This Bible study was recorded at Calvary Chapel
of the Finger Lakes and was taught by
Pastor Bill Gallatin.
This evening we're in the Book of Acts,
beginning with verse 1 of chapter 10.
At this particular time, Paul's probably in the
Arabian Desert, very possibly on Mount Horeb, where
Moses has been put in the cleft of
the rock, and very possibly the very place
that Elijah, when he fled into the cave,
ended up.
And so the story now turns back to
the Apostle Peter, I think, until we get
to chapter 12 or 13.
But now you remember in the Book of
Joel that he prophesied that in the last
days that the Spirit of the Lord would
be poured out upon all flesh, not just
the Jews.
And we know that it's happened on Pentecost.
And one of the most difficult things for
the Jews, and for many people, is to
get tradition out of their lives and replace
it with doctrine.
It can truly be so ingrained, tradition, that
it's a difficult thing for the Lord.
And what's amazing to me in this chapter
10 is that the Apostle Peter has been
baptized in the Holy Spirit, he's experienced Pentecost,
and it's some ten years later, and it
doesn't seem to bother the Lord that he's
still got some of these prejudices and these
traditions that have to be worked out, and
God is picking this point now to free
Peter.
Now, he's already been free to a point.
You remember that he stayed in chapter 9,
as we ended chapter 9, he was in
Joppa.
That city remains today.
It's a great little city near Tel Aviv.
We visit it every time we fly over.
And he stayed in someone's house named Simon
the Tanner.
Now, those people were of such contempt in
the Jewish tradition, or the ritual law, that
they were not allowed to build even their
homes within 50 meters of any city or
town.
Because they were constantly touching dead carcasses and
animals with their trade, they were considered unclean.
In fact, if a woman was betrothed to
be married and they discovered that her husband
-to-be was a Tanner, they would null
and void the wedding.
That's how despised Tanners were.
The Jews would have nothing to do with
their Jewish brethren if they were Tanners.
But you remember now, since Jesus Christ has
moved in their lives, the prejudice and the
traditions and these attitudes begin to move out.
And so, Peter was staying in Joppa with
Simon the Tanner.
There's one area of his life that he
could deal with, and the Spirit of God
has set him free.
But now, we're going to see that God's
portion of the Scripture concerning Joel chapter 2
has to deal with Gentiles.
Now, another thing that the Jews, and Peter
even up to this point, would not even
associate with the Gentiles.
In fact, if a Gentile entered a Jew's
home and touched the furniture or sat on
a piece of furniture, if a Jew sat
on that piece of furniture, he considered himself
unclean.
They were so bigoted against the Gentiles.
The Jewish rabbis taught that Gentiles were created
by God to stoke the fires of hell.
They were used as timber to keep the
flames of hell burning.
And so, there was this extreme hatred, in
fact, for some eight to ten years.
And this portion of the Bible is ten
years after Pentecost.
After these people had been baptized and filled
with the Holy Spirit, had been with Jesus
Christ some three and a half years before
that with his personal teaching.
Now, even though back in Deuteronomy, God said
that they were to share their truth with
the Gentiles, God had planned to save Gentiles.
But you see, the rabbis had taught in
such a way and wrapped them up with
the weaving of Judaism, far and beyond what
the law meant, that this prejudice was ingrained
within them.
And so, Peter's coming to a point in
his life where he's going to see that
God not only is going to pour out
his Spirit on the Jews, but also on
the Gentiles, his love and his grace, and
set him free even more.
And it's interesting how Peter kind of reverts
back to the old Peter some years ago,
as he reacts to what the Lord does
to him.
There was a certain man in Caesarea.
Now, that's some thirty miles up the coast,
north of Joppa.
In fact, there's a tremendous city, great excavation
going on there, and that's another place we
visit.
There's an amphitheater there that we usually have
a Bible study in, and it's quite possible
that the place there in Caesarea is where
Paul gave his testimony and his defense before
Festus in the book of Acts.
Later on, we'll come to that.
But here he goes to a man in
Caesarea called Cornelius, a Roman centurion of the
band called the Italian Band.
So, remember, Rome ruled the world.
Rome was ruling Palestine, and this powerful, and
they were men of very extreme high character
to be a centurion.
