stay, may we stay,
May we stay, may we stay, may we stay,
May we stay,
angel with our own eyes.
Of course, we didn't shower today, in which case, you might want to keep it a little bit
lower for your neighbor's sake.
On the inside there, we have the service times.
As always, every Sunday at 10 30 a.m., again at 5 30 p.m., Thursdays at 7.
We're going through the book of Acts.
We'll be in chapter number 10 tonight.
We've got the song schedule coming up as well as the reminder about the birthday donuts this
Sunday at 10 in honor of those celebrating a birthday in the month of July.
We've got the mega conference schedule starting this week.
It's going to start Sunday with Pastor Jason Robinson.
If you need to go up there on Sunday and take in some of this preaching, by all means, I'll
understand.
I won't take it personally.
It will be a blessing to you, so feel free to do that.
If you want to join us on Wednesdays, I've got the sign-up sheets back there for all
the Wednesday night services.
We'll be running a shuttle up here.
It's going to depart promptly at 5 though, so you've got to make sure you can get here
by 5 o'clock and you can catch a ride with us.
You can catch all these great preachers over the next several weeks up there in Tempe,
so hopefully you can make it up there.
On the back, there's some notes about the soul winning taking place.
You've got the Navajo reservation, Mexico Monday, and then a quick list of expectant
ladies, also some other upcoming events there.
Let's go ahead and count up the soul winning.
Going back to, let's see, it would be Monday, if there's anything from Monday or Tuesday
or Wednesday or today.
All right, with that, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we get into the preaching
tonight.
All right, let's go ahead and sing one more song before we get into the preaching tonight.
All right, amen.
Acts chapter number 10, and we'll just jump right into it this evening there in verse
1.
Acts chapter number 10, and we'll just jump right into it this evening there in verse 1.
So, the one thing I want to point out about the story is that Cornelius here is not a
saved man at this point.
I believe he gets saved in this chapter after Peter comes to him and preaches the gospel,
which is a theme that you see in the book of Acts if you haven't noticed it.
We talked about it last week, and the week before that even, how God is always using
people to preach the gospel to other people to get people saved.
So that's just a consistent theme that you see throughout the book of Acts and really
through Scripture.
So that's the first deal right there, right?
We see that Cornelius is someone who gets saved because Peter is sent to preach to him.
Again, I don't want to re-preach everything I said last week, but it does emphasize the
importance that we go out and preach the gospel, that we make sure that we are doing
the job that has been given to us to do.
The other thing I want to point out here is that Cornelius at this point in the chapter
is an unsaved man, that's what I believe, and yet God hears his prayer.
And there's a couple things we can learn from this.
One is that God does hear the prayer of the unsaved.
Somebody asked me this recently, they said, do you think God hears the prayers of unsaved
people?
And I've heard people have different takes on that and they'll say, oh no, God, the only
prayer God will hear is the prayer of salvation.
But I don't believe that, just simply because of the fact that you have a story here where
Cornelius is clearly getting saved at the end, in my opinion, but yet he's having an
angel sent to him here in the beginning of the chapter.
And it goes to show us that God does hear the prayers of even unsaved people.
Now the Bible says in Psalms 94, he that planted the ear shall he not hear.
It's not that God is somehow, what prohibits God from hearing the prayers of the unsaved?
Nothing.
There's nothing God can't hear, it's not like it's beyond the scope of his ability.
God can hear it, obviously, he planted the ear, he made the eye, he sees, he can hear,
so what is preventing God from hearing it?
There's really nothing there to say.
No one can really point to a clear scripture that says God doesn't hear the prayers of
the unsaved.
But yet we have a story where a man who is unsaved is being heard by God even to the
point where a literal angel is being sent to him and saying, hey, your prayers are come
up for a memorial before God, your prayers and your alms.
God does hear the prayers of the unsaved.
God causes the rain to fall upon the just and the unjust alike.
God will hear the prayers of the unsaved.
Obviously he has to be able to do that to hear the prayers of the unsaved for salvation,
but he'll even hear prayers beyond that.
Doesn't necessarily mean he's going to answer those prayers, doesn't necessarily mean that
he's pleased by those prayers, it just means that he does hear them.
Now God can choose to ignore prayer too, and that goes for the believer and the unbeliever.
God doesn't have to hear our prayers.
God can choose to ignore our prayers or to deny our prayers or to not answer our prayers
in the way we want things answered.
And what we can really see from this is that God, he knows the motive.
