Good evening, thank you so much for coming to Pure Words Baptist Church this evening.
If you would please take out your song books and turn to our first song this evening, 129,
129, Rock of Ages.
Song 129, Rock of Ages, there on the first, Rock of ages, clap for me, let me hide myself
in thee, let the water and the blood, from thy wounded side which float, be of sin the
double cure, save from wrath and make me pure, could my tears forever flow, could my zeal
no linger, no, these for sin could not atone, thou must save and thou alone, in my hand
no price I bring, simply to thy cross I cling, while I draw this bleeding breath, when my
eyes shall close in death, when I rise to worlds unknown, and behold, the on thy throne,
Rock of ages, clap for me, let me hide myself in thee.
Brother Mo, would you lead us in prayer this evening please?
Yes sir, dear Father God, thank you for this day, thank you for bringing everybody here
to hear your word preach, Lord, after this you fill us with your spirit so that we can
receive your word of gladness, and as there be no distractions in the congregation, we
are not ready to go past the shellies with your spirit and help you to preach the bold
and accurate song, in your name I pray, amen.
Amen.
Let's go to our next song, let's go to 100, or let's go to 205, 205.
He keeps me singing, song 205.
Song 205, he keeps me singing there in the verse.
There's within my heart a melody, Jesus whispers sweet and low,
Fear not, I am with thee, peace be still, In all of life's ebb and flow.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, Fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.
All my life was wrecked by sin and strife, Discord filled my heart with pain,
Jesus swept across the broken strings, Stirred the slumbering cords again.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know,
Fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.
Feasting on the riches of his grace, Resting neath his sheltering wing,
Always looking on his smiling face, That is why I shout and sing.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, Fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.
Though sometimes he leads through waters deep, Trials fall across the way,
Though sometimes the past seems rough and steep, See his footprints all the way.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, Fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.
Soon he's coming back to welcome me, Far beyond the starry sky.
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown, I shall reign with him on high.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know,
Fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.
Very good singing. If you need a bulletin, Brother Brandon can get you one. Just slip
your hand up real quick and he can get you one. On the inside we have our service and soul winning
times. Sunday mornings at 10 30, Sunday evenings at 5 30. We have a bible study on every Thursday.
We've been going through the book of Acts and tonight we're in Acts chapter number 10.
So it's a exciting book to go through. Also we have several soul winning times
that meet at the church. Also some regional times as well as our totals. Is there anything
to report for the last few days of soul winning that didn't already get counted just by chance?
Okay, keep up with the good work on soul winning. Also we have Romans chapter 8. We're doing a bible
memory passage. If you can quote the entire chapter you will receive a special prize. If
you can quote, if you're 18 or under and you can quote verse 5 you can receive an ice cream treat
at the bible study service which would be tonight. So if you're able to do that
just quote that to a non-family member. Also for our baby shower we had that this past Sunday.
Thanks for everyone who participated and helped with that and we have several other
ladies that are expecting. Please keep them all in your prayers. We have several there
as well as we have our prayer requests. You can submit those in. Brother Jeffrey didn't ask but
he just said he was he was sick tonight so he couldn't make it so I just figured we could pray
for him and for any of those that also weren't able to make it and so you can keep that on your
list. That's pretty much all I had for the announcements at this time. There is a sign-up
sheet for a men's conference so please make sure to fill that out and put your information on there.
Anyone, I don't know if we have anybody. It is open to every man and then ages 16 through 18
are still welcome to participate but they would need a guardian approval, an extra form to be
filled out but I don't know if we have anybody like that this year but if we did just as an FYI
so when you're filling out that information that's pretty much all I have. Let's go to our special
handouts and if you don't have one you should be able to find one somewhere around in one of the
chairs. We're going to do Psalm 67 or you could just follow along in your Bible Psalm 67. It's
a little bit easier if you have the handout. Psalm 67.
There in the verse. God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us
that thy way may be known upon earth thy saving out among all nations let the people praise thee
oh god let all the people praise thee oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy for thou
shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations upon earth the nations upon earth
let the people praise thee oh god let all the people praise thee oh let the nations be glad
and sing for joy then shall the earth yield her increase and god even our own god shall bless us
god shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him let the people praise thee oh god
let all the people praise thee oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy
very good singing at this time we'll turn our Bibles to Acts chapter number 10.
Brother Brannon is going to read for us and we'll pass the offering plate.
Acts chapter number 10. We'll read the entire chapter before our sermon.
All right, we're there in Acts chapter 10. The Bible reads,
There was a certain man in Caesarea called Tornelius, a centurion of the band called
the Italian band, a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which gave
much alms to the people and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour
of the day an angel of God coming into him and saying unto him, Cornelius, when he looked on him
he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are
come for a memorial before God and now send me to Joppa and call for one Simon whose surname is
Peter. He lodgeth with one Simon and a tanner whose house is by the seaside and shall tell
thee what thou oughtest to do. And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed,
he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of them that waited on him
continually. And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. On the
morrow, as they went on their journey and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went upon 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 and saw heaven above and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it
had been a great sheet knit in the four corners and let down to the earth wherein were all manner
of four footed beasts of the earth and the wild beast and creeping things and fowls of the air.
And there came a voice to him, rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, no, not so, for Lord,
for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again
the second time what God had cleansed that call not thou common, that this was done thrice,
the vessel were received up again into heaven. Now what Peter doubted in himself with the vision
which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry
for Simon's house and stood before the gate. And he called and asked whether Simon, which was
surnamed Peter, were lodged there, while Peter thought on the vision. The spirit said unto him,
behold, three men seek thee, arise therefore and get thee down and go with them, doubting nothing,
for I have sent them. Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius and
said, behold, I am whom you seek, which in the cause therefore ye are come. And they said,
Cornelius, the centurion, a just man and one that feareth God and of God in good report among all
the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send forth thee into the house
and to hear words of thee. Then called he them and lodged them, and on the morrow Peter went
away with them, and a certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him, and the morrow after they entered
into Caesarea, and Cornelius waited for them, and he called together his kinsmen and near friends.
And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped him,
but Peter took him up and saying, stand up, I myself also am a man. And as he talked with him,
he went in and bound many that were come together, and he said unto him,
you know how that is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come unto one
another nation, but God has showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for. I asked therefore for
what intent ye have sent for me. And Cornelius said, four days ago I was fasting until this hour,
and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold a man stood before me in bright clothing,
and said, Cornelius thy prayer is heard, and the alms are had in remembrance inside of God.
Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter, he lodged in the house of
one Simon Tanner, but by the seaside, when he cometh shall speak unto thee. Immediately therefore
I sent it to thee, and thou has well done thou that thou art come. Now therefore are we all there
present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. Then Peter opened his mouth
and said of truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he
that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word I say ye know,
which was published throughout all Judea and Judea, and began from Galilee from the baptism which
John preached. For God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, with the power, who went
about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. For God was with him,
and we are witnesses of all the things which he did both in the land of the Jews and the Jerusalem,
whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly,
not to all the people, but unto the witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat
and drink with him after and rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people,
and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. To him
gave 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 all them which heard
the word, and they of the circumcision which believed were astonished. And many as came with
Peter, because that one on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they
heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water that
these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as weep? And he commanded
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
Let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this night. We just, Lord, we thank
you for an opportunity to hear your word preached. God, we just pray that you just help us minimize
distractions. And once again, we just pray that you help. Pastor Shelley, we appreciate your bold
prayer. Amen. So I've been going through the book of Acts. And in the book of Acts, we kind of have
at the very beginning a lot of different characters that are kind of brought up and introduced to us.
And it kind of goes back and forth between a few different people. And we had been introduced to
Peter again in chapter number nine. It kind of focused on Paul or Saul as we know him in chapter
nine. And then it kind of went back to Peter and some of the works that Peter had done. And
we'd left off in chapter number nine where he had gone to Joppa. And then he'd done a couple
miracles. He had healed a few different people, Aeneas and Dorcas. And then also here in chapter
number 10, we see another instance of Peter and we see another man here. It starts out in verse
number one. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called
the Italian band. Now, you know, it's not a band in the sense of like a music band like we would
normally think, but this is talking about like a band in the in the regards of like a group of
an army, you know, a certain company or a certain amount of soldiers. And the centurions, basically
their leader, is the one over this particular group of soldiers. And it describes him in verse
two as a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people
and prayed to God always. So in Acts chapter number 10, it starts out, it's describing this
man Cornelius and it's saying he's in a position of leadership and he's kind of a leader and he
has this group of soldiers that are at his beck and call and he's over them. But it also talks
about the fact that he fears God. Now, some people would look at this story and they might think
that Cornelius is saved, but when you read chapter number 10 and chapter number 11, it's very clear
that Cornelius is not saved yet. But that does not mean he doesn't have a fear of God. And we have to
understand is there's a lot of people in this world who are not saved, yet they do have some
fear of God. They have a level of spirituality or they're religious. And basically the fact that
he's a devout man is just pointing the fact that this guy's very religious. You know, you can find
a lot of people, run into a lot of people who go to a church or they're involved in their church or
they're involved in spiritual things, they've read their Bible or they help people and do good
things, but they're just not saved. They're just not someone who's actually put all of their
faith in Jesus yet. They definitely are one who fears the Bible. You know, they have a lot of
beliefs in regards to they acknowledge certain facts about the Lord or about God and they
understand things about the Lord from a very carnal perspective, but they're just simply not
saved yet. And Cornelius is a picture of someone like that. Now, I've run into lots of people like
this outgoing soul winning and preaching the gospel or traveling to other countries
where I run into people and they're very religious. They're someone who fears God in the
sense that they have a fear of the Lord, but they're just simply not saved yet. And so this guy,
while being religious, while doing some good things theoretically, that doesn't save you and
that doesn't make you right with God. What makes you right with God is putting your faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it says in verse number three,
he saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming into him
and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid and said,
what is it, Lord? And he said unto him, thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial
before God. And now send men to Joppa and call for one Simon whose surname is Peter. He lodgeth
one Simon of Tanner whose house is by the seaside. He shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants
and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually. And when he had declared all these
things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. So now, Cornelius, he definitely has a desire,
though, to know the Lord or to seek the Lord. And because of that, because of his prayers,
God's end up sending him an angel through a vision and is telling him he needs to basically
get this preacher, Simon Peter, because notice his surname means last name. So Simon Peter is
why we call him Simon Peter. The Bible tells us his surname is Peter. His first name would be
Simon. And he's saying, you need to get this guy that's over in Joppa and have him come talk to
you guys. Now, what's important about this story and something that's really very clear in the
Bible is that God uses men to preach the gospel and to get people saved. I mean, isn't it in God's
capability that he could just literally descend from heaven and just appear before Cornelius and
get him saved if he wanted to? Or perhaps he could even use the angel itself to deliver the message
of the gospel. But rather, God would choose to have us be those vessels, be the ambassadors for
Christ, to go out and preach the gospel. And so the angel is telling Cornelius to seek for a man,
to seek for Peter to come unto him and to preach unto him. Now he doesn't even know exactly what's
going to be preached or what he's going to say, because it says in verse number six,
he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. And so Peter is going to give him instruction.
Cornelius doesn't even know what the instruction is exactly. He just knows that this guy's going
to give him some kind of instruction and that it's important. Now it says in verse number nine,
on the morrow, as they went on their journey and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon 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 and saw heaven open and a certain vessel
descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners and let down to the earth,
wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things
and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, rise Peter, kill and eat. Peter said,
not so Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. Now the Bible,
what's, what's great about the Bible and in this chapter is you kind of have all these different
things happening kind of simultaneously. And the Bible is just transitioning and telling us,
Hey, this guy Cornelius, he's been told by an angel to ask for Peter. And then it goes,
and it just basically zooms in on Peter for a moment here and tells us that Peter was going
up to pray is about the sixth hour, which means it would be at noon. Okay. So it's about lunchtime.
Peter's in the roof. He's praying. He has a vision as well. Now his vision is a little bit different.
Imagine a complete white sheet. And then all four corners are brought up to the top,
to where it's basically kind of a sack. And in that sack is all manner of beasts. So you have,
you know pigs and you have all kinds of other wild beasts and it has even potentially, you know,
clean beasts in here, but specifically it's going to be beasts that are unclean. That's being the
ethic, the emphasis here, because Peter is commanded by the Lord to kill these animals
and to eat them. Now it's a vision, obviously. So it's not literal. There's not literal animals
coming down from heaven. It's just a kind of a picture here. But Peter is not willing to do that
because he feels like it's a violation of God's commandments. Now, why would he say that?
Keep your finger here and go to Deuteronomy, chapter number 14, Deuteronomy, chapter number 14.