They would rule over 100 of the top
soldiers, or the marines of the Roman army.
They would have servants of their own, extremely
wealthy and of high character.
You remember back in Luke chapter 7, some
ten years earlier, there was a Roman centurion
that said he was a devout man.
He worshipped God.
He gave much alms to the Jewish people.
In fact, he even built them a synagogue,
and he had a slave in his household
that was extremely ill, ready to die, and
he sent his servants to Jesus Christ.
Remember, they came to Jesus Christ and they
said, The centurion, our master, has sent us
to thee.
His slave is dying, and he would ask
you if you might do something for him.
And Jesus responded after he heard that this
Roman centurion had done so much for his
people.
You remember in Matthew chapter 10, I think
verse 42, and then later on in chapter
25 verse 40, Jesus teaches that if you
give so much as a drink of water
to the least of my servants, one of
these little ones, you've done it unto me,
you will not lose your reward.
And then later on in the end of
Matthew, he says, If you've done this unto
the least of these my servants, you've done
it unto me.
And so, Jesus reacts to the love of
this centurion and responds because of his attitude
toward the Jewish people, even though he's ruling
over them for the Roman empire.
His decency and his love and his searching
for God, even though it may be an
ignorance, he was searching for God.
And he heard about Jesus Christ.
And so, Jesus responded so quickly, just as
he will to each one of us, just
as he will to you, whatever your need
may be, if you cry out to him.
How quickly he responds because of his love
for all of us.
So, he goes on his way back.
And the centurion, before he even sees Jesus,
as he hears that Jesus is approaching now,
he sends out to more servants and says,
Master, Lord, I'm not worthy that you'd even
enter into my home.
So, the high regard that he had for
this Jewish Messiah.
And so, there was a man, there was
a humility and a beauty about this man,
even though he had authority.
And he sends a message to Jesus, I'm
not worthy that thou would come into my
home.
And I have power and authority.
And I tell this soldier to go here.
I tell this servant to do this.
And he does it.
And I know you have that same authority,
that same power, far superior to mine.
If you'll just speak the word, I'm not
worthy that you'd come into my home.
But if you'll just speak the word, I
know that my servant will be healed.
And Jesus just marveled at this man, this
centurion.
And so, he spoke and he healed the
slave, the servant.
Jesus made the statement, I have not seen
such faith, not ever, in the whole state
of Israel.
I haven't seen this kind of faith that
this gentile has within my own people.
So, the character of these people.
Now, here's another Roman centurion, in Caesarea.
Now, here's a man who is devout.
He is not of the Jewish faith.
He's not a Christian.
More than likely, you see, he's worshiping Aphrodite,
Diana, Zeus, or one of the many pagan
Roman gods.
And yet, he's devout.
He's sincere, but sincerely deceived.
And it's interesting how God, when someone is
searching for him in something false, with all
of their heart, how Jesus Christ will reveal
himself to whoever.
It doesn't matter what kind of a cult
or false religion, until someone has really heard
the truth concerning Jesus Christ, and they're beginning
to ache for God, how Jesus responds to
that.
And so, here we have this devout man.
One that feared God with all of his
house.
So, his servants, the soldiers under him, maybe
he was married, but he had this tremendous
devotion to God with everybody around him, and
they responded to him.
He was such an example.
He gave alms to the people, much alms,
and he prayed to God always.
He saw in a vision, evidently about the
ninth hour of the day, an angel of
God coming in to him and saying unto
him, Cornelius.
So, some three o'clock in the afternoon,
as he's praying to a God that he
doesn't know, to a false God, and here
Satan is thinking he has this man trapped
in all the pantheism of Rome.
Yet, his heart is yearning, his heart is
searching.
He's sincerely deceived, and Jesus Christ gives him
a vision.
God's going to open his eyes and reveal
himself to him, and it's interesting how he's
going to work.
And God usually does do something like this,
working in two places at the same time
setting up such wonderful, what we would call
coincidences.
Always working, usually with both parties at a
distance.
So, when he looked upon him, he was
afraid.
And he said, What is it, Lord?
And he said unto him, Thy prayers and
thy alms are come up for a memorial
before God.
Your sincerity has reached the throne of God.