God knows the intentions of our hearts.
Why we're praying, what we're praying, if we're praying.
And God knows what is driving us to prayer.
And that goes for the saved and the unsaved.
And I believe that's why Cornelius is being heard here.
Because of the fact, as it says there, he was a devout man and one that feared God with
all his house.
So he's observing the Jews' religion, he just doesn't know about Christ.
And he's praying, he's giving alms to the people, and he's praying to the God of Israel
always.
He's just doing it as an unsaved man.
He's got the right God, he just doesn't have the gospel yet.
He doesn't know the truth of Christ, his death, his resurrection, he doesn't have a saving
knowledge of Christ.
That's my belief.
And because he has the right motive, because he's doing things out of a pure and sincere
and genuine heart, God chooses to answer that prayer.
If we seek, we will find.
If we're seeking for the right things, if we're desiring the right things in our lives,
God will answer our prayers.
Because God knows the intentions of our hearts.
God tries the hearts and the reigns.
If you would go to 1 John chapter number 3, we'll look at a few verses there about this.
So Cornelius was a devout man.
That's why his intentions are right, God's hearing his prayers, God is answering his
prayer.
But the other thing we can learn from this is that if Peter doesn't go and preach to
him, if he doesn't get saved, a devout man who gives alms to the people and prays to
the Lord, always, is going to go to hell.
Good people go to hell.
Good moral, upstanding, godly people, well I don't know if I'd call them godly, but good
moral, upstanding people, they go to hell every day.
Because it's not his alms giving that's going to get him there.
Good people are going to go to hell.
That's the other lesson we can learn from Cornelius.
His prayers, his alms giving, they're not what's going to get him there.
However, you know, because God knows his heart, God knows, hey if I send a preacher to this
guy he's going to get saved.
So let me make some application here for us though as Christians.
Obviously God can hear the prayer of this unsaved man.
Why is he hearing it?
Because of his motives.
Because he's doing things at a sincere heart.
That's why God's hearing his prayer.
The same thing goes for believers.
The Bible says that he that turneth away his ear from the hearing of the law, even his
prayer shall be abomination.
If we as God's people decide to turn our ear from the law, if we decide to ignore God's
commandments, if we decide not to do those things which are commanded of us, then God's
not going to hear our prayer.
He that turneth away his ear from the hearing of the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
Unless of course he's saved, then he could ignore God's word all he wants and his prayer
won't be an abomination.
That's not what it says.
It says whoever's going to turn their ear from the hearing of the law, their prayer
is going to be an abomination.
That goes for everybody.
Because again, God examines motives.
God examines the intents of the heart.
He saw that Cornelius was a sincere, genuine man who loved the Lord, just didn't know what
it took to get saved.
So he sent him a soul winner.
And he sent him a pretty good one, Peter, right?
Peter had to work some things out in this chapter, but he got them there.
He could see Cornelius' motives, look, God knows your heart too.
God can look in our hearts and God can see the motives that we have and God can see whether
or not we're keeping his commandments, whether we're doing those things we ought to do.
And God can decide whether or not he's going to hear or answer that prayer.
Look at 1 John 3, verse 21, it says, Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have
confidence toward God.
We have something that we want to get from God, we have some need, we have some prayer
requests that we need to bring before God's throne.
We get on our knees to pray and all of a sudden something comes into our mind like, oh yeah,
this sin or that sin, there's something that we get convicted about.
It kind of shakes our confidence a little bit, doesn't it?
If we're doing everything we're supposed to be doing, you know, if we're living the
Christian life, if we're keeping God's commandments, if we're being obedient to the word of God,
if we're not turning our ear away from the hearing of the law, then we can have confidence
towards God.
We can go, I know I'm going to get down and pray, I'm going to pray in faith, believing,
that I will have whatsoever things I ask.
And again, that goes back to motives again too.
You think, oh man, if I get right with God, I can pray for a Maserati, you know, whatever
the cool car is out there, I don't know, I don't care.
You know, pray for, you know, a million dollars, no, because that goes back to my first point.
God knows your motives.
You know, God knows if we're just being covetous, whatever.
If we're right with God, you know, we're not going to pray for things like that.
We're not going to pray for covetous things, okay?
Go to 1 John, chapter number 5, it says in 1 John 3, verse 22, and whatsoever we ask
we receive of Him because we keep His commandments and do those things which are pleasing in
His sight.
We receive things from God, why?
