Acts 10 - The Gospel is for Everyone

Hello, and welcome to Making Christ Known, a podcast from Adairsville Baptist Church in Adairsville, Georgia. This podcast features senior pastor Eric Sarel and his sermons designed to make Christ known in Adairsville and beyond. For more information about Adairsville Baptist Church, visit us on Facebook or online at adairsvillebaptistchurch.org. And now, here's Pastor Eric. This is today a true story. It's a tale of two men with two visions. Two men, two visions, which actually leads to ultimately one body being formed. Let's listen to what the book of Ephesians says. For he himself, Christ is our peace, who's made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in the place of two. It would make peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Two men, two visions, but one body, one people of God. Let no distinction. The gospel is for everyone. The gospel is for all people, all ethnicities, all classes, all races, all sinners. I like what one pastor says about the gospel. He says the gospel is grace for every race. And that's the truth. That's Acts 10 in a nutshell. It's grace for every race. And so what we're going to see in Acts chapter 10 is we're going to see a Gentiles conversion. And we're going to be reminded of this, that God converts, He transforms people of all classes, of all groups. There's no one that's unworthy of the gospel of grace. And so we're going to see it this morning in eight episodes. I want you to just see the story with me. I want you to look at the first two verses. Acts chapter 10 says this, "At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household. He gave alms generously to the people and prayed continually to God." First I want you to meet Cornelius. First episode is basically just Cornelius himself. I want you to see two things. First or A, I want you to see Cornelius' vocation. It says that he is a centurion of the Italian cohort. Now he was a leader of a hundred, a commander of a hundred in the Roman army. And the Bible tells us that's his vocation, and the Bible tells us specifically where he was. He's in this city called Caesarea. Caesarea is the capital of this province. This is his vocation, and this is the way Luke begins with this story. He introduces us to this man, his vocation. But secondly, B, he introduces us to his character. And he says in verse 2, "Four powerful things about Cornelius." Look at him. Four words that describe him. Number one, the verse says he was a devout man. He is devout. He is devoted to, really, to God, as he knows God. He's monotheistic. Secondly, the Bible says that he is one who feared God. He is God-fearing. Not only him, but the Bible says with all his household. So he taught others to fear God. The first two words says this soldier, this commander, this centurion of the Italian regiment was devout and God-fearing. Do you remember the French-Swiss theologian, John Calvin? He wrote an interesting commentary on the book of Acts. It's filled with a lot of neat stuff, but he makes this observation that this would be a rare quality for a centurion. For a Roman centurion, a leader of the Italian court to be called devout, to be called God-fearing. You wouldn't find many soldiers like that, much less leaders, generals in the army. Third, the word says this, that he gave alms generously to the people. He is a man that is almost trying to follow the second table of the great commandments, to love others' part, right? To love people. He's giving to the Jews. He's giving to God's people. That's something. He's generous. And then it says this, fourthly, and he prayed continually to God. Continually is a word. Don't overlook that word. It means habitually. So these are the four words that describe his character. He is devout. He is God-fearing, meaning he adheres to Judaism, but he's not quite the full proselyte and he's not quite a full convert. He's generous. He's benevolent. He is prayerful. He habitually prays, regularly prays. Continually the Bible says, "Praise." So maybe we could say this, this guy is religious. He's not quite right with God yet, but he is religious, as Calvin says. This is a rare description of a soldier. And what this text is going to show us is this, that even the seemingly good guy needs to be born again. Even the religious, but not quite right with God, they still need the Gospel. They still need to be born again. Even somebody who is devout, God-fearing, generous, and prayerful still needs to hear the Gospel. So the first two verses, we see Cornelius. We learn about his vocation and we learn about his character. In that episode, let's read about the vision of Cornelius in verses 3-8. About the ninth hour of the day, that's about 3 p.m., about the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, "Cornelius." And he stared at him in terror and said, "What is it, Lord?" He said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now, send men to Joppa and bring one Simon, who is called Peter." He's lodging with one named Simon, a tanner whose house is by the seaside. When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier, don't skip over the word devout, from among those who attended him. And having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. We meet Cornelius, secondly we learn about Cornelius' vision. Cornelius has a vision at 3 p.m., the Bible says the ninth hour, this was a Jewish time of prayer. So perhaps he is in prayer at this time, he's devout, he knows something of Judaism and he's in prayer. And what happens next? The Lord shows up. Don't miss this, that God initiates this