I believe that if we are sincere with
all of our, no matter what our sin
is, what our failure, what our fears, what
our experience, if we're sincerely seeking God, he
is so faithful to be there.
Remember, Jesus said, and I love this, He
who comes unto me, I will in no
wise cast out.
And I don't know what your problem is
tonight, or your situation, but if you have
a desperate need, and you really do need
help from God, if you would cry out
to Jesus Christ before this night is over,
he'll respond to you if you're sincere.
That's how much he loves you.
And he has the power to help you,
to impart his grace to you.
So, thy prayers have come up for a
memorial before God.
Now send men to Joppa and call for
one Simon, whose surname is Peter.
He lodges with one Simon a Tanner, whose
house is by the seaside.
He shall tell thee what thou oughtest to
do."
And so, here God's working, and as he's
working in Caesarea, he's going to respond to
this Roman centurion.
He's going to work at the same time
thirty miles to the south with Peter.
And I like that about God.
The omnipresence and the omnipotence of God.
They can work all over the world all
at once.
We have to get to a telephone, get
to a computer, send email.
We think email's fast.
God's a lot faster than email.
In fact, I'm really not into it.
Everybody in the church is into their computers,
and it's just amazing the technology.
And they keep saying, Bill, have you got
a laptop yet?
Are you into it yet?
I said, no, I'm not into it yet.
I just, I don't even want to go
into the learning curve.
My Bible's enough.
And so, my only defense is, if I
can find a computer that's faster than the
Holy Ghost, I'll start getting into it.
That's my only defense.
And I haven't found a computer yet that
can go faster and quicker at the same
distance as the Holy Spirit can.
And so, here he's working thirty miles apart.
When the angel which spoke unto Cuneus was
departed, he called two of his household servants,
and a devout soldier of them, and waited
on him continually.
And when he declared all these things unto
them, he sent them to Joppa.
On the morrow, as they went on their
journey in Judea and to the city, Peter
went up upon the housetop to pray about
the sixth hour.
That would be twelve noon, Jewish time.
Now, it's interesting, again, still they maintain many
of their Jewish traditional times of prayer.
Morning, noon, and afternoon prayer.
Three p.m. in the afternoon, when the
afternoon, the evening, or the afternoon sacrifice is
taking place on the temple in Jerusalem, they
still maintain many of those traditions.
Remember, it's only been about eight to ten
years after Pentecost.
And just because somebody is born again, and
comes out of his old religion, is filled
with the Spirit of God, and has the
gifts of the Spirit, that doesn't mean that
God's going to go and turn them inside
out, and then correct everything, wash all the
tradition out immediately.
And all of a sudden, they see clearly.
God is very patient with us.
Just as he's been with many of you.
He's been patient with you, he's been patient
with me.
I can recall the denomination I came out
of, and it wasn't instantaneous that I just
quit and dropped some of the excess baggage
that isn't even biblical that I've been taught
for holiness and sanctification.
Thank God that God was patient, and it
didn't stop God from blessing me, because I
still maintained some of those things out of
fear, because of what holy men had drained
in me in that denomination.
But praise the Lord for reading the Bible,
and God begins to work in the Spirit
of God like water.
That living water begins to flush out and
replace with the truth, and as Jesus said,
who the Son makes free, is free indeed.
And you begin to know the truth.
It's the same as it was then.
So as Peter went out to pray, he
was very hungry, would have eaten, but while
they made ready, he fell into a trance.
So he's not given a vision, maybe like
Cornelius, but he goes into some kind of
a trance as he's praying.
And he saw heaven opened, and a certain
vessel descending unto him, as it had been
a great sheet, knit at the four corners
and let down to earth.
Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts
of the earth, and wild beasts, entreating things,
and fowls of the air.
And there came a voice to him, Rise,
Peter, kill and eat.
But Peter said, Not so, Lord.
Now, remember some thirteen years or twelve years
earlier, when Jesus was saying he must go
to the trough, and he was going to
give his life, Peter immediately said, Not so,
Lord, and began to rebuke the Lord, and
actually, in his ignorance, try to stop the
redemption of man.
How quickly, you see, we can go from
revelation to our own stupidity.
And I can relate to it so easily.
Remember, earlier than that, just a day earlier,
moments earlier, Jesus said, Who do men say
that I am?