Because we keep His commandments.
And we do those things which are pleasing in His sight.
So the opposite's also true.
Meaning if we don't keep His commandments and we don't do those things which are pleasing
in His sight, then you know what?
We're not going to receive whatsoever we ask of Him.
Because God knows our motives, God knows our heart.
So there's no point in even asking.
The Bible says if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayer.
We want things from God, we need things from God, and we get down and pray, God might just
put His finger on something and say, you know, I'd like to take care of that for you, but
you need to take care of this for me.
God will hold back if we're holding back.
1 John, chapter 5, verse 14, and this is the confidence that we have in Him.
If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us.
We'll get down and pray and ask for things that are according to His will.
He heareth us.
Meaning if we don't know His will, then how are we going to know what to pray for?
If we know who God is and what God's like, if we know what the law says, if we know what
the word of God says, then we're going to pray with confidence because we're going to
know what we should and shouldn't ask for.
And if we, verse 15, and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we
have the petitions we desired of Him.
Go back to Acts, chapter number 10, Acts chapter number 10.
Of course, we all love Hebrews chapter 4, right?
That's that great verse on prayer, let us come boldly before the throne of grace, that
we might find help and mercy in time of need, right?
Let's go boldly before God and get the help that we need.
That's great promise in the word of God.
And we do have that.
You know, as God's children, we can't go boldly before the throne of God and find the grace,
the mercy, the help that we need.
But you know, sometimes we forget that God can say, nope.
It's not that He's going to close the throne to us.
It's not that we're going to be cut off or something.
It's just that God's not going to hear.
He's going to ignore us.
God will ignore us.
Why would God ignore us?
Well, if we're ignoring Him, He's going to ignore us.
And rightly so.
If there's something we want, but we're not doing anything that God wants us to do, why
would He give it to us?
It's no different than our children, unless we're raising spoiled brats.
We just give them whatever they want, whenever they want, without expecting anything out
of them.
That's a good way to raise a horrible person.
You know, we are going to be more inclined to give our children the things they want
and desire when they've been obedient, when they've been doing the things that we expect
of them.
But when they're out of line, when they're acting up, when they've been sassy or whatever,
mouthy, talking back, not doing what they're supposed to be doing, you know, that we're
not going to give them what they want, you know, we're going to give them what they don't
want.
They're going to get chastened.
It's the same thing with us and God.
You know, if we, yeah, there's that grace there, that throne of grace is available,
it's an option, but if we turn our ear from the hearing of the law, if we're not taking
care of God's business, why in the world would He take care of ours?
If you look at verse 9, we'll move along here in the story, it says,
On the morrow, as they went on their journey and drew nigh into the city, Peter went up
on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour, and he became very hungry and would have eaten,
but while they made ready he fell into a trance.
So is that a food coma?
I don't know.
That usually happens after you eat, right?
It's not that kind of trance.
And he saw heaven open and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great
sheet knit at the four corners and let down to the earth, so it's like this big sheet
that's kind of knit up, like a picnic sheet, kind of, I always see it as that, and it comes
down and it kind of lays open, right, this is what he's seeing.
So it lets down to the earth, wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth,
and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls in the air.
So there's a lot of these, you know, a lot of unclean animals that were prohibited, you
know, by the law of Moses for them to eat.
And there came a voice to Peter, excuse me, there came a voice to him, rise Peter, kill
and eat.
But Peter said, not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.
And the voice spake to him the second time, what God hath cleansed, that called not thou
uncommon.
This was done thrice, meaning three times, and the vessel was received up again into
heaven.
Now, why did God do this?
I believe God did this exclusively for Peter's sake.
In fact, if you know a little about Peter, he kind of, even later in the book, has a
little bit of a hang-up with the Jews' religion.
He's kind of having a hard time letting go of some of these Old Testament customs.
So I believe this was done exclusively for Peter.
This isn't God showing us, you know, that this has been done away in Christ or something,
although it's a great proof text for that.
But you know, we know that's been done away in Christ.
God has already commanded his apostles to go to the Gentiles, right?
That's already taken place.
This isn't like, now Peter's allowed to go to the Gentiles.
He's been allowed to go to the Gentiles for a while.
I mean, Jesus had already commanded them to go into all the world to preach to every creature.
That already happened.
In fact, Jesus had already, in his ministry, if you read your Bible, you'll notice that
he's ministering to Gentiles all the time.
He's ministering to non-Jews throughout his ministry.