And we'll see what Peter is referencing here. But in the Old Testament, there were certain dietary
restrictions put on the children of Israel. And when God basically determined or explained
what they were allowed to eat and what they were not allowed to eat, he said they were allowed to
eat clean beasts or clean animals and they were not allowed to eat unclean beasts or unclean
animals. Now it says in Deuteronomy, chapter number 14, it says in verse number three,
thou shall not eat any abominable thing. These are the beasts which he shall eat,
the ox, the sheep, and the goat, the heart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild
goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. That's actually how he says that word
right there. And every beast that parteth the hoof and cleaveth the cleft into two claws and
cheweth the cud among the beasts that ye shall eat. Verse seven, nevertheless, these ye shall
not eat of them that chew the cud or of them that divide the cloven hoof as the camel and the hare
and the coney for they chew the cud but divide not the hoof therefore they are unclean unto you
and the swine because it divided the hoof yet cheweth not the cud it is unclean unto you ye
shall not eat of their flesh nor touch their dead carcass these ye shall eat of all and then he goes
into water animals and birds but in this sheet this sheet that's knit in the four corners and
it's coming down having beasts what we have expected to see in there the camel you know the
hare what's the hare hare is rabbits so you see rabbits camels you also see a coney you see a
swine and peter looking at those animals and the lord telling him you know rise kill and eat he's
saying well i can't eat that these are unclean beasts these are common beasts and he's saying
this is something that you know would be a violation of basically moses commandments here
okay and so peter is genuinely confused and the reality is even if you go to libytics chapter 18
it gives you another list it's very similar but the reality is god gave us all these commandments
not just for carnal means but also for spiritual means but the carnal truth here is that these
animals were supposed to be off limits in the old testament but in the new testament there's going
to be a change where they can eat these animals go back and look at verse number 15 says in verse
number 15 and the voice spake unto him again the second time what god hath cleansed that call
not thou common now it also says verse 16 this was done thrice and the vessel was received up again
into heaven so god even has to do it to peter multiple times peter's kind of thick you know
peter always takes lots of times the lord you know is like love us thou me more than these and
he's like yeah lord thou knowest that i love thee and he asked him three different times he said
feed my sheep feed my sheep feed my lambs and peter constantly has to get the same message over and
over again and really i've noticed that's the same with most people most people kind of need the same
thing over and over and over again and then sometimes they still don't get the message they
still have problems understanding things but peter you know is basically going through this
transition not understanding necessarily all of the doctrine of the new testament yet but the
apostle paul writes on this very specific subject keep your finger here again because we're going
to always come back here but go to first timothy chapter number four now go to first timothy chapter
number four now god said if he had cleansed something that he was not supposed to call it
so god's giving a picture of an animal having been cleansed
and so it would no longer be unclean it says in first timothy chapter number four
let's read in verse number one the bible says now the spirit speak it expressly
that in latter times some should apart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisy having their conscience seared with the hot iron
forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which god hath created to be received
with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth for every creature of god is good
and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the word of
god and prayer he says if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things thou shalt be a
good minister of jesus christ nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine
wherein to thou hast attained so according to the bible all the creatures in the new testament
are available for consumption they're available for us to eat and god says here that he sanctifies
it with his word now what does sanctify sanctify pictures being set apart being made holy or being
made clean okay and so god actually cleanses these things through his word therefore every
creature of god is good because bacon is good to consume okay and you know you say well i'm
worried about that well just pray and god will clean it up for you know sausage or or whatever
it is i've had rabbit and it tasted okay it wasn't like that great but i mean you know these beasts
are according to the bible good you know and i like the land beast better than the ones in the
sea all right so i'm not i'm for the real chicken not the chicken of the sea okay i do eat tuna
though but but what's the carnal truth here what's the carnal physical truth here the physical truth
is now in the new testament they're actually allowed to eat uh meat that is considered unclean
according to the old testament law and according to what moses had said because god has now
cleansed it up now here you ask this question like why would god have had a restriction on
certain meats in the old testament and then all of a sudden lifted that in the new testament well
in fact if you go all the way back to genesis chapter number nine moses was also commanded
that he was allowed to eat any of the beast all meat so actually went from all meat to a very
limited number of meats or animals that could be eaten all the way back again to everything
so this is a very circumstantial uh commandment that's given and what if you have what you have
to understand is some commandments in the bible in the old testament were not inherently sinful
but rather they were given to picture things that are spiritual to picture christ or to picture
things that are going to happen in the new testament so for example they had to offer a
lamb as a sacrifice yet there was nothing about that physically that was special it was a spiritual
symbol of christ coming and him being the lamb of god and him taking away the sins of the world
but killing that lamb was not going to actually get them right with god it was not going to
technically justify them in the sight of god they had that forgiveness of sins through the true lamb
of god which is jesus christ and they could perform all those sacrifices exactly like god
commanded trying to be righteous according to the law but they would never attain under the
righteousness of the law because the bible says for all of sin and comes short of the glory of
god and the bible even tells us in acts chapter number 13 look at acts chapter 13 for a second
just flip the page it says in verse number 38 be it known unto you therefore men and brethren
that through this man talking of jesus christ is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins
and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified
by the law of nozas so according to the bible you can't be righteous or in god's sight perfected
through the sacrifices of the old testament so then you have to ask this question okay and i'm
not going to go through all of the old testament pictures here but let's focus on the meats what
is the purpose of the meats what is the purpose of him giving us this picture well it's the picture
the difference between the gentile and the jew in the old testament and specifically in the new
testament the unsaved versus the saved okay and he's gonna get finally peter's gonna figure this
out here in a moment but we have to understand the carnal truth to understand the spiritual truth
so if god has taken an unclean meat and cleansed it up it's wrong to call that unclean in the same
way if a gentile is going to end up getting saved and he's now right with god it would be wrong to
then look down upon him or call him unclean or common in some way god is not a respecter of
persons now we're going to see this proven in the bible look at it says in verse number 17
now while peter doubted in himself with this vision which he had seen should mean behold the
men which were sent from cornelius had made inquiry for simon's house and stood before
the gate and called and asked whether simon which was surname peter were lodged there
while peter thought on the vision the spirit said on him behold three men seek thee arise therefore
and get thee down and go with them doubting nothing for i have sent them then peter went
down to the men which were sent unto him from cornelius and said behold i am he whom you seek
what is the cause therefore wherefore ye are come and they said cornelius is interior and a just man
and one that fearth god and of good report among all the nation of the jews was warned from god
by a holy angel to send for thee into his house notice this and to hear words of thee now i think
we could look at a couple things that happen in this story first of all it's this is happening
simultaneously so so peter is up here he's having this vision he has the unclean beast come and how
many times did the unclean beast basically descend and go back up the bible says in verse number 16
this was done what thrice exactly right then immediately what happens three gentiles show up
automatically and god's like go with these guys so obviously this picture is picturing what what's
about to happen and peter could have looked at these three gentiles and called them what unclean
or common and wanted to have nothing to do with them but the lord is saying nope you need to go
