Would you please bless the shepherd, bless the sheep, and bless the preaching. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Okay, we're in Acts chapter 11. We continue with our Bible study on Thursday nights on the book of Acts.
Now Acts chapter 11 is pretty notable due to the fact that it's the chapter that has the verse in 26
where it talks about how they were first called Christians in Antioch.
So it's a pretty notable chapter because of that.
And what we see here is that they're referring to the disciples being first called Christians in Antioch.
And I'm actually going to talk about that this Sunday, so I'm not going to talk too much about that tonight.
By looking at verse number 1 here, it says here,
And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with them,
saying that, Thou wentest to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
So first and foremost, we see that Peter is suffering rebuke at the hands of the Jews.
Now, what is it that we're picking up on here?
In chapter 10, Peter gets this vision about Cornelius wanting to hear the gospel.
He basically is commissioned by God to go to Caesarea.
He sends men over there, or men actually come to him to come get him from Cornelius.
They go to Caesarea. He goes and preaches the gospel to them.
And of course, this is due to the vision that he receives of the sheet that was knit at the four corners with all the unclean beasts.
And God is basically teaching them, hey, you need to go to different nations, you need to go to different Gentiles,
you need to give the gospel to everyone.
He has to repeat this vision three times in order to get it in his head.
Hey, don't keep preaching the gospel to just the Jews.
You need to go to different nations and get them saved as well.
So he does. He goes there, gets Cornelius saved, and his household, many of his associates as well.
And he baptizes them, and the Bible says that the Holy Spirit falls upon them.
Great story.
Comes back, the apostles and the brethren, they hear of what's taking place, and they're just amazed by it.
But then there's this specific group that gets upset at Peter.
Now, here's what's so stupid about this.
They're not even focusing on the fact that these people got saved.
What are they harping on? The fact that he just ate with them.
It's just like, oh, just forget the fact that these people just got saved,
and they just trusted Christ as their savior.
You know, a bunch of people got saved.
They didn't rejoice with that.
In fact, they began to criticize Peter because of the fact that he's eating with unclean people.
Bunch of racists, right?
So we don't know if this is saved or unsaved Jews.
Obviously it says the circumcision, but the reason it kind of opens up for interpretation whether it's saved or unsaved Jews
is because of the fact that verse 18, the people who are responding to the story that he tells them,
basically they recognize, oh wow, God has granted repentance unto the Gentiles as well.
So then they begin to praise God because of the fact that they got saved.
So this could either be saved or unsaved Jews or just both.
You have a group of saved people who are Jews and a group of unsaved people who are Jews as well,
and that's who he's referring to.
It's pretty ridiculous if you think about it.
Now obviously we weren't there 2,000 years ago to witness this,
but it is ridiculous because of the fact that these people should know
that God wanted to reach other people than just Jews, right?
I mean, Jesus Christ commissioned them to go out, to preach the gospel to every creature and every nation,
and then aside from that in the book of Acts,
you have these miraculous divine appointments that God is doing
through evangelists, through apostles, to go out and reach different people.
You have Philip being sent to who? The Ethiopian eunuch?
This divine appointment to just say, hey, get out of Jerusalem,
I want you to go to the Ethiopian eunuch who's not a Jew and I want you to give him the gospel.
You would think that they would wake up to that and say,
well, I think God wants us to go reach other people than just Jews.
He's willing to send Philip the evangelist and carrying him away to this eunuch for him to be saved,
but then aside from that, you have this divine appointment with Peter and Cornelius as well,
and I think really what God is trying to do is just kind of wake them up
and say, hey, guys, this is where the fish are biting, right?
These are the people who are actually receptive to the gospel.
They actually want to get saved.
You need to stop focusing on these Jews and go out there and reach a different people group,
but we see them, in spite of this being as obvious as possible,
they continue to make a concerted effort to reach the Jewish groups, Jewish people.
Look at verse 19.
By the way, this is after the story, because Paul, or excuse me, Peter,
he's describing everything that happened in Caesarea, this revival.
I mean, someone comes to our church and says, hey, I went to up north somewhere
and I got a bunch of people saved, we would rejoice.
We would be like, man, that's awesome.
That's great to hear, you know.
These guys aren't necessarily doing that.
In fact, look at verse 19.
It says, now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen
traveled as far as Phoenice and Cyprus and Antioch,
preaching the word to none but unto Jews only.
So they're telling the story about Cornelius getting saved.
He's like, wow, praise God.
God has granted repentance unto the Gentiles as well.
All right, let's go and preach the gospel to more Jews.
Let's go reach more Jews.
Let's just keep preaching the gospel to Jews.
Even though Peter just got finished telling them, hey, we saw this great revival,
these people are receptive, they want to hear the gospel,
and it's just like, it just goes over their head.
It's ridiculous.
Now, this is partly the reason why after chapter 12,
the spotlight turns from the apostles and it goes on the Apostle Paul, right?
Actually, the Apostle Paul and Barnabas,
because really they're making a concerted effort to reach the Gentiles
and they begin to receive from the Jews and focus on those other nations.
And so, you know, and by the way, you would think that Peter,
I mean, Peter's the one that God tells to go witness to Cornelius.
You would think you would wake up as well, but he doesn't.
Now, here he defends what he's doing.
He's like, hey, God gave me this vision.
That's why I went there.
But we see later on in his ministry that he's still holding on to those Jews, is he not?
Go to Galatians chapter 2. Go to Galatians chapter 2.
It would be ridiculous for us to focus on one people group today, you know?
And the only reason, if we were to focus on a people group,
it would probably be for a season because of the fact that maybe those people
are just receptive to the gospel, right?