And Peter blurted out suddenly.
He said, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God.
And he said, That's correct, Peter, but flesh
and blood does not reveal this to you.
It's not your own understanding, your knowledge.
This is divine revelation, but my Father which
is in heaven.
And he said, And upon this statement, upon
this declaration, this revelation that you've been given,
the church will be built upon that rock,
that declaration, I am the Son of God.
The church is based on Jesus Christ, his
deity.
You're a little stone, you're Petra, but this
Petra, this massive, wonderful Petra rock and foundation.
And then shortly thereafter, maybe still flushed with
his revelation, he's trying to stop the redemption
of man.
He's telling you, Not so, Lord.
He began to go to the cross.
No suffering.
Well, I'm not into that doctrine.
And you remember, as he went on, he
denied the Lord three times.
And this is what I find interesting.
When Jesus restored Peter in that perfect love
before all, showing the other apostles what they
make the mistake that they will God could
never use Peter again.
He denied him.
He failed.
So what does Jesus do in his perfect
love?
He takes Peter before the rest of the
apostles in the Galilee before he returns to
the Father, and he recommissions Peter in a
loving, wonderful way before them all that they
would see it.
God's not finished with man just because he
failed.
Because Peter truly was broken.
He truly was broken.
It wasn't the tears of Esau.
He wasn't sorry for something lost like Judas
and so tormented, committed suicide.
No, he was broken for what he'd done.
He denied his Lord and it broke his
heart.
And there was true repentance.
And so Jesus restored him before them all.
And it's interesting.
He said, Peter, love has found me because
Peter denied him three times, as you recall.
And so Jesus drew him back into fellowship.
Love has found me.
And remember when he said, Yehohot, thou knowest
that I love thee.
He said, now feed my lambs.
Make sure you have a good Sunday school.
If you're going to feed my sheep, the
most important thing is the little lambs.
That's the next generation.
Then he said, love has found me, Peter.
He says, now tend my sheep, take care
of them, feed them.
And then the third time he recommissioned them.
Now, I really believe that the Lord dropped
the sheep three times and probably the third
time Peter's saying, oh no, here I go
again.
Here I go again.
I mean, he could have dropped it once,
I'm sure.
But three times he lowered it because that
tendency in Peter to blurt out the impulsiveness
because I don't understand it.
Not so, Lord.
I'm not going to do it.
It's not right.
I'm going to be a faithful Jew, even
though I believe in you.
So he dropped it three times.
Then it was received up into heaven.
Peter had been instructed what I call clean.
Don't you call unclean.
And the Lord wasn't referring to food here,
even though there was a dietary laws of
the Jewish people.
The Spirit of God had changed that the
church after Pentecost.
And if you look at Paul's writing, hey,
you can pray over anything, eat whatever you
want.
Nuggets, Doritos, peanut butter cups.
I mean, depending on what culture you're in,
to be a faithful missionary is to eat
what's put before you.
And certainly you do learn to pray.
I've been in places where I've prayed.
Really prayed.
I've prayed in my understanding.
I've prayed in tongues.
Prayed so long it got cold.
But I'll tell you, I survived.
And it blessed the people I was with.
And so what he's saying here is, now
you've got this, you're starting to fellowship with
Jews within your own society.
You know, you're breaking down the caste system,
so to speak.
But you still have something about another race
that's down deep inside.
And we're going to deal with it.
And you see, there is no room for
that, is there, in the body of Christ.
There's absolutely no room for that in the
body of Christ.
Because we're all from Adam, and the last
Adam came to redeem us all.
We're all created in God's image.
He says, God is no respecter of persons.
He loves everybody equally in every race, every
type of person is important in God's eyes,
and equal.
And so God will deal with that.
Here it is in Peter.
Peter's never had to deal with it.
It's for all these years.
And again, spirit-filled.
Gifts of the Spirit operating his life.
Ten years after Pentecost, yet this deep, ingrained
thing down deep inside.
And God's saying, now we're going to deal
with it.
And it could be there's something in your
life that may not be prejudiced.
It may be something else in your life
God's never even dealt with yet.
And you've been filled with the Spirit for
so many years.
And now God's beginning to put the pressure
on your life in some area, and it's
time to yield.