whole process. This is not something that Cornelius dreams up on his own, it's not something that Peter dreams up on his own, God initiates the process. And he calls out to Cornelius, through an angel, "Cornelius, Cornelius." Notice in verse 4 and 6, you see the conversation and the command, "Cornelius, what is it Lord? Your prayers and alms have come to me, right? I hear you, I see your heart, but you need something else." And that's the conversation, and then the command is, "You need to go get Peter and bring Peter to you." Don't miss this. The angel didn't preach the gospel, that was Peter's duty. And that's your duty. Could God have shared the gospel right there through the angel? You bet He could. But angels are not God's evangelists, we are. We're called to speak, we're called to go and tell. I could have done anything that He wanted at that moment, but He said, "This is the way I've set the whole thing up. I'm not speaking to people in visions and dreams. For the most part, I'm going to use the external voice of man, that man would write, or that man would speak, and that man would share the gospel." And Peter would be called to share the gospel. There are three people that are sent. The Bible tells us that they're sent to Joppa. Now this is 30 miles south, so this is quite a journey. Two servants and a soldier. But as I pointed out, I don't read over the text because it says that there's another soldier that's devout. There's another soldier that has a certain type of character and a certain type of belief, and he's sent also perhaps as protection. And so three men leave and they go to Joppa. They leave Caesarea, they head 30 miles south. And again, I would just point out that apparently Cornelius has taught his household about God, or even other soldiers about God, that another soldier could be called devout. Right? Who are we telling? In our household, our children, our co-workers, our classmates about the Lord, and Cornelius has this vision, and he says go. You guys need to go. Go. So the Bible says that they left, and they were to go. Verse 6 tells us to find Peter, and Peter is staying with another Simon. Simon, Peter is staying with Simon, but this Simon is a tanner. Do you know what a tanner does? A tanner works with leather, and a tanner works with dead animals. Why is Peter staying with a guy that has dead animals around his house? Right? This would be a ceremonially unclean place for the Jew, for Peter, right? This is offensive to Jews, to stay around dead hides and things, and Peter is here. God is already working on Peter, and showing Peter that some of his biases and his preconceived ideas needed to kind of ease up a little bit, so that's interesting that this is the location of a good Jew like Peter. This is the vision. Meet Cornelius. See Cornelius' vision. Hear the conversation between he and the angel. This angel, this messenger of God, and then this command to go and to get the messenger Peter to come. It was Peter's job to share the gospel, and so the men leave. Episode number three, in another city there is another man, and this other man is having his own vision. Let's look at verses 9 through 17. The Bible says this, the next day, as they were on their journey, and approaching the city, Peter went up on the house top. You know, those roofs were flat there, and people could go up there, and he goes up about the sixth hour to pray. That's noon. And he became hungry. Interesting, I'm told that word "hungry" here is a unique one, right? It's like he's really hungry. He's kind of starving here, and you know, he's really craving something. It says he wanted something to eat. But while they were preparing it, he had to wait. He fell into a trance. That word trance, in the original language, means a focused or fixed mental state. So maybe you read it that way. He fell into a focused and fixed mental state. He's praying, he's still a good Jew, he's still a biased Jew, and he's still doing the hours of prayer, and so at noon he's praying, but he's hungry, and then he receives a vision. It is this trance, this state, and it's described, look at verse 11, and he saw the heavens opened. It's the skies open, and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it are all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I've never eaten anything that is common or unclean." And the voice came to him again. A second time, what God has made clean, do not call common. That's going to be an important phrase. And this happened three times, and was taken up at once into heaven. Verse 17 says, "Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed, as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, well, they showed up. They have made inquiry for Simon's house they stood at the gate." So notice this vision of Peter. We see the vision of Cornelius, but now notice the vision of Peter. It's a noon prayer, again, a Jew, and he's going to carry all the Jewish customs and biases right there with him. He falls into this focused and fixed mental state, and he sees a sheet from heaven. And in that sheet, there are clean animals, and there are unclean animals. The Bible says that there are all kinds of animals. And the Bible tells him, "This command, rise, kill, and eat." But notice, he makes the objection, but also notice that he never really does it. He never really does eat the unclean thing. Perhaps there's something to that. The conversation happens three times, and then that's great verse, right, of what God's made clean, don't call common. And Peter is really puzzled as to the meaning of this. He's confused about this. Later on, he would discover the meaning. I like what one old writer said about the sheet. He says, "The sheet is the church, with all races and classes, without distinction." This is Peter's vision. And really that one line says the whole interpretation of what we need to know, that that's the picture of the church, right, no distinction, that there is the dividing wall being broken down in this very chapter in which we read. The fourth episode I want you to see is the conversation that takes place at Joppa. So we began that in verse 17, and we'll read down to verse 23. Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, they stood at the gate. They found out where the house was, and there it is, and they're at the gate. And they called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there, right? Hey, is Simon Peter here? And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise, go down, accompany them, without hesitation, for I have sent them." And Peter went down to the men and said, "I'm the one you're looking for. What's the reason for your coming?" And they said, "Cornelius, a centurion," look at how they describe him, "an upright and God-fearing man who is well-spoken up by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say." So he invited them in to be his guest. And the next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. Here's this conversation that takes place at the city of Joppa. You remember Jonah went down to get out of the town there, right, to catch the boat and to sail away. And here at this house, a conversation begins. It takes place. The travelers speak first. This is the house where Simon Peter is staying. And then who speaks second? But the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit speaks to Peter and says, "Look, they're looking for you. Go down. Go with them." And this is what he does, right, "Rising go," God says, "Rising go, I have sent them." Notice that God doesn't tell Peter all the details, you know, wouldn't it be great if God would come right then and say, "Peter, this is what I'm doing, and this is why I'm doing all this." He doesn't lay it all out. He doesn't tell them all the why of how this is going to take place and why this is happening to Cornelius and why this is happening to Peter. He has a plan, but Peter just needs to trust. And so Peter and the travelers, they speak, they relay these stories before they depart and then they go. I want you to know that it's a group of ten. It would be the three, the servants, the soldier that are going back to home, and then it would be Peter. And then it would be six Jews. Six Jews that would accompany and be a witness to this great event. Fifthly, I want you to see the next episode. It's the reception back at Caesarea. Look at verses 24 through 33. And on the following day, they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and his close friends. He wants all the household to be there. And Peter entered. Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up saying, "Stand up. I too am a man." Right? I am just a man. And as he talked with him, he went in and he found many persons gathered. And he said to them, Peter did, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit any one of another nation." Really, not against the Old Testament law, but against their laws, their customs, their traditions. Look, it's not our traditions or our customs and really our extra laws that the Pharisees would add in for any Jew to hang out with a Gentile in his house. This is not the custom, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I asked them, "Why you sent for me?" And Cornelius said, "Four days ago, about this hour, you see, I was praying at my house at the ninth hour, right noon." We said that. He was praying. He was praying. And behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing. Angels often appear as men. They are appearing as gendered, but this is what it looks like to him. Angels don't have either sex, right? They are an angel. But it appears in this way. He says, "It stood before me in bright clothing and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send there for a job and ask for Simon who's called Peter. He's lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner by the sea. So I sent for you at once, Cornelius says, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore, we are all here in the presence of God." I hope that we're all here in the presence of God. Now therefore, we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord. Here's the reception back at Caesarea. First, you see the gathering, and then you see the greeting. The gathering is this. There are all kinds of relatives. There are all kinds of close friends, and they are in the house. And then there is the greeting. What does Cornelius do? Cornelius bows to Peter. Cornelius face down, you know, kiss the feet of the servant, bows to Peter. And what does Peter do? But Peter humbly stops this. Stop! Stop! Get up! I'm just a man. I'm just a man. I want you to write this down. Obviously, if our screens weren't wigging out, you could see it. We'll try to get those repaired. But on your sheet, I want you to write this down. You can fill in the blank if you have a little outline there. No one is a G-O-D, and no one is a D-O-G. No one is a G-O-D, or put the mirror to it, God back where D-O-G. Nobody is a D-O-G. Nobody is a G-O-D. Peter's not a God, right? And you aren't, and I'm not, and nobody is. In this apostle who had walked with Jesus, he's not a God. He says, "You shouldn't bow to me. Rise up, man. I'm just a man like you." But what did