and follow and be with these guys and what i like this what i like said here in verse number 22
is that the angel had sent unto them and he says to hear words of thee so they want to hear what
peter has to say peter has something important to say he's the man of god and so they want to go and
hear from this man of god now it says in verse number 23 then called them in and lodged them and
on the morrow peter went away with them and certain brethren from japa accompanied him
and on the morrow after they were entered into cesarea and cornelius waited for them
and had called together his kinsmen and near friends and as peter was coming in cornelius
met him and fell down on his feet and worshipped him but peter took him up saying stand up i myself
also am a man now this is a very important verse and it's very interesting i don't want
to pause here and then we'll kind of continue with our dialogue but
i love the fact that this is peter okay and let me explain why for a moment what happens
well peter sent for he comes in they have a big group waiting for him to basically hear what he
has to say and as soon as he comes in cornelius worships him now what do we think of when we
think of worship we could think of a lot of different things you know the charismatics think
worships like you know they're getting all excited but what the bible means by worship
is really just prostrating yourself you know getting down on your knees or or getting down
before someone and basically doing some kind of a physical prostration or a physical getting down
and worshipping someone in a physical means that's what it means he's getting down and he's
acting as if peter is more worthy than him or better than him or someone to be worshipped
essentially now this has happened in the new testament jesus christ had people come and worship
him now what does that mean they were getting on their knees they were bowing down they were
showing reverence and respect unto jesus christ and jesus christ accepted that jesus christ never
told anybody you know uh that's not acceptable or don't get that you're not allowed to worship me
here why is he allowed to accept worship because he's god and the other thing the only person that
is allowed to accept worship is god no man should accept worship and if a man that's a real man of
god sees someone worshiping them in a physical in a physical way they should tell that person to get
up and say hey don't worship me okay now let me prove to you this in the bible go to matthew
chapter number four for a moment go to matthew chapter number four for a moment
and the bible is going to explain to us kind of in a sense what worship means because in luke
chapter four and other places there are parallel passages the bible has this uh story of what
happened when the devil tempted jesus in the wilderness and the bible says there was a couple
different things that the devil did but one of them specifically was that the devil wanted jesus
to worship the devil now in matthew chapter number four it explains this look what it says in matthew
chapter four verse number eight again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and
show them all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and saith unto him all these things
will i give thee notice this if thou wilt fall down and worship me then saith jesus unto him
get thee hence satan for it is written thou shalt worship the lord thy god and him only
shalt thou serve so what's jesus christ's response to worshiping someone other than god
no he rebukes the devil he tells the devil to go away why because the only person that should
accept worship ever is god god is the only person that is acceptable to receive any kind of worship
go to revelation chapter 19 let me show you this again and another place revelation
chapter number 19 let's show you another place in the bible and look at verse number 10 revelation
chapter number 19 and look at verse number 10 the bible says and i fell at his feet to worship him
and he said unto me see thou do it not i am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren that have the
testimony of jesus worship god for the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy so we have a
story in revelation where there's an angel showing john certain things and certain basically future
prophecies and all kinds of wonders and all these fantastic things and at it's so incredible and the
prophecy that this angel is giving to him is so you know basically marvelous that john ends up
falling down to worship this guy and this guy's like whoa stand up you know he's like no he said
see thou do it not i am thy fellow servant he says what worship god because the only person
that should receive any kind of worship is god okay now keeping that in mind go to revelation
chapter five now go to revelation chapter number five and we'll see another verse here in the bible
and it says in verse number let's let's let's go to verse number six the bible says and i be
held and lo in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts and in the midst of the other
stood a lamb as it if had been slain having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits
of god sent forth into all the earth now the bible in chapter five has a someone sitting on the
throne they have a book no one's able to open the book and the lion of the tribe of judah comes and
takes that book out of the person that's sitting on the throne's hand and it says in verse number
seven he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the upon the throne and
when he had taken the book the four beasts and four and twenty elders notice this fell down
before the lamb having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors which are the
prayers of saints and they sung a new song saying thou art worthy to take the book and to open the
seals thereof for thou was slain and has redeemed us to god by thy blood out of every kindred and
tongue and people and nation and has made us unto our god kings and priests and we shall reign on
the earth and i beheld and i heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts
and the elders and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of
thousands saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing and every creature which is in heaven
and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them heard i
saying blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him notice this that sit upon the throne
and unto the lamb forever and ever and the four beasts said amen and the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever now this is an incredible chapter of
the bible why because we see a person seated on the throne who is none other than what god the
father and then we have the lamb who takes that book out of the hand of god the father
and that's none other than what the lord jesus christ and we see them fall down before him
we see them then singing songs of praise unto who god the father and to the lamb and they worship
him and basically they're everyone i mean it's saying like every creature it's in heaven earth
under the earth and the sea it's like all of them are singing praises onto the lamb that was slain
which is jesus christ and unto him that sitteth on the throne which is god the father illustrating
what the only person worthy of praise is jesus christ and that jesus christ is god because if the
only person that's allowed to be worshipped is god and jesus christ is in the presence of god
being worshipped that's because he is god okay they're both god there's one god and he's made
up of the father son and the holy ghost so it's acceptable to worship the father son and the holy
to worship the father son and the holy ghost but other than that there is no acceptable
worship now why do i bring this up well it's interesting because catholics they believe
that peter is the first pope okay that is part of catholic doctrine that peter is their first
pope and that all the post-fall lineage from peter himself but what's interesting is the catholics
worship the pope and they literally will fall down i mean you could find all kinds of images
and pictures of people literally getting down on their knees laying down and worshipping the pope
literally well if peter is their iconic example of what the pope is supposed to be like the pope
would be lifting people up and telling them to stand up and telling them to worship god alone
that's what they would be doing i found a website called catholic rebuttals.com okay this is where
they answer some of the questions that people ask in catholics and here's the here's the uh
article's title was catholics worship a man in rome okay that's the basically what people say and
they're trying to rebut this and they say well we worship jesus christ through papal guidance now
they bring up a lot of different verses in the bible uh even though they kind of their version
is saying things a little bit differently and they're trying to say well you know first timothy
chapter five says you know let the elders who will rule well be counted worthy of double honor
okay well let's go to that verse let's go to first timothy chapter number five
and let's look at verse number 17 because they're saying hey you know it's okay we're worshiping
jesus by worshiping the pope is basically what they're saying okay is the the essence of what
they're trying to basically use as a rebuttal to their argument well first timothy chapter
number five verse 17 says let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor
especially they who labor in the word and doctrine now here's the thing what does the word
honor mean in this chapter okay well look at verse number three honor widows that are widows
indeed so if a woman's a widow do we now need to get down and worship them that's not what honor
means in this in this context now what does it say in verse number five now she that has a widow