You know, but it would be ridiculous for us to say,
no, we're only going to reach Hispanics.
Our pastor's Hispanic, therefore we should only reach Hispanics.
What?
Or we want our church to only be a black church.
We can only reach black people.
They need the gospel.
Or we need to make a concerted effort just to reach Asian people.
There's churches like that where they only want to focus on one people group, you know,
because that's what they're comfortable with.
Whereas, you know, once you're in Christ, there isn't either Jew nor Gentile.
And we need to go to the people who just want to be saved
regardless of what color of skin they are, right?
We don't ever want to become this racist church where it's just like,
well, we just want to be an Armenian church, right?
Or we just want to be a Russian church.
We just want to be this type of church with this type of race.
And the reason I say this is because there are churches like that.
I mean, I've literally heard of churches where it's just like it's an Indian church
and people try to go there and they're like, hey, just to let you know,
this is Indian speaking only and only Indians are welcome here, you know?
And it's like a Baptist church.
It's like, what in the world?
These people obviously don't read the Bible.
They don't recognize that, you know, God wants us to reach all types of people.
And it's better too.
When you have a church that has just a conglomerate of different races and cultures
and just different, you know, come from different backgrounds, it's great.
Because then you actually learn something about other people, right?
I mean, look, folks, I didn't know much about Armenians until I came to this church,
even though I'm like 5, 10 percent Armenian or something, you know?
I didn't know much about Assyrians.
I didn't know much about, I knew a lot about white people because I married to one.
But there's different people groups that I didn't know much about until I came here.
I didn't even know what a Serbian was until I met Milan.
You know, Milan, he's a faithful word now.
I'm just joking.
But what I'm saying is this, is that, you know, we should never have this mentality,
oh, we only want to reach this people group, okay?
Now, look, you have, for example, Spanish churches, and that's what they do.
They specifically reach Spanish speaking people.
And, you know, even to that extent, I don't really agree with that.
You know what I mean?
Now, you said, why not?
Well, here's the thing, because I kind of battled whether I should start like a Spanish church.
But the thing is, is that the vast majority of Spanish speaking people,
the younger crowd, so to speak, they speak both.
And even if they speak Spanish fluently, they actually prefer an English speaking pastor, believe it or not.
They prefer to hear preaching in English.
Really, the people who want to hear Spanish preaching only is who?
Yes, Spanish speakers, of course.
We got Sherlock Holmes right here, man.
I'm talking about the older generation.
The ones who don't speak English whatsoever, you understand?
So, even then, I've entertained the possibility of starting like a Spanish ministry here,
but only for like the elderly Spanish generation who just don't want to learn any English whatsoever, okay?
But you have Spanish churches where they're just like, we only go into Spanish groups,
we only want Spanish people to come to our church,
and it's just like, well, you know, that kind of defeats the purpose of what a church is.
It's supposed to reach everyone.
Because what if you get someone saying, now, obviously, we run into people who speak Chinese, right?
We reach people who only speak Spanish, and we invite them to come here, but here's the difference.
English is the main language of America.
So, it's like, you should expect to come to an English speaking church when you come to a church in America, right?
So, anyways, you know, I've met churches that are just like, you know, they're just,
they refuse to reach anybody else other than Hispanics, okay?
And I'm not saying that's 100% bad, I just think that you're going to hinder yourself,
and you're going to alienate a lot of people who you can potentially reach, okay?
You know, you should just preach in English and have different ministries,
maybe they speak in those languages that can reach only those specific people.
And look, I've been to churches, Spanish churches, where like if a Hispanic comes there,
and they speak both languages, they say, hey, you need to only speak Spanish, you know?
And if they speak a little broken Spanish, they're like criticized for it.
Like, oh, what are you, like a pocho or something like that?
You just can't even speak, you know?
And it's just like, you're only, and look, I had a friend who was like that,
and he literally was just like, hey, you need to only read the Spanish Bible,
you know, only reach Hispanics, you know, you're trying to read all the gueros and everything,
reach all them, but, you know, you're a rasa, you know,
you're supposed to be a rasa and reach only Spanish speaking people,
and I remember, I literally tried, I was like, all right, I'll just try to read the Spanish Bible only,
but here's the thing, my heart language is English.
Now, Spanish was my first language, but once I went to school, it was just like Spanish is gone.
And even then, like I learned it later on, but I learned how Spanish,
which is not very good, okay?
It's like slang, words that don't even exist in the Spanish language, you know?
The way we say catch is cachale.
When I say, I'll see you later, they say, ai te huacho, you know?
It's like phrases don't even exist in Spanish, you know?
But I remember trying to read the Bible, I was just like, I'm not getting this.
I know what it's saying, but in order for me to understand spiritual truths,
I kind of need to read a Bible in my heart language, which is English, okay?
That's what I grew up learning.
So anyways, you know, we never want to be respecter of people.
We want to be able to reach everyone, okay?
And obviously, the vast majority of people who are going to come to our church
are English-speaking people, okay?
But look, let me just say this, if you live in America,
and you're like 30, even 40,
it doesn't matter what race you are, you know English, okay?
The reason I say this, you go to some doors,
and like some Chinese person opens, you know, answers the door,
no English, no English.
But they have like a car, they have a house, they live in Omani.
Like yeah, no English, you not only know English, you know Spanish as well, okay?
That has, you know, well said, that doesn't know one language,
that only has five languages or something.
And the language thou speakest now is not even the proper way of saying it or whatever, you know?
Most people, they say that, but they actually speak English.
Chinese people in Omani are like, no, no, no, no English, no English.
This is what I go, me hau ma.