So that's not why he's doing this.
This isn't why this vision's being given, so that we can understand that at this point
in the story, that at this point in history, now it's open to the Gentiles.
He's doing this for Peter's sake, because Peter has a hang-up.
And Peter is like anybody else.
The men in the Bible are imperfect, they're flawed characters, and this is one of I believe
Peter's.
He's just kind of hung up on this thing.
He's kind of resisting this truth.
You know, obviously he's got a good heart at the end, he's convinced, and he comes around
on it, and then he goes and convinces everybody else that, hey, this is the way it's supposed
to be.
That we are supposed to be ministering to the Gentiles.
So Jesus ministered to the Gentiles.
You know what's funny too, is that Jesus actually had a Gentile, let me call him a Gentile,
but he wasn't a Jew for sure, in one of the 12.
Simon the Canaanite, meaning not a Jew.
So he's one of his 12.
So you're kind of wondering, hey Peter, what's the hang-up here?
Don't you remember Simon?
He was right there with you.
He wasn't one of you.
Maybe he was a proselyte, maybe he got into that old religion, but he's not a Jew.
He's not of that nation.
So what's Peter's deal here?
Why does he have this hang-up?
I don't know.
People get stuck in their ways, people have hang-ups, and people just need to get over
it.
People need to just move on with their lives and do things God's way.
When God says this is the way it's got to be, that's the way it's got to be.
We don't want to start resisting God.
We don't want to start, yeah, but, you know, and arguing with God.
It's kind of funny because Peter does that in the story.
He says, rise Peter, kill and eat.
Not so, Lord.
I mean, who would do that?
That's kind of bold when you think about it.
You're seeing this vision and God's telling you something, there's a voice from heaven
and you're like, no thanks.
I've never eaten anything common or unclean.
And it's kind of almost self-righteous a little bit.
I'm trying not to bag on Peter a little too much tonight.
He'll probably pull me aside in heaven, but, you know, it is kind of, doesn't it sound
kind of self-righteous, I've never eaten anything common or unclean.
Well that's great, there was a time and place for that, but that's over, it's time to change
and move on.
And that's the lesson that we need to learn too, because we have our own hang-ups, kind
of picking on Peter, but we all have our own hang-ups too.
Sometimes we'll read things in the Bible, or we'll hear something preached from the
Word of God, or we'll be shown something, and we'll kind of go, oh I don't know about
that, I don't know if I like that.
Well tough, you know, that's the way it is, that's what the Bible says, get over it, change.
You know we might read something and say, well I don't like that part of the Bible,
and do what?
Turn our ear from hearing it, what did I just get done preaching, what's going to happen
then?
God's going to say, oh yeah well now your prayer is an abomination.
You don't want to do things my way, then I'm not going to help you.
You don't want to change, you don't want to get in my program, then good luck.
That's basically how it breaks down.
So Peter here, he sees this vision, he's kind of hung up there for a minute, but he finally
gets through it, and this is definitely being, I believe, being done, excuse me, for his
sake exclusively.
If you look at the details of the vision, they match the circumstance that's playing
out in the narrative here.
While Peter thought on the vision, the spirit said to him, behold three men seek thee.
How many times was that repeated to him?
Thrice, three times.
And they would have considered the Gentiles unclean and common.
So that the vision isn't just about the dietary laws, it's about what he's trying to get across
is that God wants him to go to these Gentiles, and he's chosen the vision three times, and
then three Gentiles show up.
So that's how you can kind of tell it's meant for Peter.
He's got his hang up there that God's dealing with, and the fact that these details of the
vision that being said three times, they match that circumstance that Peter's in.
And you know, God bless Peter, he finally gets it, right?
You know, he ends up going along with the men, he goes to see Cornelius, and then he
finally gets it.
Look at verse 34, then Peter opened his mouth and said, of a truth I perceive that God is
no respecter of persons.
So Peter gets it, he finally understands, you know what?
It's not about Jew or Gentile, you know, it's about Christ, it's about the Gospel getting
the whole world, and he gets over this.
He says, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, he that feareth
him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.
The word which God sent unto all the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ,
he is Lord of all.
That word I say he know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee,
after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth, 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.
So what's going on here?
He's kind of preaching the Gospel, he's preaching Christ to these people, basically.
He's telling them about Jesus, right?
They want to know the truth, God gets Peter, gets him over himself in his hang-ups, and
gets him over there to get them one, to Christ.