Jews call Gentiles? They called them dogs. They called them dogs. The good Jew would pray. I forget what it was in the morning, something like, "God, I thank you that I'm not a slave." Oh, here it is. I thank God that I'm not a slave, a woman or a Gentile. That's what the Jewish male would pray. Thank you that I'm not a slave, a woman or a Gentile. I mean, that's terrible, right? There would be rabbis that would boast about throwing rocks at Gentiles and others. And we don't understand, right, all the customs that go into that, right? But this is what God is saying. Look, nobody's a G-O-D and nobody is a D-O-G. You guys are equal. I'm breaking down the wall of hostility. I'm making one new man. It's just the people of God without class, without racial distinctions. Prejudice begins to drop. Look at your Bible in verse 28. He says, "You know, it's not our customs. In fact, we've taken this way too far. Our traditions forage you to associate with or even visit another nation." But like, hey, I've been staying with a tenor and I'm already kind of letting my guard down, right? But this is what He says, "God has shown me something that I shouldn't call any person common or unclean." So when I was sent for, I came. That wasn't the norm. He says, "Now I need to know something." Right? Peter's statement is, look, God's shown me something. And Cornelius' statement is this, we're listening. Peter's saying, "God's shown me something." It's Cornelius, we're listening, right? Which statement do you need to say? And Peter then says, "I ask, why did you sent? Why have you sent for me?" Can I ask you a question? Are you open-minded to what God might want to do in your life? Are you open-minded to what God might want to do in the church? The previously held beliefs may be challenged. Peter's previously held beliefs had to be challenged. He had to be open-minded to what God was doing and sometimes churches need that, somebody that's just open-minded to God doing something that maybe shakes us up a little bit. And now Peter speaks. The fourth, excuse me, sixth episode is Peter finally giving this great speech. Take a verse 34 down to verse 43, the Bible says, "So Peter opened his mouth." I've been told whenever you see that phrase, "Open his mouth," it's pretty important just like obviously when somebody's going to speak, you opened his mouth and said, I mean, why didn't you just say it? So Peter said, I mean, of course he opened his mouth, but that there's something there that's showing that this is a very important message. So notice Peter's speech. He opened his mouth and he said, truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him, as for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news, gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us, Peter says, who had been chosen by God as witnesses who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead, to him all the prophets bear witness that everyone, anyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Peter's speech, I want you to first see the message. The message is this, he says this, the almighty, impartial face of God. I understand that God shows no partiality, verse 34, verse 35, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. The almighty God has an impartial face. God is sovereign. This is what he says. God is over all men, all nations, all classes, all people group. And another main point is this, he's going to preach here in his speech that Jesus is Savior of all people. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace, this is the Gospel through Jesus Christ. Peter shows the Gospel. What is the content of the Gospel? Peter's about to do evangelism. We could learn something from it, and I want you to see seven noteworthy items. Number one, he starts with Jesus' baptism. He establishes in verse 36 the main point that Jesus is Savior. There's a Gospel of peace available to all, but number one, Jesus' baptism. Look at verse 37. Do yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism, John the Baptist preaching a baptism of repentance that John proclaimed. And he goes into verse 38 about Jesus' baptism, and Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit, like a dove at his baptism, the voice of the Father, this is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. So number one, Jesus' baptism. Number two, he talks about Jesus' works. Look at verse 38. Now God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit, with power, so that His works. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. Why? For God was with him. Number one, his baptism. He starts with Jesus' baptism. Number two, Jesus' works. Thirdly, he brings up the Apostles' witness. Verse 39, "And we are witnesses of all that He did." Peter says, "I saw it, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem." Fourthly, he mentions Jesus' death and resurrection. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. Verse 40, "But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear." He says this not to all the people, but to us. Peter says, "I saw him." John would say that in his epistle, who'd been chosen by God as witnesses. Mark what he says, "We ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead." He starts with Jesus' baptism. Secondly, he mentions Jesus' works. Thirdly, he mentions the Apostles' witness to those works. And to Jesus. Fourthly, he mentions Jesus' death, burial, resurrection. Fifthly, he mentions Jesus as the judge. Look at verse 42. He commanded us to preach, right? Go into all the world and preach the gospel. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify to what? To testify that he is the one. Jesus is the one appointed by God the Father to be the judge of the living and the dead. His gospel includes Jesus as judge. Jesus as the final one that has to say both those that are living and those that are dead. Sixthly, he mentions the testimony of Scripture. Look at verse 43. To him, to Jesus, all the prophets, in the Old Testament, bear witness. To him all the prophets bear witness. He mentions this and the Scripture testifies about the Messiah that he would be the servant, the suffering servant, that he would be the anointed one. Seventh. Last. Look at how the verse ends, verse 43. So that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. That's the gospel. Amen. This is what he shares. This is what he shares. Starting with his baptism and going through everything and ending with this is our response to the gospel. From anyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. It wasn't the angel's job to share the gospel. Peter needed to go. Peter needed to open his mouth and share this good news and Cornelius and his household would hear it. They would hear how to be saved. They would hear about Jesus, the anointed one, and perhaps for the first time, understanding that Christ died and rose and that if we believe, we receive. Last, excuse me, seventh, I want you to see the Gentiles' response to this gospel. The Gentiles' response. Look at verses 44 through 48. "While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the Word and the believers from among the circumcised, the Jews, who had come with Peter, were amazed." Why? "Because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles, for they were hearing them speak in tongues, languages, and extolling God." Then Peter declared, "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and they asked him to remain for some days. What is the Gentiles' response to the gospel? Biblical faith and biblical repentance. They heard, they trusted, they turned, and they yielded. And you're going to see that word "repentance" a little bit later on also. They had faith, biblical faith in Christ to the gospel that Peter had just shared. They repented of their sins. This is their response. There's another response that happens, and it's this, the gift of the Holy Spirit is given. The gift of the Holy Spirit is poured out on the Gentiles as a sign to all that were there. He says, "Even the circumcised group, even the Jews, saw it." The Holy Spirit was given as a sign, as a demonstration to all. Now I want you to notice at least three things. Number one, the Holy Spirit did the transformational work. The Holy Spirit does the work in their hearts. It wasn't Peter, it wasn't Peter's message. He's not a God, right, and they're not dogs. The Holy Spirit goes in, saves the person, transforms the heart, the soul, the life. Secondly, I want you to notice this, that the Holy Spirit didn't come after water baptism. The Holy Spirit came before water baptism. The Holy Spirit comes, and then He says, "Because of this, don't they need to be baptized in water?" Notice thirdly, that the Holy Spirit didn't come with laying on of hands. There was no laying on of hands there. The Holy Spirit didn't come after intense seeking, that they would get saved and then they would seek and seek and seek and seek and some. The Holy Spirit came the moment that they had biblical faith and biblical repentance in the Gospel. It was before water baptism. It didn't involve any kind of touch or any kind of special seeking. The Holy Spirit came and the sign gift was tongues. And the Jews saw it. And everybody in the house saw it. This was like a Gentile Pentecost. Acts 10 is the Gentile Pentecost. The Holy Spirit comes and they see it. That's what Acts 2 was upon the Jews and others. The Holy Spirit comes and those Jews begin to speak in tongues at Pentecost and everybody sees. Now, it comes on the Gentiles and everybody sees. It is a sign to teach both groups. To teach Jew and to teach Gentile that this was genuine, that they have been saved. Now when you read the book of Acts, Acts marks a time of transition from Judaism to Christianity, from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The book of Acts is often more descriptive than prescriptive. You can write that down. The book of Acts is often more descriptive than prescriptive. You have to determine sometimes when you read the text. Is that descriptive? Is that describing something or is that prescribing something for me to go down and do likewise? You're reading the Bible. Judas went and hung himself. That's descriptive. Please, I don't prescribe that. Neither does the Holy Spirit prescribe that. There's something in Acts that during this crazy time of transition that God is just describing. It's descriptive. It's not prescriptive. It's not necessarily prescribing that this is the way. You need the whole Bible to make a whole Christian. You need a complete Bible, a complete New Testament to make a complete Christian. A.W. Tozer would say those words. So we have to be careful in Acts because it is a transitory book to say, "Okay, what is this?" I would say that this experience here is not normative. It's not normative, but it is depictive. That's what Luke is doing here. He's not prescribing this. He's just describing this to us. It's depictive. It's just depicting what's happened. It may not be normative that this is the way people are saved. I mean, how many of us get visions like this and go and sin for this person and would you go and get the preacher and have him call for me? I just was eating lunch and got