And they're like, oh, oh, you speak Chinese?
I'm like, oh, I guess you speak English.
You know, I ran into a person one time here,
and I thought I had him, I was just like, you know, he said, no English, no English.
And I said, oh, okay, you know, me hau ma.
And then I started speaking to him in Mandarin,
and he's like, oh, no, no, kamai, you know, Cambodian.
I was like, oh, yeah, because I used to go to church,
there was, you know, like had a lot of Cambodians.
I was like, so kamai.
And he's like, oh, dang, man, you speak kamai.
He's like, how you learn kamai?
I'm like, well, I thought you didn't know English.
I don't do it to impress them.
I do it so they can slip up in English.
Now you have no choice.
Now you got to speak to me in English because I know you speak English, okay?
But just know this, is that anybody who's in Omani,
like 40, at least 40 years, maybe 40 and under, I would say,
they speak English.
By the way, my mom, who's like 75, she speaks English.
She speaks it broken, but she speaks it and she understands it.
So to say, well, you know, I don't, you know,
these people who are saying, I don't want to go there
because I don't understand any English, yes, you do.
Okay, you make deals, you pay your bills,
you do all types of stuff in English, you understand English, okay?
But back to what we're saying here is Peter,
he's standing so firm here and saying, look,
God wants us to reach other people,
but then later on he slips and he begins to, you know,
slip back into his old Jewish way of, you know,
oh, we just got to be separate from Gentiles,
the goyems or whatever.
Look at Galatians 2, verse 11,
and look what happens, it says in verse 11,
But when Peter was come to Antioch,
Paul writing this,
I would slit him to the face because he was to be blamed.
For before that certain came from James,
he did eat with the Gentiles,
but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself,
fearing them which were of the circumcision.
This guy's being a weenie.
Because he wants to reach the Gentiles,
he knows they're receptive,
but when his Jewish buddies come around,
he's just like, oh, I don't want to look like I'm associated with these people
because then I'm going to get it from them.
He says, and the other Jews dissembled likewise with him,
insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
So we see that because Peter was so influential,
that he actually even began to affect Barnabas.
Which Barnabas, if you remember,
was the one who was willing to reach out to Paul.
He's the one that's going with Paul,
reaching out to the Gentiles,
but his influence of dissimulation was so strong
that it even influenced Barnabas to go that route as well.
Look at verse 14,
But when I saw that they walked not uprightly,
according to the truth of the gospel,
I said unto Peter before them all,
If thou be a Jew,
liveest after the manner of the Gentiles,
and not as due to Jews,
why compelest thou the Gentiles
to live as due the Jews?
He said, you're a hypocrite.
Why are you trying to get people to see you as a Jew
if you're not even living after the manner of the Jews?
You're just being a hypocrite.
You're being a respecter of people.
It's not right.
Go back to Acts chapter 11.
So we see that taking place,
but prior to that,
he was gun-hole about the Gentiles.
He gets this vision,
sees a lot of people saved,
and even makes a pretty good defense
regarding this.
So he rehearses the events in chapter 10 verses 5 through 17.
Look at verse 15.
It says,
And as I began to speak,
the Holy Ghost fell on them,
as on us at the beginning.
Then remembered I the word of the Lord,
how that He said,
John indeed baptized with water,
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
For as much then as God gave them the light gift
as He did unto us,
who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,
what was I that I could withstand God?
So I want to talk about this for a little bit.
That phrase in verse 15,
that the Holy Ghost fell on them.
So I just want to remind us what that means.
Because the Holy Ghost falling on them
is not the same as the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
So this isn't saying that as He's talking to them,
they get saved.
Though that's the case,
when it talks about the Holy Ghost falling on them,
this is actually a separate incident
that happens after salvation.
When the Bible talks about the Holy Ghost falling on them,
that's really referring to them being filled with the Holy Ghost.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit comes when we get saved.
And it doesn't create boldness,
it doesn't create a lack of fear,
it doesn't create necessarily faith.
What it means is just the earnest of our inheritance.
You understand?
You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and God gives you the Holy Spirit,
you're sealed unto the day of redemption,
the purchase of possession, etc.
So that is the earnest of our inheritance.
We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
God gives us His Spirit, you understand?
But after that, God wants us to be filled with the Spirit.
He wants the Holy Ghost to fall on us.
Now let me just say this,
this doesn't require for you to be a Christian for very long.
Like, oh man, I want to be filled with the Spirit,
but I just got to be in church more often.
No, that's not the way it works.
You could actually be filled with the Spirit right off the bat.
Right off the bat,
because that's what we see with them.
As soon as they got saved, they were just gung ho,
filled with the Spirit, ready to go.
Now you say, well, how is that possible?
Well, a lot of people would kind of flinch at that
because they think they see filling of the Spirit,
and they just see, well,
they're just going to do a lot of miracles.
They're going to start preaching the word of God.
They're just going to start sowing you right off the bat,
stand up for righteousness, and do some great exploit.
But that's not necessarily what that means.
To be filled with the Spirit
just simply means that you're walking
in the new man.
And if you're walking in the new man,
you're going to want to do the things
that are pleasing unto the Lord, okay?
That's what that means there, okay?
We would say this person is Spirit led.
You understand?
Now, I've known people
that as soon as they get saved,
they just jump right in.
I mean, haven't you met someone like that?
Even in our church.
Someone who just gets saved,
even they get saved here.
Even they get saved here.
And then you know what?
They get baptized right away.
That's Spirit led.
That person is filled with the Spirit.
Why?
Because the flesh doesn't want to get baptized.
The flesh is embarrassed.