It's time to be free from it.
You've had it buried down inside, kind of
like Achan.
And you remember in the book of Joshua,
that thing he had buried had stopped everybody
from moving forward.
It could be stopping the blessings of your
family, your home, your own life.
And God's saying, now it's time to deal
with it.
I'm going to set you free.
So it's time for Peter.
Well, Peter doubted himself what 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.
Peter's probably still up there wondering what to
eat, you know, and what he should do.
I'm sure he's not exactly sure.
When you drop that sheet, it reminded me,
I heard pretty interesting today, about the panda
that walked into the restaurant to get something
to eat.
I don't know if you've heard that story.
I certainly haven't shared it with you.
There's this luncheon place or, you know, like
a delicatessen in the city of Rochester, and
it's that place where everybody, all the yuppies
run out every day about twelve o'clock
at the same time, the people from Kodak
and Bosch and Long.
And they all kind of knew each other,
and they're having lunch, a quick 40-minute
lunch before they go back for the afternoon
work.
And they're all sitting there eating, and a
panda walks in.
Walks up to the counter and orders a
salad and a glass of water.
Eats the salad, drinks the water, pulls out
a gun, and blasts the ceiling.
Empties the pistol in the ceiling.
Bam!
Just eight shots.
Gets up and walks out.
Everybody's screaming, hitting the floor.
What the heck is going on?
Why'd that panda do that?
Can't figure that out.
And they all leave.
Makes the papers, and the next day they
come back, and they're still talking about lunchtime
again, you know.
And they drift in for their lunch, and
they're talking.
Says, man, wasn't it a crazy thing?
Never saw anything like that in my life.
A panda coming in here, eating like that,
and then shooting holes in the ceiling and
walking out.
And the owner says, well, I did a
little research, so I can understand.
There's nothing new about that.
We should expect that with a panda.
They say, why?
What do you mean?
What are you talking about?
That's not normal.
They say, look, pandas, it's normal.
I got to thinking about that, and I
went and got an encyclopedia Britannica.
I looked up panda.
It says it's an animal.
It's from China.
It eats, leaves, shoots, or eats, shoots, and
leaves.
Eats, shoots, and leaves.
So now they're standing before the gate, and
they called, and they asked whether Simon, which
was surnamed Peter, were lodged there.
And while Peter thought on the vision, the
Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men to
you.
Notice how God's working now.
And the Spirit of God as a personality
is a person with a voice.
So you have this third person of the
Trinity speaking audibly.
Arise, therefore, and get thee down, and go
with them, doubting nothing.
For I have sent them.
So the deity and the personality of the
Holy Spirit working in this.
And then Peter went down to the men
who sent unto him from Cornelius, and he
said, Behold, I am he whom you seek.
What is the cause whereof you are come?
And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just
man and one that feareth God and of
good report.
Man, isn't that something?
A man that had such a good report.
Now, the Jews hated Rome, because they were
under the dominion of Rome.
They'd lost the scepter.
They'd lost the authority of their own nation.
But this man was such an example, just
in his devotion to seeking God.
He was an example to the whole nation.
He had good report.
Would be God that we would live such
a way that all who knew us would
say, There's such a good report about that
person.
A good report among all the nation of
the Jews.
And he was warned from God by a
holy angel to send for thee unto his
house and to hear words of thee.
And then called he them and lodged them.
And on the morrow Peter went away with
them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea.
So up the coast they go, Peter being
obedient.
And Cornelius waited for them and had called
together his kinsmen and near friends.
And so here's this whole contingent of Gentiles,
and Peter's finally in his life.
He's going to have to deal with it.
God's working in his life.
And as he was coming in, Cornelius met
him and fell down at his feet and
worshipped him.
Just to give him homage.
He had such a high regard.
And certainly because he had a vision and
an angel appeared.
And here he comes up the coast.
He's overwhelmed.
And most pagans do get overwhelmed and they
bow down before humans.
And notice Peter didn't say, kiss my ring
or stick his foot out and say, kiss
my big toe.
I'm the pope.
He's a true servant of God.
Peter took him up saying, stand up.
I myself also am a man.
It's a terrible thing what's happened in the
church.
And this happens a lot, I think, with
maybe baby Christians, immature Christians.