This might not be the way you present the Gospel, but the way Peter was doing it made
sense then.
So he's basically preaching Jesus Christ, he's telling about God anointing him, and
the Holy Ghost, and how he was doing all these great miracles, and he says in verse 39, we
are witnesses of all these things, which he did both in the land of the Jews and of Jerusalem,
whom they slew and hanged on a tree.
So he's describing the crucifixion, I want to park it here for just a minute, and talk
about this phrase, hanged on a tree, because you might read that and get a little confused,
like wait, I thought he was hung on a cross, but what's a cross made out of?
It's made out of a tree, it's just wood.
So you can see why he would have said that.
And you've got to remember, you're reading a book that's thousands of years old, that
people didn't always speak in the exact same way that we speak today.
So he's saying, tree, they might have just understood cross, right?
That's all a tree is in the context here, it just means cross, basically.
You say, well I get it, big deal, what's the big deal?
This is actually a big deal with Jehovah Witnesses.
This is one of their pet doctrines.
This is something they'll bring up.
And they seem very proud of themselves, and it's quite foolish.
Because they teach that Jesus was crucified on what they call a stake, or a torture stake,
or a pole.
That's what they believe.
And they'll refer back to when Moses put the brazen serpent on the pole, and you see it's
a picture of Christ.
It is a picture of Christ, but that's not the point he's trying to make in that story
with the serpent on the pole.
What does the serpent represent?
Represents sin, right?
It's representing the fact that Christ became sin for us who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him.
That's the picture that God's trying to get across there.
That Christ became sin for us.
That he took our punishment upon himself when he was hung.
God isn't trying to get across and prophesy about the actual implement that took place
on.
I mean, it's just such a shallow understanding of scripture, because the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God.
Neither can he know them, for they're spiritually discerned.
You can see why a Jehovah Witness would read that, and it would go right over their head,
because they're not saved.
They don't have the Spirit of God.
And when you're denying that Christ is the Son of God, that he is God Almighty, you're
not saved.
And that's what Jehovah Witnesses do.
I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but I do want to point out the fact that they
believe that he was hung on a stake.
In the New World Translation, which is the Bible, quote unquote, that they use, I wouldn't
even call it that.
I wouldn't even call it a translation.
That's the New World interpretation is what it should be.
Any credible translator has serious problems with their translation, which is why all their
translators are anonymous, so they can't be held accountable, so they can't get called
on the carpet for their poor work.
Because the problem that the Jehovah Witnesses has is that they take their doctrine that
their church teaches, and they go to the Bible, and the King James Bible, and they go, oh,
this completely contradicts what we teach and believe.
So rather than getting right and getting saved, what they do is they literally rewrote the
Bible and called it a translation.
And there's all kinds of errors in it.
This is one of them.
This is probably the most well-known error.
Well, no, that's actually another one.
But here's what they teach in Acts 10, 39.
And we are witnesses of all these things that he did, both in the country of the Jews and
Jerusalem.
But they did away with him by hanging him on a stake.
So that's where they've got to change tree to stake there.
Now the problem with that is that how would you hang someone?
So they teach that Jesus was crucified like this, with his hands over his head, on a pole.
Because you only have the space above his head and the space below his feet to do that.
Here's the problem with that.
Go to John 20.
A lot of you probably know where I'm going with this, John 20.
How many nails would it take to crucify him like this?
In his hands?
One.
Right?
You would just put his hands together, and that's how they depict it.
Like that, with one nail going through his hands.
John 20, look at verse 25.
Except I see...
This is Thomas, right, when he's doubting.
Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nail.
Or wait.
What does it say there?
Plural.
Right?
So they understood back then, they saw Christ crucified, and they said, boy, it took two
nails to hang him from his hands, because he was crucified like this.
You know what's great about this, and I don't know if you want to tell a Jehovah Witness
this, because when Jehovah Witnesses have errors pointed out to them in their Bible,
they change it.
Eventually, once it gets, once they hear it enough, they'll go correct it and work it
to, you know, so that they don't look like the liars that they are.
But they haven't gotten to this one.
In the New World Translation, it says the same thing, pretty much.
Unless I see in his hand the print of the nails, and stick my finger into the print
of the nails, and stick my hand into his side, I will never believe it.
So they haven't caught on to the one yet.
Don't tell them.
I like, you know, we want to use that to debunk it for people who will actually, you know,
are questioning their religion.
You want to leave that in there, right?