The flesh doesn't want to be subject
to the things of God.
Now, by the way,
if you didn't get baptized right away
after you got saved,
I'm not criticizing you, right?
You weenie.
No, I'm just kidding.
I'm joking.
What I'm saying is that individuals
who get saved
and then they get baptized right away,
it's just that they're Spirit led.
And by the way, just to let you know,
I didn't get baptized right away, okay?
So obviously I was not Spirit led.
I was flesh led, okay?
But there's people who,
they get saved,
they get baptized right away,
and then they start coming to church.
There's people in our church
that literally they get saved,
they get baptized,
and what happens in the afternoon?
They go sony.
Right?
You're like, wow, this person jumped right in.
It's because that person is just being Spirit led.
We would say the Holy Ghost
fell on that individual.
Now the Pentecostals want to use that
as some display of just, you know,
sizzling bacon when they're shaking
and they're just like speaking in tongues
and that's not what it is.
When the Spirit falls,
it simply means you're being led of the Spirit.
It's just like, hey, you want to go sony?
Like, yeah, I want to go do some sony.
And then what happens after sony?
Sometimes they even what?
They come back to church on Sunday night.
Why?
Because they're Spirit led.
And then they keep coming back.
They start growing and learning.
They start, you know, getting
sin out of their life.
They're just doing well.
You understand?
So that's a Spirit led person.
Now obviously, we don't always
live like that, right?
So don't be confused.
It's just like, well, if this person
starts off Spirit led,
they're just going to always remain that way.
It doesn't work that way
because we have the flesh.
You understand?
So this person could get saved,
baptized, come to church,
but then what happens is
they go back to some sinful habit,
then they're out of the Spirit,
they're walking in the flesh, etc.
But I just want to show you that
this example that we see
that the Spirit falls on them
is something that even happens today.
We literally have it happen
at least every other week sometimes.
Right?
Because someone who gets saved in our church
and then they get baptized
right away,
the Spirit falls on that person.
You understand?
And look, we've had people
who get saved in our church
and they're just like,
no, I don't want to get baptized.
I'd rather wait until some other time
or whatever.
They put it off
and they're just embarrassed
or whatever it is.
Maybe the water's too freezing cold
or maybe the water's too boiling hot
or whatever
and they're right about that.
But there's others who just jump right in.
Okay?
Now go to Romans chapter number 8
because after salvation,
we constantly want the Spirit to fall upon us.
And that's just another way of saying
being Spirit filled, being Spirit led.
That's how we want to live our lives.
And I want to remind us as a church tonight
to be conscious about being filled with the Spirit.
Because it's easy for us to just go about our lives
and thinking that we're right with God
but really, we need to make a conscientious effort
to think and say,
man, am I walking in the Spirit today?
Or am I in the flesh?
Am I being led of the Spirit
or am I in the flesh?
Look at Romans 8, verse 5 says,
we're going to talk about how is it,
how can we get the Spirit to fall upon us?
You don't need me to smack you on your forehead.
You don't need me to fling my jacket
and have it hit you so the Spirit can come upon you.
It's actually really simple.
Okay?
Look at verse number 5 of Romans 8.
For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh,
but they that are after the Spirit
the things of the Spirit.
So what does it mean when someone is after the flesh?
It basically means that the flesh is right here
and you're coming after it.
In other words, you are following the flesh.
You're being led of the flesh, you understand?
But if you're after the Spirit,
that means the Spirit is leading you.
You're walking after the Spirit.
So how do you know if you're in the Spirit?
Well, do you mind the things of the flesh
or the things of the Spirit?
Right?
Verse 6 says, for to be carnally minded is death,
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
So if you're anxious, you're fearful,
you're paranoid, you're scared,
okay, you're probably being carnally minded then.
Right?
Because here it says to be spiritually minded
is life and peace.
You just have peace within yourself.
You have tranquility, you have peace.
And the reason I'm saying this is because, you know,
the current circumstances of California
have caused a lot of people to be afraid,
Christians included,
where the fires and, you know,
what's going to happen in November
and all these things, and people are afraid.
They're scared.
But you know what the Bible says in this very chapter?
It tells us that God didn't give us the spirit of fear,
but the spirit of adoption whereby we cry,
I have a Father.
So how do we make sure that if we're afraid,
we get into the Spirit?
Well, we've got to cry, I have a Father.
In other words, we've got to pray to God.
We say, Lord, help me to not be afraid,
help me to walk in the Spirit,
help me to be led of the Spirit.
Because it's not right for us to be afraid.
In fact, it's sinful to be fearful.
It's sinful to be afraid, it's sinful to be fearful
because that simply means that we're not trusting God.
Understand?
Look what it goes on to say, verse 7,
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God,
for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh
cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.
If so be it that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his.
What he's basically saying in verse 9 is this,
yeah, you're in the Spirit, of course, if you're saved.
You understand?
Because anybody who's saved has the Spirit of God
dwelling within them.
Verse 10 says, And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin,
but the Spirit is alive because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus
from the dead dwell in you,
he that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by the Spirit that dwells within you.
So what he's doing in verse 11 is he's casting vision.
He's saying, look, you gotta put,
you gotta mortify the members of your body,
but don't worry, the same Spirit that dwells within you
is gonna be the same Spirit
that quickens your mortal bodies.
He's referring to the redemption of our body, the resurrection.
Okay, verse 12, Therefore, brethren,
we are deaders not to the flesh
to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh,
because you're led of the flesh,
ye shall die.
Now let that sink in your ears for a little bit.
And you say, what does that mean, die?
Like, you know, like,
your carcass just dies and no longer has life.