indeed and desolate trusted in god and continues in supplications and prayers not in day but she
that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth and these things given charge they may be blameless
but if any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own house he hath denied the
faith and is worse than an infidel so according to the bible if you're not willing to provide
for your household or to provide for the widows that are your you know grandmother mother aunt
whatever then you are worse than an infidel according to the bible it even says in verse
number 16 if any man or woman that believeth have widows let them relieve them and let
not the church be charged that it may relieve them that are widows indeed so according to the bible
a widow indeed the church would financially pay them would basically pay their bills would help
assist them but they have to meet certain qualifications they have to be above the age of
60 they have to have been well reported of good works and they relieved the afflicted and washed
the saint's feet and done all these uh basically works for the church and if she's done that then
the bible says that the church should be willing to pay their bills pay and give them money to
assist them if they have no one in their family that can possibly do it so basically a woman who
serves god her whole life she's in the church and her husband dies and she's older than 60 and she
doesn't have any kids or grandkids to take care of her well since she's invested so much in the
church the church should be willing to pay her back but in the same context and then it says
uh in verse number 17 again let the elders that rule well be kind of worthy of double honor so
what does that mean that means the the pastors the leaders in the church they are supposed to
get paid by the church and not just paid doubly they should be they're worthy to take up a double
paycheck or whatever that would be for the work that they're doing in the church it says in verse
18 for the scripture saith thou shall not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn and the labor
is worthy of his reward now is this saying that because the elder or the pastor is getting paid
by the church you now need to worship him too whoa not at all that's completely different it's
saying where is this guy going to get a paycheck from from the church that has nothing to do with
you falling down and worshiping somebody but this is the type of arguments that the catholic church
is using not even thinking about the context not even thinking about what the bible is actually
saying now this is what they say in this article because they give a bunch of verses and then they
quote uh ignatius of antioc which is kind of meaningless but then they say in other words
the community of believers referenced here is the structure of the catholic church
and it says the ordained bishops and priests of the church understand that christ is the highest
priest so that by keeping the traditions of the church he is made visible it is clear that those
who are servants of the gospel deserve our highest respect and a share of material resources tithing
and that was you know proved positive first timothy chapter five but he says the catholic
church neither holds up the pope higher than jesus nor does it teach to do so therefore it
is not the chair of peter but the throne of god that we are honoring we honor these men because
of the office they hold and being our spiritual fathers as paul states in first timothy 517
we hold them in high regard because they point the way to christ the body of christ the church
respects these men of honor and we should too after all they are the best examples on earth
to what it means to be christlike so he says or this article says that first timothy chapter
five verse 17 what we already read calls the pastor's fathers now where did it say that
my bible doesn't say that and in fact my bible makes it clear that you should never call someone
a father on this earth go to matthew chapter number 23 go to matthew chapter 23 and a spiritual
sense now obviously you would call your literal dad father okay in a carnal sense in a physical
sense there's nothing wrong with calling your dad father or saying this is my father this is my
mother but the bible has a certain spiritual term a spiritual title that is not authorized to be used
by any man for any reason look at matthew 23 and look at verse number two now this is interesting
says saying the scribes and the pharisees sit in moses seat now he's saying that basically moses
was the leader he was the the authoritarian and the scribes and pharisees have now fallen that
principle they fall in that lineage and they're in that type of position they're in that type
of leadership just like the catholic church is claiming that they're sitting in peter's seat
because they're saying the pope is sitting in peter's seat like the scribes and pharisees are
sitting in moses seat but here's the thing even if that's true which is not true okay it's not
true that they're sitting in peter's seat but the scribes and pharisees are sitting in moses seat
but even though they are does that make them right does that make them right with god does that make
them uh a saved person no in fact we see that the chief priests and a lot of the the sadducees
They didn't even believe in Christ, they killed Christ, they crucified Christ, they wanted
nothing to do with Christ.
So just like they are wrong, it's feasible and reasonable to think that even the person
sitting in Peter's seat could be wrong, could have major problems.
But I would still submit to you that the Catholic Church is not a lineage after Peter, okay?
I do not believe that for one second, even though they claim that.
But even if it was true, it would not, by any means, prove that they're right with
God or in good standing with the Lord or saved or anything like that.
Just like the Pharisees and scribes here are wicked reprobates that hate the Lord.
But look what it says in verse number six, this is talking about the scribes and Pharisees,
they love the uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues and in greetings
in the markets to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Look what Jesus says, but be ye not called Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ,
and all ye are brethren, and call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your
father which is in heaven, neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, even Christ.
So notice the Bible makes it very clear, Jesus made it super clear, you should never call
someone father, yet you go and you talk to a Catholic and what do they say?
Oh, Father Thomas and Father Larry and Father so and so and Papa Pope, I mean that's what
Pope means is Papa, Father, and they're saying, oh Catholic brothers, hey, first Timothy five
says they're our fathers, no, wrong, that is a false doctrine and we should never be
calling people father.
You know, I'm not your father, I'm your brother, okay, if you're saved and I'm saved then we're
brothers in Christ, we're not, I'm not your father or anything like that.
Now, the apostle Paul does talk about, you know, Timothy being his son, but that's in
the sense of what?
He's guiding him, he's leading him, he's teaching him and basically he's encouraging him, but
again, it would be wrong to call, look at someone and say like, you're my spiritual
father or call Father Shelley, you know, that would be wrong, unless you're my literal son,
don't call me father, okay, that's just not an appropriate title and someone that does
that should be corrected and be told, no, that is wrong, you shouldn't accept any kind
of worship like that and in fact, Catholics not only call their leaders, archbishops and
bishops and everything like that, father, but they call the pope Holy Father, now that's
an even worse title, go to John chapter 17 for a moment, go to John chapter 17, Holy
Father is a very specific title to none other than God the father, okay, and this is a very
specific name for him alone and it's really one of the most ultimate blasphemous things
that you could do is to look at a man, especially the pope and call him Holy Father, they say,
oh, this guy is the best example, what it's like to be Christ like, wrong, a bunch of
pedophiles in the Catholic church, a bunch of false prophets teaching false doctrine,
a bunch of idolaters, idolatry is not even allowed in the church, yet you go to the Catholic
church and it's filled with idols, it's filled with statues and you know what, the Bible
says that those statues, while meaningless from a physical sense, you know what, they're
pictures of devils and that they sacrifice, they sacrifice unto devils and what they're
praying to and worshiping are devils today, you should never have these statues, you should
never look at them with any kind of respect, they should be destroyed, yet the Catholic
church is filled with idols, it's filled with graven images and images of Mary and all these
things but it's really just devils that are behind that and influencing them to do that
and there's nothing holy about the pope, the pope is a wicked anti-Christ, he tries
to put himself in the position of Christ and claim to be Christ, the vicar of Christ, you
know, in the place of Christ on this earth and there's a lot of horrible things about
the Catholic, this is not a sermon against the Catholic church entirely, it's just specifically
about these subjects that are being brought up but there's such a great example of someone
violating these verses, now look at John chapter 17 verse 11, the Bible says this, and now
I'm no more in the world but these are in the world and I come to thee, notice this,
holy father, keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me that they may be one
as we are, now here's the thing, Jesus Christ when he's praying to God the father, what
does he call him?