I mean, you could go, there's all kinds of ways that people go after this.
There's all kinds of ways to try to deal with that, the error there that they're teaching
about him being hung on a stake.
I like to just go right to their own Bible.
Just show them right there.
Well, even your Bible says it was nails in his hands, not nail-a.
Doesn't make any sense.
But what do you expect from a bunch of people that deny that Christ is God?
You know, another one of their errors is in John 1-1.
And this is the most well-known and most controversial and debated, you know, translation, verse
in their translation, okay, among scholars.
We know John 1-1, in the beginning it was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word
was God.
In the New World Translation, it reads, and the Word was a God, a God, not the God.
But we know that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, you know, that that Word is
referring to Christ being God.
God was manifest in the flesh, okay?
That's talking about Christ.
And he's not a God, he is the God, all right?
And he that believeth in the Son hath the witness in himself, he that believeth not
God hath made him a liar.
So if people are not going to believe the record that God has given of his Son, they
are a liar, okay, and an anti-Christ.
Go back to Acts, chapter number 10, try and wrap it up here.
It says there in verse 40, so going back, you know, again, Peter is, gets over his hang-up,
and he's preaching Christ to these guys, and it says in verse 39 again, we are witnesses
of all these things which he did, both the land of the Jews and of Jerusalem whom they
slew and hang on a tree.
Verse 40, 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 to the people and testify that this is he which is ordained
of God to be judged of the quick and the dead, to give him all, to him give all the prophets
witness that through his name whosoever believeth in his name shall receive remission of sins.
And I just preached recently in verse 43, but the other thing I'll point out there is
it says to him give all the prophets witness, right?
Meaning that all throughout the Old Testament, you will see Christ, you will see pictures
of Christ, you'll be seeing Christ being prophesied about.
Jesus is on every page, Jesus is throughout the Old Testament, he's there.
And that, maybe if you're having a hard time with your Bible reading, maybe if your Old
Testament Bible reading is getting, you've read it so many times now that it's just like,
yeah, I know all this, well maybe this is kind of a nice project, right?
This time through, let me look for Jesus in the Bible.
Or just do it anyway.
Dude, I don't care what time it is through your Bible reading.
Stuff like that keeps it intriguing and it's cool because he's there.
I just referenced one earlier about Moses.
Moses putting the brazen serpent, that was a picture of Christ, to him give all the prophets
witness.
There's a whole sermon right there.
But that's not the point I want to make tonight, I want to make some application here.
Because we were talking about the fact that Christ was hung on a tree, Christ was crucified.
We're being very matter of fact about that, just talking about the practical way in which
that was done.
But let's not forget what we're talking about, we're talking about the crucifixion of Christ.
Jesus laid down his life for us, and for the whole world.
That very gruesome, painful death that he went through.
And then he's raised up the third day.
And now with that in mind, look at verse 42.
And he commanded us to preach.
He commanded us to preach.
That was something that was commanded of the apostles, but that's something that was commanded
of us today.
We are commanded to preach the gospel.
And you know, preaching, let me just say this, is a privilege.
I know it's hard work, but it's a privilege.
I know I've been preaching about this recently quite a bit.
But let me just remind us again, you know, what a unique position we're in as God's people
to be able to even preach the gospel and get other people saved.
It's something that nobody else can do.
Only saved people can get saved people, or get unsaved people saved.
You know, we can't, not just anybody can do that.
That's our privilege to go out and preach.
Yes, we've been commanded to do it, right?
And you can see why it's a command, because it's not always easy, and because people don't
always do it.
Because the fact that it's a privilege isn't always enough to motivate us to go.
But you know what might motivate us is if we think about verse 39 again, whom they slew
and hanged on a tree.
Maybe we should, you know, if we're having a hard time with our soul winning and getting
back into it, if we've gotten out of it and we're not in the habit anymore, and we're
having a hard time getting motivated about soul winning again, you know, and you know,
we're discouraged because it's difficult, it's hard, it's hot out.
Just maybe we need to dwell on that.
You know, my last sermon, I used hell to be that motivation.
But maybe that's not going to motivate people to go soul winning, the thought that people
are going to hell.
Well, how about the fact that Christ was hung on a tree?
How about the fact that Christ was crucified?
I mean, that's, and then he's commanding us to go and preach the gospel.
And this is something, you know, a practice we can get into.