And by the way, it can mean,
like, you start dying spiritually, so to speak,
where you're just not in church,
you know, your Bible reading is dying,
your prayer life is dying,
but ultimately, the death that it leads to
is your physical death.
Why? Because if you're not doing the right things,
more than likely, you're gonna start getting involved
in the wrong things, right?
You're gonna start going back to the flesh,
back to drinking, back to smoking,
back to being with your buddies,
or back to your hobbies that are just vain,
that have nothing to do with God.
They're not necessarily sinful, but they become sinful
because of the fact that they're taking you away
from the things of God.
And what is that gonna do?
That's gonna cause you to die spiritually,
and ultimately, you're gonna perish.
It says, if ye live after the flesh,
ye shall die.
Folks, that's a great incentive
to just keep checking yourself
every single day, right?
Making sure you're walking in the spirit,
you're not fulfilling the lust of the flesh
so that you don't die.
Because he that soweth to his flesh,
soweth the flesh, what?
Reap corruption.
It says, if ye live after the flesh,
ye shall die, but if ye through the spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body,
ye shall live.
What is he saying? Look, if you're in the spirit
and you're repenting of your sin,
you're cleaning up your life,
you're getting right with God,
you're gonna live.
But if you don't, obviously you're gonna die.
Verse 14, for as many as are led
by the spirit of God,
they are the sons of God.
Now, don't get this verse confused to say,
well, you know,
if I'm led of the spirit,
it just proves that I'm saved, right?
It just proves that I'm a son of God.
Really what it's saying is this,
if you're led of the spirit,
that means it's the new man
that is being manifested, basically.
Ye are the sons of God.
And let me just remind you,
our flesh is not a son of God, so to speak.
It's not redeemed, right?
The Bible tells us that whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin.
But folks, the part of our being
that's born of God is our spirit.
It's not the flesh.
Calvinists and lordship salvationists
wanna use that to say, oh yeah, you can't sin.
If you say you sin, then you know,
you're not really saved or whatever, you know.
Cause whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin.
Bunch of liars, even though they're sinning,
by their stupidity,
cause the thought of foolishness is sin.
Look folks, we have two natures.
We have the natural man,
which is the flesh,
and then we have the new man,
which is the spirit.
And God wants us to walk in
the spirit, folks.
He wants us to make a conscientious effort.
Now how do we do that? Well that's why the Bible says
we have to die to self.
Right? So every morning we have to die to self.
You know, I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies
a living what?
Sacrifice. Holy and acceptable to God,
which is your reasonable service.
The Bible says, reckon yourselves also
to be dead indeed unto sin,
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin, therefore reign
in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
in the lustre of. Neither yield
ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
to sin, but yield yourselves unto
God, as those that are alive from the
dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God. Instruments referring to
your members. So God is
constantly saying, hey, you need to reckon yourself
as being dead unto sin.
You need to constantly sacrifice yourself
and put yourself on the
altar, so to speak, a living sacrifice
and mortify the deeds of
the body. This is how you know you're walking
in the spirit.
It says in verse 15,
But ye have not received the spirit of
bondage against a fear, but ye
have received the spirit of adoption whereby
we cry, Abba, Father.
So go back to Acts
if you would. Go to Acts chapter 10.
Acts chapter 10.
That's why it's important
that, you know, once we get people saved,
we motivate that as much,
we try to encourage that as much as possible.
What are we doing when we
try to get people to get baptized right away?
We're trying to motivate them to be led of the spirit.
And you can see the battle in them,
can't you?
Like, oh, what, are you just trying to peer pressure them?
Absolutely.
It is good, it is always
good to be zealously affected in the good thing.
And we zealously affect them
in a good way.
So when people have second doubts, like, oh, maybe
I should wait, I'll be like, why wait?
Well, I need clothes, we got shorts.
I need other things.
I'll give you a brand new First Work shirt
if you need one. Get baptized
today. I try to make it as easy as possible for
them to be led of the spirit.
You know what, every individual who gets saved
and they get baptized,
they're thankful they did it.
They're like, you know what, that was great.
And they have this sense of renewal.
Why? Because they're being led
of the spirit.
So look folks, I'm all for peer pressure when it comes to
baptisms.
Now obviously you don't want to peer pressure them where you just
like trip them up and just throw them in there or whatever.
Like, you don't want to
hold a gun to their head.
But I try to remove as many excuses as I
possibly can from that individual.
The ladies are like, well, you know, my hair
is like, we got a blow dryer.
We got cheap makeup in
the back. I'm just kidding.
We got anything you need.
All excuses removed.
Just do it.
Now obviously after that
they still have to make the
effort into walking
in the spirit.
But what
causes someone
to be placed in a position where
the spirit falls on them?
What is it? Well look at Acts chapter 10
verse 42.
Peter speaking
to Cornelius in his household
says, 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.
While Peter yet spake
these words, the Holy Ghost
fell on them which heard
the word. So what
helps the Holy Spirit to just fall upon
people and prepare people's hearts?
The word of God. It's when we're
preaching the word of God
unto them. Now obviously
you guys want to put this
on mute.
Obviously we need
to make sure that you know
we're preaching the word of God. We're giving them verses
and the person has to make sure that they're actually
ready to receive the word of God.
But if that's in place, we're in
place, the spirit will fall upon that individual.
Folks,
I'm sure the spirit falls upon individuals
every single service in this church.
But I'm sure the
spirit doesn't fall on some people.
Maybe because they're thinking about lunch,
they're thinking about their problems,
they're thinking about some stupid TV show that they want
to see after church.