As they begin to see God using somebody,
they become more enamored with the instrument that
God is using than God himself.
Because they haven't learned to walk by faith.
And so so much is by what they
see.
And so they see the man or the
woman, the instrument that God's using for his
own glory.
And the man or the woman may be
being faithful also in the ministry.
And but don't ever allow someone to put
you on a pedestal, because God has ways
of knocking this off.
That's the tragedy of the church.
God began to use people in the church
and they allowed themselves to be placed on
the pedestal.
And then they're being called reverend.
And the Bible says there's only one person
who's reverend, and that's God.
It says holy and reverend is his name.
So then he made a little higher pedestal,
and then it's the right reverend.
Then he got a little higher pedestal, and
they liked that height.
And so they allowed themselves to be called
the very right reverend and the very holy
right reverend.
Then they started calling them cardinals and blue
jays and robins and all the other things.
It's a tragedy that these men have allowed
that to happen and allowed people to do
that.
But in the early church, two servants of
God will not allow that.
There's only one person that should be exalted,
and that's Jesus Christ.
That's our precious Lord.
He's holy.
He's reverend.
And so Peter quickly refuses homage or adoration
or adulation.
He refuses to allow somebody who is ignorant
to place them on a pedestal just because
God is using them.
He refuses to touch the glory.
And as he talked with him, he went
in and he found many that were come
together.
So now he's exposed to the Gentiles.
A Jew mingling with the Gentiles.
And only the Holy Spirit could cause a
man to do that.
Again, there can be such ingrained prejudices and
fears, but only the Spirit of God, the
love of God, breaks down every barrier there
is.
It says perfect love casts out all fear.
It says he who fears is not made
perfect in love.
The wonderful love of Jesus can cause us
to mingle with anybody in his grace.
He said unto 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 hath showed me that I should
not call any man common or unclean.
And again, the thing that just strikes me,
this is ten years after Pentecost.
So it shows you, even though you may
be filled with the Spirit, have the gifts
of the Spirit, it takes a lot longer
to start to develop the fruit of the
Spirit, which is love.
Many people get tongues, have miracles in their
lives, can prophesy, teach, have the gift of
help, do many, many things, and still not
have love.
And Paul devotes that whole wonderful chapter in
1 Corinthians 13, that greatest is love.
For God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son.
That's the love that God has for all
of us.
And he's asking us to have that kind
of love for each other, the love of
Jesus.
And there's no such thing as a common
person.
There's a common face for every person, as
you tell us.
There's no such thing, though, as a common
person in the eyes of God.
And that means that everybody here, you see,
you are very valuable, very important in the
scheme of things.
God loves you, has a plan for your
redemption.
He has plans to bless you.
His thoughts towards you are precious.
It says, His thoughts towards you are more
than the sand of the sea.
Now, stop and think how many grains of
sand there are in all the seas and
the beaches.
Here's some folks right here that have quite
a bit just where they live, just up
and down the coast of Florida.
But that's just one tiny little area.
Now, just stop and think, how many different
thoughts do you think you could have?
Try and spend the next hour with a
different thought every second.
Try to spend the next 24 hours with
absolute new thoughts for 24 hours without repeating
yourself with a thought.
But God, his thoughts toward you are more
than the sand of the sea.
He knows more about you, cares more about
you than you can even conceive.
The sand of the sea.
Beside that, it says His mercies are new
every morning.
Now, stop a minute.
Come up with new mercy tomorrow.
Have somebody do something against you.
Start to check.
Get your list out.
Think of new mercy every single moment for
somebody who's done something against you.
Don't repeat the mercy.
How much new mercy can you design?
We get to a point and say, that's
it, no more mercy.
You've done it.
You've pulled the plug on it now.
That's it, no more mercy.
God's mercies are new every morning.
He has even given you the same mercy
since you've been born again.
He hasn't given us what we deserve since
we've been born again.
He's given us mercy and new mercy.
He's given you new mercy today, and he'll
give you new mercy tonight.
He'll give you new mercy tomorrow, if you
need it.
They're new every morning.
What a wonderful Lord.
Wonderful God.
And he doesn't see anybody unclean, because with
his touch, you see, he can make whole.
He can cleanse.