Holy father, okay and then he says something very specific, keep through thine own name,
so he's saying this is thy name, he's saying like this is your name, okay, whom thou has
given me and then he says that they may be one as we are, now some people make this weird
doctrine out of the fact that the Bible say like in 1 John chapter 5 verse 7, for there
are three that bear record in heaven, the father, the word and the holy ghost and these
three are one and then they'll add words to the word one there, they'll say like one person
but here's the thing, we believe in the trinity here because we actually believe the Bible
and that would be a wrong doctrine to say they're one person because if every time the
Bible says when Jesus is talking about the father saying that they're one means one person
then that would mean we're also the same one person with God because notice what he's saying
that they, talking about us, may be one as we are, so are we God now, unless we're God,
you have to reject the idea that the oneness here being referred to is in reference to
being one person, what is the one mean, it's unity, it's always unity in the Bible whenever
you look up one, whenever he says that I and my father are one or it says these three are
one or it's saying here that they may be one as we are, it's saying unified where there's
no division, there's no schism where you're in lock step, you have the same vision, everything
is unified in perfect unison, that's what the one is in reference to. Now I brought
up this fact that he says Jesus is saying that the father kept them in thy name, now
look at chapter 16 and notice this, this is kind of an interesting thing to look at, but
it says in verse number 22, and you now therefore have sorrow but I will see you again and your
heart shall rejoice and your joy no man taketh from you and in that day ye shall ask me
nothing, verily verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name he will
give it you, hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name, ask and ye shall receive that
your joy may be full. Now these are kind of a few verses that I think the first time you
read it it's kind of confusing what he's saying, but let's slow down and think about what he's
saying. What is he talking about he's saying in that day? He's talking about the fact that
after Christ has died and has risen again and ascends back up unto the father, he's
not going to be physically there with them. So no longer when they have a question are
they going to have Jesus right there to just ask him questions, who are they going to have
to pray to? Who are they going to have to talk to and ask to? The father, that's the
only person that they can ask and he says in verse 23 whatsoever ye shall ask, notice
this, the father in my name he will give it you. So notice whenever they are going to
pray in the future what are they supposed to pray? They pray to God the father and ask
everything in what? In Jesus name and he's not saying I'm going to give it to you he's
saying the father is going to give it to you because you're asking in my name specifically
and then he says in verse 24 hitherto meaning up to this point have you asked nothing in
my name? Now this is an interesting thing ask and ye shall receive that your joy may
be full. What is he saying here? He's saying up to this point in time whenever they prayed
did they pray in Jesus name? The answer is no. Think about the Lord's prayer. Father
which art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Now at the end of that prayer are they saying
in Jesus name? No they're just praying to the father. So he's just saying up to this
point before Jesus everybody just prayed to the father. They would just pray and they
would pray in the heavenly father's name or holy father's name but they weren't praying
in Jesus name but he's saying after the death, burn, resurrection now you're going to be
praying to the father and asking in my name. Basically giving reverence and respect unto
Jesus Christ. Now why do I bring that up? Because here's the thing that means that Jesus
and holy father are different names for different persons. That is the only way that this verse
can be true because notice what he's saying hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name.
What does that mean? That means that the name holy father is not Jesus name. He doesn't
have that name. God the father has that name and the father doesn't have the name Jesus.
The son has the name Jesus. Why? Because they're two different persons with two different names.
Some names they share. They both share God. You could both look at Jesus and God the father
and call them God. You could look at both of them and call them ancient of days. You
could call them the Lord of lords. You could call them the king of kings. You could call
them the God of gods. They're both in a lot of ways having the same name but they have
a distinct name too. What's that distinct name? Holy father for God the father or just
God the father or specifically Jesus Christ or the Christ. Those are names specifically
to the son. They're names specifically to the father and then there's names specifically
to what? The Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit. They have distinct names. This is the same
way in your family. I could be called Shelly. My dad could be called Shelly. My grandpa
every time I went and played golf they called him Shelly. It would always freak me out because
I'd be on the golf course and they'd be like hey Shelly and I'd turn around thinking they're
talking to me but they're talking to my grandpa. They're talking to him but here's the thing.
My grandpa his name was Robert. If you say Robert I'm not going to be like yeah what's
up. My dad's name is Trey. Trey. Whatever. But if he said Jonathan I would be like okay
that's me. Notice I have a distinct name and then I have a shared name. The same is with
Jesus Christ and God the Father and the Holy Ghost. They have distinct names and they have
shared names. So then whenever Jesus Christ is bringing up call no man father for one
is your father which is in heaven. He's saying that's off limits. That's to who? To God the
Father. So why in the world would we sit here and call the Pope Holy Father or worship the
Pope or get down on our knees. Hey if you really want to be like Peter pick people up
off the ground and stop letting him call you father or pope or whatever it's wicked
it's blasphemy and it should be rebuked for the blasphemy that it is. Go back to Acts
chapter number 10. Acts chapter number 10. That's why I love the fact that it's Peter
because they love to claim their lineage from Peter but then we see Peter has such a great
attitude here and is rebuking someone for getting down and worshipping or prostrating
themselves or bowing down in some kind of a sense. Look what it says in verse number
27. And as he talked with them he went in and found many that were come together and
he said to them you know how that is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company
or to come unto one of another nation. But God has showed me that I should not call any
man common or unclean. So at this point Peter figures it out doesn't he. Peter figures out
what that whole vision was about. He was saying you know what it wasn't about the animals
only. Now it was in the sense that it was a carnal truth. The carnal truth is in the
New Testament. All manner of beasts are sanctified by the word of God and can be consumed. But
the spiritual truth that we can take from that is the fact that Gentiles can be cleansed
by God and that there's no distinction anymore between Jew and Gentile. That God's not a
respecter of persons and that it would be wrong for Peter to reject Gentiles or not
be willing to be in company with Gentiles. Verse 29 therefore came I unto you without
gains saying as soon as I was sent for I asked therefore for what intent he has sent for
me. Now I like this verse too because Peter says this without gains saying. Now what I
like about this is gains saying is basically you know trying to argue be argumentative
or basically resistant or talking back or you know basically not necessarily immediately
agreeing. But he didn't do it with any gains saying. He wasn't going to argue. He's just
going to immediately go. Now he did gains say a little bit when the Lord told him to
rise kill and eat. He's like you know I'm not allowed to eat this. You know I've never
touched anything. But as soon as he said go with these guys he just went. And this is
a picture and he didn't even know why. He didn't know where he was going to who he's
going to talk to he didn't know what he was going to say. He's like why am I even here.
I don't even know. And here's the thing. This is called walking by faith. Walking by faith.
What does walking by faith mean. It means sometimes you don't know how things are going
to work out. You don't know what's going to end up happening. You don't know how the Lord
is going to take care of you provide. Yet you see his clear commandment and you decide
to just go ahead and obey it. Some people will look at God's commandments and they know
what they should be doing but they can't figure out how that's going to work. They say I'm
supposed to just have as many kids as God will give me. It's like how am I going to
pay for that. It's like you don't know. I don't know. But if you just keep having them
then the Lord will figure out a way. You know you say well I go to church put God first
how's that going to work. How am I going to be able to provide for my family if I'm putting
church first and I'm reading my Bible and I'm going soul winning and doing these things.
Sometimes you could have this temptation or this fear of following God's commandments.
Couldn't Peter have thought why would I go with the Gentiles and talk to these random
guys and what's going to happen. But you know what he just said God told me to do it so
I'm going to do it. You know what there can be a temptation in this world to stop serving
God and say well I don't see how that's going to work out. I don't see how my life's going
to be better. I don't see how I'm going to find a godly spouse. Some people are afraid
if they serve God they won't get married. It's like what in the world. Or they think
if they serve God they're not going to have their needs provided for. If they serve God
they're not going to have any fun. They're like oh man I'm going to miss out on all the
fun stuff that's out there and all the cool things. And they think that sin is fun today.