They're thinking about, you know, their
girlfriend or their boyfriend
or when is church going to be over
and they're not minding
the things of the spirit. Not everyone
is right now.
But
I'm sure that certain individuals are like, well I'm ready to hear the
word of God and you know what? The spirit falls upon that
individual. You say, well
what now? Am I going to just do some great
exploit? Well yeah, how about the exploit of just obeying
God?
Because the carnal mind is not subject to the law of
God and neither indeed can be.
You can't obey God if you're not walking
in the spirit. So
for those people who are like, oh man I struggle so
much to just obey God and do what I'm supposed
to do. No, you're just struggling to just
think about being led of the spirit.
You need to be in the spirit and
everything will just take care of itself.
You know?
I struggle to read my Bible.
Well just open up your Bible, read it
and at that point you're being led of the spirit.
I just
struggle to pray. Well just pray real quick and then you
now are being led of the spirit.
I just struggle to go to church.
Well go to church
and lo and behold Eureka
you're being led of the spirit.
And folks, most
individuals who struggle to come to church because
they're just lazy or their hair hurts
or whatever, once they come to
church they're thankful they came.
You know why? Because you
are now led of the spirit because
you're here. The spirit
delights in the law of God
after the inward man
and now they're led of the spirit.
They often say, man I don't want to come to
church tonight but I'm thankful I came.
Yes the inward man is as thankful that you came.
You understand?
So but what I'm saying is this
is that you know the spirit falling
upon someone, an individual
is a result of preaching.
Right? Because that's what we see.
He's preaching the word of God into them.
They get saved and then what happens?
They're filled with the spirit. Okay?
It's likened to what we
see with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
Jesus Christ is preaching
to them and what do they say? They say
did not our hearts burn within us
while he walked with us by the way and why he opened
to us the scriptures?
Christian heartburn right?
He's like man we got excited over the things of God
but it's because he opened the Bible to us.
You know it's not an illustration
it's not some story
it's the scriptures.
It's the Bible that's being expounded
that fills people with the spirit of
God. Okay?
Look at chapter
let's see here
well actually chapter 11
we see the same thing
verse 15 as I began to speak
the Holy Ghost fell on
them as on us at
the beginning.
And I'm making a big deal about this because
I want our church to be a spirit filled
church right?
And you know we need to make sure
that we actually think about
these things and not just let them
bypass us and think well we're
just right with God we're just going to be fine.
No we actually need to put some thought into hey
when I wake up in the morning
I need to yield myself to God.
You know you wake up in the morning
and say Lord I want to die to
self today I want to be filled with the spirit
you get that Bible
and then you get that coffee
because they go hand in hand amen.
No amen is okay. Well that is for me okay
being led of the spirit for me is grabbing the coffee
and the Bible right? And you know you
read the word of God you pray
and you're just led of the spirit
look if you start off your day right
being led of the spirit
the rest of the day is going to take care of itself
because you're on the right path
but you know some of you moody people
out there you know you're so
cranky and grumpy
and no one can tell you anything because you probably
started off your day in the flesh
and then
you're just miserable the rest of the day and you make everyone's
life miserable around you because you're just in
the flesh. But you know
pleasant people are those people who are
led of the spirit they're walking in the
spirit and they're producing the fruit
of the spirit not them but the spirit itself is
producing the fruit of the spirit because they're walking in the spirit.
Look folks the longer you walk
in the spirit the more fruit the spirit will produce
in your life compassion love I mean all those
things are present when you're walking in the
spirit but the opportunities
throughout the day to express those virtues
will manifest itself more and more.
When you need to
exert compassion and love
and patience
and gentleness and meekness
all those things are readily available for you
when you are walking in the spirit
it's the situations that come up in your life
where you're given the opportunity to
actually display those fruits
okay
so you know hey
spirit fall on us
now that sounds kind of liberal
sometimes because the liberals have used that
in such a ridiculous way such a
stupid way but
folks what that means is this Lord just help me
listen to the word of God
help me to delight in the law of God
you know help me to love the Bible
help me to be spirit led
help me to focus on that which you would have for me
go back to
look at Acts chapter 11
a lot of problems
would be solved folks if we just
learned how to walk in the spirit
cause all the problems that we have in life
is because of the flesh
like all the problems that we have in our life is because of the
circumstances that are happening today
we're in California
folks we're in Goshen if we're in the spirit
we got nothing to worry about
I just
I just don't know what's going to happen
well why don't you go ahead and just walk in the spirit
and then everything will just be dandy
everything will be fine
you know
yeah but what's going to happen to you know
our country though and our state
and everyone's just like getting on California
and it's burning don't worry
Ben Shapiro the most wicked Jew
has left
hallelujah
this wicked
Christ hating Jew
known as Ben Shapiro
he left California
folks I just want to let you know I'm leaving California
I'm leaving California
and I'm moving you know to a red state
I'm going over to the Bible
and I'm just like yeah
no wonder the skies
have cleared up right
amen
cause he's gone
that's not very loving
folks I'm in the spirit right now
I'm walking in the spirit
anytime you hear me rip on Jews
just mark it down I'm spirit filled
at that point
it's true
look at verse 18
walk in the spirit folks
look at verse 18 it says when they heard
these things they held their peace
I mean what does that mean it means they shut up
what are they going to say
a bunch of people got saved and they're just like
what can we say right
and glorified God saying
then hath God also to the
Gentiles granted repentance into life
well duh
hello
sometimes I'm like
what do you mean
like he didn't grant it before
like Gentiles couldn't get saved before
this or something it was only Jews that could get saved
it's ridiculous
now let me spend some time on
verse 18
because I want to talk about this phrase
that God also to the Gentiles
granted repentance into life
and what I want to talk about
is this false doctrine of
unconditional election
by Calvinists
cause they'll use phrases like this to say see
God is the one who gives you the faith to believe
for by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourself
they claim that God is the one who gives the individual
the elect
you know the one that God chooses
he gives them the faith to believe in God
it's called unconditional election
like they have no choice but to want to just believe
that's what it means
it's just unconditional
so aside from the fact that they believe in this false doctrine
of the elect
meaning that God has chosen people for salvation
they cake on top of that
unconditional election
which basically means like
you know how do you know you're saved
well do you have a desire for God
well only saved people can have that
you know only the elect can have that desire
so you must be the elect
so they don't call upon the name of the Lord
it's just like if you're elect you've always been saved
you just come to the saving knowledge
you know once you realize that
but they'll use verses like this
where it says that God
that God has also
given to the Gentiles repentance into life
he's granted that to them
so you can kind of see how they can twist that
where he's like well I'm going to give you the ability
to believe
and let me just let
everyone know God has given everyone
the ability to believe
right?