real hungry. This is just their experience, which we can't deny. And the Gentiles respond. Number one, biblical faith, biblical repentance. Number two, with the sign of the Holy Spirit, the feeling of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, with baptism, water baptism. Look at the verse, 47, "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have just received the Holy Spirit, just like us, just as we have?" And he commanded them to be baptized water in the name of Jesus Christ. And so they were. And there was a sign for all, a demonstration of all, confirmation to all. These are genuine believers. God has accepted them. Baptism, we teach, is a sign, not a cause of salvation, a sign, a pledge, a pledge of the believer's right heart with God. And they make this, and they are rightly baptized. It's why we baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we immerse in water. I like what British theologian, John Stott, says. He was quoting the ancient John Chrysostom. John Chrysostom wrote in the late 300s, yeah, late 300s. I quote him, "By giving the Holy Spirit to Cornelius and his household, before their baptism, God gave Peter an Apologya Magali, a mighty reason or justification for giving them water baptism, yet in a sense, their baptism was completed already, for God had done it. Peter was clear that in no point was he the author, but in every point, God. It was as if Peter said, "God baptized them, not I." And so it happened. They were baptized. Yes, in the Holy Spirit, and yes, with water. One writer says about those Jews of this time, "It was there, their criticism ceased, and their worship began. Their criticism of Gentiles ceased, and their worship of God Almighty began." Now we need to continue in chapter 11 just a bit to see how the story ends. But the last, the eighth episode is this, not the Gentile response to the Gospel, but I want you to see the Jewish response in Jerusalem, the Jewish response to that Gospel. But these Jews are back in Jerusalem. Look at the first four verses of chapter 11. Now the apostles and the brothers who wore throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the Word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, you always go up to Jerusalem because of elevation. The circumcision party, Jewish party, criticized him, saying, "You went to uncircumcised men to Gentiles and ate with them." It's a big no-no, you broke our customs. How dare you? Verse four, "But Peter began and explained it to them in order." And then I'm not going to read the rest of the verses five and following because he just retells the whole story. Luke wants to give a lot of attention to it, and there's a reason for that that the Holy Spirit left it there. Skip down to verse 16. Then Peter says this, he says, "I saw the Holy Spirit fall on them, and I remembered the Word of the Lord that Jesus said, 'John, baptize with water, but you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If then, God gave the same gift to them as He gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. What was I that I could stand in God's way when they heard these things? They fell silent, and they glorified God saying, 'Then to the Gentiles also, God has granted repentance that leads to life.'" What's the Jewish response in Jerusalem? Number one, initially, they're offended by the actions. Secondly, ultimately, they're accepting of the opportunity. Initially they're offended. They actually meet to talk about if God would allow this. That's humorous, as if we're in charge of God's plan. They're all there, and they bring Peter, you know, "Hey, here's the charges that you went to Gentiles, and you ate with people that aren't like us." So Peter has to do some teaching. He explains in verses 4 through 16, I didn't read it, but he tells them. And then ultimately they accept this opportunity. They understand we know that this is of God. We see that this is God's doing, that you can't stand in the way of them being saved, and neither could we, and so he says, "Then this is the summary." We're going to glorify God. Gentiles also, God has granted repentance that leads to life. Peter needed this whole experience in Acts chapter 10. The Jews needed this whole experience in Acts chapter 10. The Gentiles needed this whole experience to see that what I read to you from Ephesians chapter 2, 14 through 16, and Ephesians chapter 3, verse 6, that Gentiles are equal heirs in the body. They needed this. And in a way, both groups were converted when this happened. Their minds were changed. They were both transformed in heart, yes, in thinking, of course. Two men, two visions, and true groups become all one. God has things for both of them. And the ultimate message is the last few words. It's repentance that leads to life. Peter had repented when he followed Jesus. The Jewish Christians had repented and followed Christ as Savior and Lord. They believed the prophets. And here the Gentiles, they were repenting. They were believing on Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and their repentance is what leads to life. Praise God, the gospel is for everyone. The gospel is for everyone. Who is it that if God saved, it would cause you to go, whoa, whoa, whoa. The gospel is for the Palestinian. The gospel is for the suicide bomber that goes into Israel and haulers out praise be to Allah and blows people, the gospel is for him. Can God save Palestinians? Can God save Muslims? You better believe it. The gospel is for the transgender. The gospel is for the homosexual. Do they need it? Yes, they do. That person in drag, can they be saved? Who