But let me tell you something we walk by faith not by sight. And there's the deceitfulness
of riches and the cares of these world and there's tons of people that are forsaking
church and let me tell you something they're not happier. They're not having a good time.
They're not enjoying their life. They're not looking back. The people that are backslidden
they're not looking and saying oh I'm so glad I finally got out of church. That was such
a drag. You know what they think they wake up and they feel bad every single day that
they're not right with God. You know what that guilty conscience is not worth it. There's
been many a time in my life I mean we all do it. We sin or we do wrong or we're not
doing something right. And you know what that guilty conscience is way worse than ever
just doing that which is right. Going through life and thinking man I wish I had done this.
I wish I'd gone to church. I wish I had gone and preached the gospel. I wish I had done
all these things for the Lord. And you know what? At the end of the day you can only pick
to choose to walk by faith or by sight. You don't know what's going to happen. I don't
know what's going to happen. And when you think you're walking by sight it's usually
not going to work out the way you thought anyways. You might as well just walk the way
the Lord's telling you to go. It's going to work out so much better. And I love Peter's
attitude here. He says I didn't argue with the Lord. I didn't see the God's commandment
to go out and preach the gospel and say apartment manager. But it's hot. It's humid. Houston's
pretty humid. But no you just go. Hey just go to church. Hey just read the Bible. Hey
just follow God's commandment. Just do right quick gainsaying and just do it. And you know
what? This is going to end up being a great story for Peter. Verse number 29 or verse
number 30. And Cornelius said four days ago I was fasting until this hour and at the ninth
hour I prayed in my house and behold a man stood before me in bright clothing and said
Cornelius thy prayer is heard and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God
their sin therefore to Joppa and call either Simon whose surname is Peter. They just keep
him in that surname. I don't know. He is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner
by the seaside who when he cometh shall speak unto thee. Immediately therefore I sent to
thee and thou has well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present
before God to hear all things that are commanded be of God. You know what the God who does
some more Cornelius is and his friends and his servants today that say you know what
we all showed up to hear what Peter has to say. And you know what we want to hear all
that you have to say Peter. You know what wonder God there be more people that are interested
in hearing the things from the man of God today but you know what they'd rather hear
anything else. They'd rather hear the filth of music today. They'd rather hear CNN. They'd
rather hear the football game announcer. They'd rather hear the opinion of someone else or
anything else. You know we need some Cornelius today that say I want to hear what the man
of God has to say. Hey I want to hear what church has for me today. Hey and even if you
say well the man of God is that a pastor. Hey it's the guy that's getting by in the
pulpit and preaching the word of God. That's the man of God. A man getting up open his
mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel getting up and preaching all the
truths of the Bible. The Bible says preach the word. The Bible says that all scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. The Bible makes it clear that
there was lots of men that were not pastors that got up and preached powerful sermons
that did great things for the Lord. And you know what we need people whose heart is interested
in the things of God and hearing what God has to say rather than the things of this
world. When Jesus got up and preached the long sermon what happened? Everybody left.
He looked at his disciples and he said will you go away also? And they said to whom shall
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. He's saying where am I going to go? Hey someone
that's interested in the things of God they need to get into church and hear what the
man of God has to say. Hear what the pastor, the preacher, whoever is getting up the evangelist
or the deacon, whoever it is getting up and preaching the word of God. There's nothing
more important in your life than hearing from God and you know what you can hear from God
through the man of God. Look what he says in verse number 33. Therefore are we all here
present, notice this, before God. He's not saying hey we just showed up to hear you preach.
He's saying we're here with God. God is here. Hey and God is in the presence. When two or
three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst. And you know what we have
God with us here today. It's called the King James Bible, the word of God and whenever
someone is opening it up and preaching it unto you, you should respect that. It's sad
and it's sick today when we go out and preach the gospel and we knock on doors and people
that claim to be saved or even are saved, they get mad at you for wanting to preach
the gospel. They get irritated. People are like oh I'm already saved, I don't know why
you're here trying to preach to me, I don't want to hear, I don't have time, you guys
are rude, you didn't smile at me enough, why did you step on my sidewalk like that? People
just call and they get so mad and I'm thinking like why would you ever be mad about someone
wanting to show you something in the Bible? You know we need some Cornelius's today,
we need people whose hearts to change where they want to hear what Peter has to say. They
stop for this, they're like, they're going out of their way to find the words of the
man of God. They're saying let's go this whole city way over here, let's get him to
come over here and preach to us and they get them all gathered together. This is a once
in a lifetime experience to hear the guy preach and you know what, sometimes sermons or sometimes
church services or sometimes a particular preacher, it may be a once in a lifetime opportunity
for you to hear God's word, a message that God's trying to get to you. Yet there's so
many people that are turning that off, aren't they? How many times are they going to get
Peter to come into the house and preach to them? That's a pretty rare opportunity and
we go through a Bible study, that might be the one time someone ever preaches that chapter
of the Bible and that might have been the chapter that God wanted to touch your heart
or tell you something or to get you to wake up from. We should never want to turn our
ears and our hearts and our eyes away from the things of the Lord. Now what he says in
verse 34, then Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth, I perceive that God is no
respecter of persons, but in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness
is accepted with him. This just destroys the idea of racism today, which is being championed
by the media, being championed by the world today. God doesn't care about nations. God
doesn't care about physical characteristics of people today. That is meaningless. What
is meaningful to the Lord is people that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and get saved and
then those that go beyond salvation and they actually try to follow God's commandments.
They actually sanctify themselves. They separate themselves and they try to live a holy life.
Jesus Christ said, be holy. Jesus Christ said, be therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect. And you know, we're commanded to keep God's commandments
with diligence. I mean the Bible just hammers the fact that we're supposed to be pleasing
unto God. And I think so many people, the only person they're trying to please today
is their own belly. The only person they're trying to please today is themselves and making
sure that they're happy and they're having a good time and they're enjoying the things
of their life. I don't want to go to church. It's not comfortable. I don't want to go and
do these things. I don't want to serve God. I don't want to read the Bible. Reading's
hard. Where's the picture book? Where's the movie version? I don't even care if it's biblically
accurate. Let's just watch it anyway. Let's go watch Noah. Who cares of all of its false
doctrine today? Where's Charlton Heston? I don't want to read the Old Testament. Let's
just watch the Ten Commandments. That's way better. Just make it real easy for me. Just
make it real comfortable. No, instead of reading the Bible, let's get a devotional. It has
like one verse in it. And then it's just really nice, easy reading, just something real light.
It's not like Leviticus chapter 11 where it's going through all the clean and unclean beasts.
It's not like Deuteronomy chapter 14 where it's all the clean beasts and uncleans again.
I thought we already read that in Leviticus 11. God, why am I having to read that again?