just as
God takes away some people's ability
to believe
okay?
every individual starts
off with the ability to believe
sorry
circumcision
God has always granted repentance
unto life to the Gentiles
to everyone
he's the savior of all men but especially of them that believe
so everyone starts off with the ability
to believe but folks
some people just cross the line
like Ben Shapiro and they can no longer
believe
okay?
now how do we define what's being said here
well look at verse 20
actually verse 21 it says
by the way this doesn't say
you know repentance of sin
and the evidence of that is verse 21 where it says
they turn unto the Lord
okay? they basically stop
believing in whatever they're stop trusting whatever
they're believing in and believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ
now go to 2 Timothy chapter number 2 if you would
2 Timothy chapter
number 2
well how do you know this doesn't mean what they say
unconditional election he gives them the ability to
believe well
because of the fact that what it's
stating here first and foremost
this is someone speaking
it's not the Holy Ghost speaking here
that's not the narrator
so this is
someone of the circumcision
who's making that statement
that God has given the Gentiles
the ability to believe
so first and foremost this isn't God saying that
right? so if it's not God saying that
this is someone's opinion or someone's statement that they make
that's just untrue
and how do we know that?
because there's Gentiles even during Jesus' time
and even in the Old Testament
who are getting saved
they have that ability to believe
what this is referring to is the fact that
God gives people
He enlightens people
that's what that means
He gives them the ability
to believe yes
well that comes as a matter
that comes by them responding to the light that God gives them
because all of this is in context of who?
who is this in context of?
who's the individual who got saved?
Cornelius
and last week we talked about Cornelius
and how he responded to the light that God gave him
therefore we see that God
granted him repentance unto life
he was able to believe because of that
cause look
faith in Jesus Christ
the prerequisite to faith in Jesus Christ
is for people to just respond to the light that God gives them
that's how they come to that point where they can
trust Christ as their savior
I mean I met many people, myself included
who I knew the Bible said
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
but I didn't understand what that meant
I saw and I saw until a soul winner came
and expounded the word of God unto me
and showed me what that actually meant
and at that point I got saved
okay
look what it says in verse 25 of 2 Timothy chapter 2
verse 24 it says
if God peradventure will give them repentance
to the acknowledging
of the truth
what is that?
that's God enlightening people
to the truth
no no no no no
this means that God
is going to give them
he's elected them to believe
well look what it says in verse 26
that same group says that no one has free will
right?
the Calvinists say people don't have free will
well look at verse 26
so they get the acknowledging of the truth
so that they can recover
themselves
not God recovering them
they're recovering themselves
that's why the Bible calls us what?
overcomers
God obviously he overcame
but we overcome when we believe on Jesus Christ
right? what does it mean to overcome
by our faith
it means we recovered ourselves
from the snares of the devil
by how? by acknowledging
the truth and believing the truth
okay
who are taken captive
by him at his will now go to Hebrews chapter 6
Hebrews chapter 6
you know sometimes people wonder like
when does someone actually become a reprobate
and when we talk about reprobates
we're talking about people who have been rejected of God
the ability to believe is actually removed from them
okay
the Bible would call this ever learning
and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth
now it's interesting because we literally
today brother John and I were out soul winning
and uh
I saw this individual in a vehicle
and I went up and I handed that person
the invite and I was like
oh man this is a sodomite
this is
this this thing
is
is a sodomite
so you know and John just kind of like
backs away
he said what did you do
did you rebuke them did you walk away
I gave that person the full gospel
the entire gospel
let me explain to you why
because if they're sodomites
obviously I hate them
so you know what I just did I just damned them even more
and too I knew
well you know because I'm talking to this individual
this individual is like oh yeah I believe that
I believe that I believe that
I believe that and here's what I'm thinking
once we conclude this whole thing
they're going to say they don't believe any of it
because they can't believe
if it's a sodomite they're not capable of believing
you say well why waste your time
well to me it's just like
I just relocated that individual
to like a lower part of hell
is what I did because I just gave them more truth
you understand
so I'm giving them
the gospel and I'm already knowing like well
and that was thorough
I want to make sure that I just kind of like
like just
giving you the best seats
and I'm giving the gospel and they're like
yeah I agree with that I believe that
I agree with that I agree with that
so I'm about to finish and then literally this thing
just completely changes and says
well yeah I can't agree with all that
yeah exactly
I can't agree with all that
literally right isn't that what she said
or she or he or whatever it was
because I couldn't really tell because it looked like a she
but it had a mustache
so I didn't
so then I looked at this person
by the way like when I went through all the points
I'm talking about believing
you can't lose your salvation
and the thing was like yeah I believe that
that's so true hey that's true this and that
but then when we get to the final point
about getting saved
I tell it
or whatever it is I said hey do you understand
that what I just showed you is just different from what you
previously said
and they're like well I don't agree with that
I don't agree with it at all
and I wasn't like
what
I thought you
I thought you got saved
I thought you believed
I was just like man I was right
I already knew they weren't going to believe