If any time, you know, we're supposed to be out soul winning, you know, we just don't
feel like it, or we want to complain about it, or we're just unmotivated, just imagine
yourself going to the foot of the cross and looking up at Christ and explaining to him
why you can't do it.
And your excuse seems pretty weak at that point, doesn't it?
It's hot out.
I have other things I could be doing.
That's not receptive.
There's lots of dogs, whatever.
You know, think about whatever it is that's holding you back, and then just imagine you
at the foot of that tree, looking up into the face of a crucified Christ, and then telling
him why you can't obey the command to go and preach.
You know, and he's not going to be looking back and go, I understand.
Oh, I get it, oh yeah, well you know what, if that's the case, then by all means, you
know, don't go.
You know, the fact is, is that we have the privilege of preaching because we didn't have
to do what Christ did, because he saved us, because somebody else preached us the gospel
and got us saved, you know, he is the one that has done all that hard work for us.
All he's asking us to do is go tell other people about it.
You know, and again, it is a command.
It's not optional.
And I think sometimes Christians get it in their head that it's just like, like it's
a hobby that some of us are into, or it's just, you know, just what we do here at this
church because that's the kind of church we are.
Other churches do other things, this is what we do here, soul winning.
The reason why we go soul winning is not because that's just what we do, it's because we're
commanded to preach.
It's a biblical command from Christ that God has decreed, you must go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.
You know, must isn't maybe.
We must do this.
Okay?
And that's a good practice.
Again, if we're having a hard time obeying that command, just focus on the end of verse
39.
You know, it makes verse 42 a little bit more palatable.
We're commanded to preach, it's a privilege.
Look at verse 44.
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 of the Gentiles was also poured out of the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God, then answered Peter, can any
man forbid 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 they prayed him to
tarry certain days.
So let me just make another application real quick here when it comes to soul winning.
You know, this is something you could look at when it comes to following up on converts.
Okay?
Because this is something I've struggled with, this is something, you know, people have different
opinions on, you know, how much follow up should we be doing, how should we be doing
follow up, should we be doing follow up, you know, and I'm just going to kind of use
this to make an application.
You know, this is kind of how, this is my philosophy on follow up.
Command them to be baptized, and they can decide whether or not to keep company with
us.
Okay?
Because, I mean, I've tried some of this follow up stuff and it just, you know, I don't, maybe
it's just where we're living or something, but it doesn't seem like it takes.
Okay?
Now, I'm not saying don't encourage people to come to church.
I do that.
You know, the guy we got saved last Saturday, he got saved, and I got, you know, at the
end of the gospel presentation, after he got saved and prayed and all that, I said, hey,
you know, the Bible says you should be baptized, and if you want to start doing right, you
need to get in church.
And I said, that's where we are.
And then I said, but if I never see you again, I'll see you in heaven.
Okay?
And that's true.
I mean, that's kind of what I, you know, Peter here, he's commanding them to be baptized
in the name of the Lord.
I think that's a great thing to do.
People get saved, people get filled with the Holy Ghost, they get sealed with the Holy
Spirit.
Hey, command them to get baptized.
Get baptized.
Explain it to them real briefly.
And I'm not saying you have to sit down with a booklet and take 20 minutes out of your
time.
You know, just maybe explain to them, you know, how the Ethiopian unit got baptized,
how Jesus was baptized, just very briefly, hey, it's going down into the water, coming
up straight way out of the water.
I mean, a matter of a minute, like, I'm just explaining baptism.
Because baptism isn't hard to grasp.
It's just a symbol, like my wedding ring.
If I don't have it on, I'm still married.
If you don't get baptized, you're still saved.
It's just a public profession.
Have a nice day.
Okay?
So what about church attendance?
Well in this story, they prayed, they prayed them, then, excuse me, then prayed they, him
to tarry certain days.
You know, they want to have fellowship with Peter, they want to be there for the preaching,
they want to learn more, but it's coming from them, right?
They're praying him to tarry certain days.
Here's what I've learned in ministry.
People do whatever they want.
It doesn't matter how much you preach something.
It doesn't matter how right you are about something.
People are going to do whatever they want, in the church and out of the church.
You know, and you can't make people change.
The only person I have any power over, other than my wife, even that's limited, is me.
The only person I can make do anything, really, when it comes down to it, is me.
You know, unless I put her in a headlock or something, noogies, you know.
The threat of violence.
I'm just kidding.
I'm going to get in trouble.
But that's true, right?