Therefore came I unto you without gain, saying,
As soon as I was sent for, I
asked therefore for what intent you 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 I really believed truly that this man
was sincere in giving aid, building synagogues, and
seeing something in the Jewish religion, seeing the
example of maybe a Jewish believer.
But God honored that, and he did.
Whoever he gave that cup of cold water
to, as a Roman centurion, not having any
prejudice or bigotry.
And here's a pagan.
He wasn't of the household of faith.
He wasn't of the Jewish race, but Jesus
rewarded that.
And that's why I believe it doesn't matter
what culture, what jungle, what maze of buildings
in the city caught up, if someone's heart
begins to try out and consider and seek
after God, no matter what Satan tries to
deceive, if that heart is sincere and yearning,
Jesus Christ is there to rescue us.
We're the brand plucked out of the fire,
remember?
The Bible speaks of us as a brand
plucked out of a fire.
How many of you would stick your hand
in a fire to get a burning brand?
Nothing but a piece of old, burnt, charred
wood.
You think it's worth it?
How many of you would do that?
You saw an old, dirty, twisted piece of
wood glowing red, white, hot in a fire,
and you see something valuable in that old
piece of dirty, burning wood.
You stick your hand in the fire and
pull it out, simply so it wouldn't burn
up.
You see, that's what God did for you
and I.
We're the brands plucked out of a fire.
The fires of hell that we're facing, the
wrath that comes because we're damned.
We're outside of Christ, and God, in his
love and mercy, reaches down to put his
hand and pulls us out, worthless as we
were, because he saw something wonderful, what he
could do with his love, his regeneration, his
salvation.
And so, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard.
Thine alms are had in remembrance in the
sight of God.
Send, therefore, to Joppa and call hither Simon,
whose surname is Peter.
He is lodged in the house of one
Simon the Tanner by the seaside, who, when
he cometh, shall speak unto thee.
And immediately, therefore, I sent to thee, and
thou hast well done that thou art come.
Now, therefore, are we all here present before
God to hear all things that are commanded
thee of God?
I want to hear."
And then Peter opened his mouth and said,
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.
He's the Prince of Peace.
He preaches peace.
I like what it says about Jesus, you
remember, in the synagogue.
I think it's in Luke, when Jesus spoke,
and it says that after he was finished,
he said, We've never heard such gracious words.
He spoke with such peace, such love, as
he read Isaiah chapter 61, verse 1, declaring
who he was, the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.
And after they heard that, he said, We've
never heard such gracious speech.
Now, stop and think.
Again, if you know this, I think I've
shared this before, the Jews have cyclical readings.
They have seasons where they read through the
Torah every year, through their seasons in the
synagogues.
These Jews, they were godly Jews that attended
the synagogue regularly in Capernaum, and so they
would hear this text taught every single year
by their rabbi.
When Jesus taught it, it was so different.
There must have been such love, such truth,
such devotion, such sincerity, when Jesus said, We
have never heard it taught like this before.
We've never heard such gracious words.
That word, I say, you know, which was
published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee
after the baptism of John the priest.
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the
Holy Ghost and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed
of the devil, for God was with him.
If you feel oppressed tonight, it's from the
devil.
If you're a child of God and you're
oppressed, it's from Satan, because there's no condemnation
of those that are in Christ Jesus.
God will never condemn his own.
The Spirit of God may convict you, may
try to soften you, may draw you back
to the Lord, but he'll never oppress you,
never condemn you.
All oppression for the child of God is
from Satan, and Jesus came to deliver you
from that, to free you from that.
So if you're going around oppressed, rebuke it.
Rebuke Satan in the name of Jesus Christ.
God hasn't designed your life to be under
that cloth.
His yoke is easy, his burden is light,
and Jesus Christ took all the oppression.
He took the curse upon himself on Calvary
that you might be freed.
And we are witnesses of all things which
he did both in the land of the
Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and
hanged on a tree.
How him God raised up the third day
and showed him openly.
Now, it's interesting, in John chapter 2, verse
19, Jesus said, No man taketh my life,
but I lay it down and I taketh
it up again.
So Jesus raises himself from the dead, the
text tells us, in John chapter 2.
Here it says that God raised him from
the dead.
Romans 8, 11, it says that the Spirit
of God raised him from the dead.