I was like alright well here's the
here's the YouTube card watch it
you know
and I left and that was it
hey I will say this
when's the last time you heard the old IFB goal
you know they love the sodomites so much
hey here's a testimony old IFB
I actually gave them the full presentation
of the gospel
when's the last time they did that
they're so busy
defending them
they claim to love them so much
here you have
a sodomite hating pastor
who actually
went and actually preached the gospel possibly knowing
that this person was already a sodomite reprobate
you know
so what happened to that individual
well previous to that individual
being where they're at right now
as far as being a reprobate
they actually got to a point
in their life where someone gave them the gospel
and they just said I don't want it anymore
look what it says in Hebrew 6 verse 3
and this is what we do if God
permit for it is impossible
for those who are what once
enlightened
that is God giving them
granting them repentance unto life
it's like you're getting the truth
and have tasted of the heavenly gift
and were made partakers of
the Holy Ghost it's like they're right
at the edge of salvation
they are enlightened
they have the light they know what the Bible
says and they say no
no
and God says okay
you were once enlightened but now
you're going to be darkened
now you're going to be a reprobate you rejected
me even though I granted you
repentance unto life now
you will no longer be saved okay
go to Ephesians 4
Ephesians chapter 4
so obviously what this
individual said in Acts chapter 11
is not the Holy Ghost saying this
this is their own opinion
but let's say the Holy Ghost did say it
well it still can be proven by Scripture
that this is not teaching
unconditional election
okay
look what it says in Ephesians 4 verse
17 this I say therefore in testifying
the Lord
henceforth walk not as
other Gentiles walk in the
vanity of their minds so he's speaking
to Gentiles
telling them about other
Gentiles right
and he's saying look there's some Gentiles that are
just walking don't walk the way
they walk because they're walking in the vanity of their minds
having the understanding
darkened being alienated
from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness
of their heart this is referring
to a reprobate because
it's talking about that they're alienated
from the life of God that means they will no
longer they're foreigners to the life of God
they were granted
their repentance of the life they rejected
it now they're foreign to it now it's
alien to them
verse 19 who being past feeling had given themselves
over until the civviestness to work all uncleanness
with greediness but ye have
not so learned
Christ go back to Acts chapter number 11
if you would Acts chapter 11
so what does it mean when it says that he
granted them repentance unto life in other words
he gives them the opportunity to be saved
he gives them that enlightenment
they're able to make it
to that step where they're enlightened
they understand what's being spoken
they understand the word of God and they can be saved
okay it's not teaching
oh God just place faith
in them to believe
that's not what it means at all he gives them that
light
so that they can make the decision to believe
but it's not that he's giving them the faith
to believe okay
hope that made sense
I'm actually out of time
so from verses 19 all the way
to 30 what we see here is
Barnabas encouraging
the people to cleave unto the Lord
people believe and he encourages them hey cleave
unto the Lord you know make sure you
keep walking with God do that which is pleasing
we see at the end there's a dearth
a famine a prophet who prophesies
of this famine and then
they basically send relief
unto the brethren which dwells in Judea
because of it so if you get anything out of this
sermon get this just remember what
it is what it means to have the
Holy Spirit fall upon you
and don't allow
this watered down Christianity
to manipulate what that
actually looks like
you know today Christianity they see some
guy getting mad and rebuking people
there's oh you're not in the spirit
you're being too angry
well the spirit gets angry
the spirit gets mad
that's like
part of who the spirit is
you know the spirit this isn't
Star Wars
we're not Jedis
and the Holy Spirit is not Yoda
God the Father
is not Obi-Wan Kenobi as a ghost
figure telling
him not to hate
you that love the Lord hate evil the Bible says
that's how you walk in the spirit
so you know
and don't let these liberals
try to redefine it like oh
Holy Spirit fall upon us
so we can you know
dance to this CCM music
and all this stuff or whatever
no Holy Spirit fall on us
comes as the preaching of God's word is being
displayed it's being given out we adhere
to it we delight in it and we obey God
a result of that is obedience to God
a result of that to a newcomer
is that they get saved and what happens
they get baptized
a result of that after they get baptized
they come to church
a result of that after that is that
they gain friends they make fellowship
they apply the sermon
right?
you apply what I'm telling you right now
you know I'm going to start walking in the spirit
you're like well I'm not going to apply
that you know I don't really feel like it's for me
okay then be carnally minded then
that's the only other option
have the Holy Spirit fall
upon you by just going
after the Spirit not after the flesh
let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer Father we thank you so much for your word
we're thankful for the examples
that you give us in the book of Acts help us Lord as your people
to be filled with the Spirit
that we would go after the Spirit
the mind the things of the Spirit
and when we find ourselves
in the flesh maybe we're
upset maybe we are
afraid
maybe we are depressed
anxious
or just carnal just worldly
redirect our attention
and help us to recognize that we need
to be in the Spirit
and we need to draw nigh unto you the Bible says
draw nigh unto God he'll draw nigh unto you
and we typically
the way we draw nigh unto you is just by
cleansing our hands and our heart
and doing the things that are
pleasing to you and at that point
we recognize we've made the transition
from walking in the flesh to walking in the Spirit
and Lord help us to be
in the Spirit
thank you