And what's great about these people that are getting saved, because you have Cornelius,
this devout man, the people that are with him, they're getting saved, they're going
to, yeah, let's get baptized, hey, stick around.
It's coming from them.
Look, if people don't want to come to church, they're not going to come to church.
And what I've seen is a lot of people, you know, oh yeah, I'll be there Sunday.
I mean, I get, there's calls that come in from people that live in the city.
You know, I'm coming, what's the dress code like, when's the service times, I'm
coming down there, I'm like, this is it.
And then I just hang up the phone and I go, oh, I hope they come.
No, I go, we'll see, this talk's cheap.
You know, a lot of people get a lot of satisfaction, I'm just telling you they're going to come
to church.
You know, they get the instant reward of, I'm going to come to church, and they're
fully convinced that they're going to go, and just them saying that is enough to make
them feel good enough.
Well, I told that guy I was going to go to church, it sounded good when I said it.
Yeah, it sounded good when you said it, but when you woke up on Sunday morning and remembered
you had that pound of bacon in the fridge and the game was on, all of a sudden coming
to hear some, you know, loudmouth Baptist preachers, you know, spit and scream and holler
from behind an old wooden pulpit doesn't have the exact same appeal, does it?
You know, and they're glad they got saved, and I'm glad they got saved, and I hope
they come and get baptized, but, you know, that's about the extent of it.
And I'm not saying that there's never a time for follow-up, but, you know, in my
experience, it doesn't really work.
Because people do what they want.
It's like, what more do they need?
Here's where the church is, here's the address, here's the invite, there's a
literal map, you've got Google maps, you've got vehicle, you've got transportation,
the only, you know, if they don't want to come, what's me, you know, if I keep dragging,
then I have to come drag them in, as soon as I stop dragging them in, you know what
they're going to do?
They're going to go right back, they're going to be like that rubber band that you
used to overstretch, you stretch it and just go boink, right back where it was.
As soon as I let go of my end, they're going to go right back to where they were.
So I'd rather just say, hey, I'm going to go on to the next guy and get another
guy saved, another guy saved.
If you want to come tarry, come tarry with us.
Tarry with us, you know, certain days, many days.
Tarry with us until Jesus comes, but it's got to be something you want to do, okay?
So that's kind of my take on that, you know, as far as follow-up and things like that,
but the real thing that we need to be concerned about is whether or not we're even preaching
to begin with.
You know, making sure we're out there preaching the gospel, obeying the command to go, taking
care of God's business, why?
You know, well, aside from the fact that Christ was hanging on the street, aside from the
fact that people are going to hell, aside from the fact that it's commanded of us, you
know, there might be a time where we want something from God.
I mean, I don't know, maybe that might just be a possibility sometime.
We might find ourselves praying and really needing God to come through for us, and then
all of a sudden we're going to remember that we've been ignoring the command of God.
We've turned our ear from the hearing of the law, and all of a sudden we're kind of at
God's mercy.
You know, it'd be a lot easier if, you know, if we do the things, if we do, you know, if
we do anything according to His will, He knows that He heareth us, if we ask according to
His will, and we know if we're right with God, then we have that confidence.
You know, it'd be a lot easier to go for that throne of grace and say, Lord, I've been reading
my Bible, I've been going to church, I've been preaching the gospel, you know, and that's
just like, you know, first base, okay?
You know, I've been, you know, fulfilling my role as a spouse, I've been doing this,
you know, I've been keeping the commandments, I've been doing everything, the way you tell
me to do it.
Can you help me out with this?
And God's going to say, sure, yeah, I'll help you out with that.
I'll take care of your business because you've been taking care of mine.
So that's just another reason why we need to obey that command to go out and preach.
You know, because it takes a man to save a man, because people will get saved that are
otherwise going to end up in hell no matter how good they are.
Help men, okay, are going to end up there.
And you know, it's something we're commanded to do, and whatever excuses we have really
start to wilt when we hold them up to what Christ did for us by being hanged on a tree.
Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for the fact that you suffered, that you bled, that you died
for us, Lord, that you rose again the third day, Lord, that you've done this for us and
not just for us, but for everyone.
And Lord, I pray that you would help us to go out and preach and reach those that would
be saved.
And Lord, that you would help those that would get saved to see the importance of following
you, and Lord, that they would have a desire to get in church and to live the Christian
life.
And Lord, I pray that you'd help us to be faithful in this, Lord, so that you would
build your church as you promised.
We ask these things in Christ's name, amen.
Alright, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go.
Amen.