am I? I can't say that they can't be saved. They need the gospel more than anybody, right? The gospel is for them. The gospel is for all. The gospel is for the illiterate. Well, that person in our - they're just too simple to understand to be saved, really? The gospel is for those that don't have the education. The gospel is for those that can't read. I shared one of our food distributions. The gospel with a man. He couldn't read the Bible. And so I was able to say, can I give you the Bible on CD? But I was able to read the gospel to him. It doesn't matter. You don't have to read this to be saved. Hear it and believe. The gospel is for the illiterate. The gospel is for the illegal immigrant. That person that came here from Central America, the person that broke the law, is the gospel for them? Yes. Do they need to be loved and saved? Yes. Should we turn our nose up at them? Call them - no, like the gospel is for them, too. The gospel is for that abusive person. The abusive husband, the father - I mean, maybe get us to say the gospel is for the child molester. They need it. Are they too unclean to be saved? No. I'm not saying that any of these person's actions are righteous or just, but the gospel is for all. The gospel is for them. The gospel is for the addict. The person that we would think, I'm not sharing the gospel with them. They're a methhead from the mountain. Maybe we could say this. The gospel is for the religious. In the devout, those soldier giving on, praying habitually, religious but not quite right with God. The gospel is for the southern Baptist attendee that just thinks he's okay because he's born in Bartow County and knows something about Jesus. The gospel is even for you and I still today. How dare we sit here smugly and think that we don't need to hear this? We need it. We need this every day. We need to know who Jesus is and what Jesus has done and that Jesus has saved us. The gospel is for all, glory to God. So as we close today, I'll let our musicians go ahead and make their way up so we have our invitation song. God's probably not going to give you a vision. I talked with a girl, she just walked in our church the other day and crying. She loaded lots of stuff going on in her life. She said I hadn't been to church in a while but we were talking through some of the issues and just praying together. She's like, I just wish God would give me a sign so you know a lot of times I do too. Don't you just wish God just gave visions and signs? I said, hey sister, I wish it was that easy for you that God would just give you this vision like Cornelius and Peter, right? But God's probably not going to give you a vision. You know why? Because God's giving you the Scripture. We have everything that we need. We have the Word of God. And so this is the way it works today. This is how God speaks. God's speaking in His Scripture. So today you're not unworthy. You say but pastor, I've fallen, I've slipped back, I've back slidden, I'm too unclean, I feel like that Gentile, no. The Gospel is still for you. If you feel like Cornelius, turn your life to Christ. Turn to Christ for forgiveness. Turn to Christ for eternal life. You're not going to have a vision but you have everything you need in the Bible. Turn to the Lord, repent of your sins, be forgiven, be saved. Turn to Christ for life. But secondly if you're the Peter, share the life with others. I mean it'd be great if the Lord gave people in our community visions and we didn't have to go and tell but we need to go and tell. You said I don't know what to tell. Just showed you. Peter highlighted about seven bullet points. We got to tell. If we're Peter, we have to go and open the mouth. We are called to be the evangelist so number one, turn to Christ for life but then number two, share the life with others. And let God work. Break down barriers. Break down your way of you think this is the way preaching needs to be done or church needs to be done or this is the way smuggling. Why don't we just be open minded and say if God is in this, then who am I to call it man? Peter says who am I to call them man or unclean or common or God was doing something. Heavenly Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit would continue to fill our hearts and lead us and dwell us and help us to break down our barriers, our isms or there are a lot of groups that maybe if we're honest we wouldn't go to because we really just don't like or maybe we're scared of or maybe we think they're not even interested in the gospel or we want to give the gospel to all because it's transformational to all that would call on the name of the Lord. They could be saved. And so Lord help us to speak to open our mouths and help us to believe and help us to keep going back to the scriptures and thanking you for salvation and thanking you for what you've done. Then now we can go in our Christ community courage t-shirts in Tezambia and Nicaragua and Guatemala and Vienna, Austria and even down at Halloween on the square and know that the gospel needs to be taken everywhere to all people, to all ages, to all classes. So Lord thank you for saving us, thank you for using a wretch like us. Lord I pray that you would humble our hearts, give us clean hands, and help us to honor you. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Making Christ Known. We invite you to join us again next time for another sermon from the Dearsville Baptist Church. For more information visit us on Facebook or online at www.dearsvillebaptistchurch.org. Thanks for listening and we look forward to connecting with you again soon. God Bless. God Bless.