And people, they just want easy street. They just want to just feed the flesh and feed
their belly and just enjoy joy joy. But you know what? It's going to be sorrow sorrow
sorrow whenever they realize that they didn't serve the Lord. And you know what? I could
go to my bank account. I could go to the ATM tonight and I could withdraw every single
dollar in my bank account. And I could just spend it up. And I could have fun for a little
while. Oh yeah, woo! You know, 50 bucks. I'm going to the restaurant. You spend all the
money you got in one night. But then what happens when the water bill comes in? What
happens with the electric bill and the mortgage bill? I mean, look, this is not a way to live
your life. It's not just joy joy joy, fun fun fun. You know, sometimes it takes hard
work. It takes diligence. It takes self-control. And we need to control ourselves and decide,
you know what? The most important thing is me pleasing God, not myself. Look what he
says in verse number 36. The word which God sent the children of Israel, preaching peace
by Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all. That word I say you know, which is published throughout
all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached. How God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and
healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God is with them. And we are as witnesses
of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew
and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day and showed him openly, not to all
the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with
him after he rose from the dead. Now the word even in your Bible means specific, okay, or
specifically. So he is saying, God raised up Jesus on the third day, which was Sunday,
which was the first day of the week. He was killed on Thursday, and he was in the grave
Friday, Saturday, risen on the third day, Sunday. And he was shown, it says openly,
but here is the thing, not to all the people, but specifically to us, meaning what? The
apostles, to Peter, and he says that in verse number 42, and he commanded us to preach unto
the people. So Peter has a specific commandment of God to preach the gospel. Now guess what?
We have that same commandment, to go out and preach the gospel too. He says, and to testify
that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. Quick means
alive. Jesus Christ will judge all the alive and the dead. And it says, verse 43, to him,
talking of Jesus Christ, give all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins. So how do you get saved? You believe in Jesus
specifically. And remember he says that through his what? Name. Now I already taught this
to you, but what was the name of the son? Jesus. Don't say, the name of Jesus is a very
important name. It's the only name given among, given among men whereby we must be saved.
The only name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. It's the name of
Jesus that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord to the glory of God the Father. And so it's the name of Jesus that we believe in
and that we get saved. And anybody attacking the name of Jesus, that is a slippery slope.
That is a very dangerous doctrine. I don't take that lightly. Some people say, oh his
name is not Jesus, it's Yeshua. Those people are wicked. Now if you say that there is a
way to pronounce Jesus' name in Hebrew and this is what it is, of course that's true.
There's a way to pronounce Jesus' name in every single language. In fact in Greek, which
is what the New Testament was written in, his name is Iesous. It's I-E-S-O-U-S, Iesous.
And in English we call it Jesus. In Spanish, Jesus. And there's many other languages. Obviously
Hebrew, it would be possible to say his name. I don't know what that is. It could be Yeshua.
Some people say it's Yahashua or Yahyashua. They say all these different things. But here's
what would be wrong. To say his name is Iesous, not Jesus. No, it's both. Or to say it's Iesous,
it's not Jesus. But even what's weirder is to say that it's some Hebrew name when the
New Testament's not even written in Hebrew. It was written in Greek. And then it was translated
into English. Where is the Hebrew New Testament? To tell me that it's wrong is an attack on
the name of Jesus and I don't take that lightly. It's through his name that we're saved. Verse
44,
So another doctrine, I've already proved this, but Acts chapter number 2, I compared it with
this chapter. Because Acts chapter number 2 says repent and be baptized in the name
of Jesus for their mission of sins and you shall receive the Holy Ghost. I'm paraphrasing
that a little bit. But essentially, some people take Acts 2-38 and they'll try to say, oh,
you have to get baptized to be saved. But these people are already saved. They already
received the gift of the Holy Ghost. They got saved through Peter's preaching. They
heard Jesus. They got saved. A proof text of this, if you want to look at it, it says
in verse 14, this is Peter retelling the story,
So when he retells the story, he's saying, I preached you how to get saved. Because Cornelius
and his friends were not saved. But when they heard Jesus, they got saved immediately. These
guys were the most receptive people you can imagine. I mean, they got saved instantly.
They're filled with the Holy Ghost. They're preaching in other languages, immediately
glorifying God. They end up getting baptized right away. And we have this great miracle
where Peter does this wonderful work and now his eyes are opened. The Gentiles are ready
to receive the gospel. And this is an important stage in the book of Acts because we have
Peter and Paul and it's kind of like going back and forth. And we see Peter do the great
work of the Gentiles. But then we're going to see in the future a hesitancy of a lot
of the apostles to preach unto the Gentiles. They kind of have a little bit of favoritism
for the Jews and it ends up being that Paul is the one that is spreading the gospel throughout
the entire world. Why? Because the apostles have pretty much saturated all of Judea with
the gospel. And then they saturated Samaria. So really the goal would be to then go to
another area. And Houston is not saturated with the gospel. But if Houston did get saturated
with the gospel to a point where our doctrines filled up the city, everybody's heard us preach,
then we should really emphasize other areas even more. And we should try to work on sending
out more evangelists and going out. But while we have eight million plus people here, that
a majority of them, frankly speaking, have not had a clear presentation of the gospel,
we need to focus on those people first. And we need to get the doctrine of the Lord. We
need to fill this city with the doctrine of Jesus Christ and with the gospel of Jesus
Christ. And then once we have that, Samaria, and then once we have that, the whole world.
And so we need to work on our own vineyard right now. And some people get mad. They're
like, with COVID I can't travel. I can't go to Africa and I can't go to these places very
easily. It's very difficult. But we have plenty of work right here. Why don't we just
work on this area for a long time and do as much as we can here now while it's still very
reasonable, very easy, very free. And then we'll start worrying about North Korea. Obviously
North Korea, not a place you should go right now, right? But eventually maybe the Lord
will open that up. He'll open a door and we could even reach really hard places in the
future. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this great chapter. And
thank you for the commandments that you've given us in the New Testament that we can
enjoy every creature of God. And that's not just for the carnal satisfaction of eating
these type of meats, but rather it's a picture of how the Gentiles are also able to accept
the gospel and to be filled with the Spirit of God. And I pray that we would not be respecters
of persons today, but rather we would seek to please you and that we try to get as many
people saved as we can. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's go to our last song for
the evening, 187 in your hymnal. 187. Jesus loves me. And I'd forgotten a really good
announcement that I now remember, okay? Yair and Sandra had their baby. And so, and I have,
I don't have a picture, but you know, I do. It's Yareli Lea Hernandez. She was born on
April 13th and at 854 p.m. weighing 7 pounds and 19 inches long. And so, super exciting
for them. And congratulations to them. Keep them in your prayers. I'm guessing someone
might do a meal train or something on the Facebook group or something. So, look out
for that potentially. But congratulations to them. Also, let's sing 187. We finished.
Jesus loves me. They're in the first. Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells
me so. Little ones do Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me. He
will wash away my sin. Let His little child come in. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves
me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me. He will stay close
beside me all the way. Thou has bled and died for me. I will henceforth live for Thee. Yes,
Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Very
good singing. You are dismissed.