And in Galatians chapter 1, verse 11, God
the Father.
So you've got the whole trinity declaring their
part in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
How they all work together.
And notice who he showed himself to.
Not the skeptics.
Jesus doesn't have to prove anything to the
unbeliever.
He only appeared to believers.
That's why it's so foolish for someone to
say, well, Jesus is really God.
Have him do something right before my eyes
and then I'll believe.
Really, it's nothing but the announcement or some
kind of verbiage from a skeptic.
No sincerity whatsoever.
And Jesus will not even respond to that.
But those who believed, those who needed their
faith rewarded, those who did love him.
It says, Not to all the people, but
unto witnesses chosen before God, even to us
who did eat and drink with him after
he rose from the dead.
And he commanded us to preach unto the
people and to testify that it is he
which is ordained of God to be the
judge of the quick and the living and
the dead.
To him, give all the prophets witness that
through his name, whosoever is believed within him
shall receive the remission of sins.
The question is, if you believe in Jesus
Christ, you believe he's the son of God,
the Savior of the world, the only answer
for redemption.
The only way to reach heaven and have
the sin issue taken care of.
There's no ritual.
There's no sanctifying process.
There's no organization.
There's only one way to heaven.
That's believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, acknowledging
our sin.
Lord, I'm a sinner.
You came to die for my sin.
You came to raise yourself from the dead
to give me victory over death, to give
me the promise of eternal life.
If I put my faith and my trust
in you, I'll have eternal life.
My sins will be forgiven.
If you have that in your heart, you
believe that with all of your heart and
that God has raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved, the Bible says.
It may be you come to Calvary Chapel
and you haven't really asked the Lord into
your heart.
You haven't made a real decision.
Jesus, I'm a sinner.
Please forgive me my sin.
You're the Savior of the world.
Come into my heart.
I realize that just by going to Calvary
Chapel or being water baptized or being involved
with the church doesn't make me saved.
You remember, Jesus teaches clearly in Matthew chapter
seven in that last day, multitudes will stand
before him and they'll say, Lord, Lord, we've
even said your name openly.
We've referred to you as Lord, Lord.
We've done wonderful things, not evil things.
We've performed miracles.
We've cast out demons in your name and
you'll say, depart from me, you workers of
iniquity.
I never knew you.
They were never really born again.
They never really had Christ in their heart.
They were like the five virgins with no
oil.
They weren't sealed with the Spirit of God.
There's no indwelling person of the Holy Spirit.
So Peter's saying, if you really believe with
all of your heart, much like Paul said
to the Philippian jailer, if you believe with
all of your heart, thou shalt be saved.
And if he's preaching redemption, much like he
did on the day of Pentecost, notice what
happens.
Peter didn't know this was going to happen.
They weren't pumping things up, trying to shove
the dove and work a crowd into hysteria
to get them emotionally high to respond to
something.
Peter's just teaching.
He's sharing the truth of God.
And that's the wonderful thing about the Lord.
You never know when he's going to just
step in and invade our space and create
some kind of a blessing unexpected for your
life.
All he's asking for is obedience, without doubt,
with an open heart.
Not asking why.
You know, Peter didn't wrestle with, why should
I go up and see this guy?
Send someone else.
Philip's up in that area.
Why am I busy?
I'm on the roof praying.
Thank God they didn't have phones.
He might have called an elder or an
associate pastor, but he responded in obedience and
he went and God had this marvelous thing
that none of them knew was going to
take place.
God in his grace, in his sovereignty, in
his providence, pours out the spirit and he's
fulfilling more of Joel chapter two, verse twenty
eight.
Now, all flesh, the Jews received it on
Pentecost ten years earlier.
Why he waits ten years?
I don't know.
I don't know these things about God, but
he did it.
He fulfilled it all and now the Gentiles
are receiving the Holy Ghost and it fell
on all them which heard the word and
not one person fell on the ground.
And again, it must be that even after
ten years after Pentecost, God's spirit maybe didn't
have the power he has today, but then
I think on the day of Pentecost, the
greatest outpouring of the spirit of God, with
exceptions of this, to fulfill Joel 2.28,
not one person fell out of their seats
on the ground.
And there was no barking like dogs, or
living around the ground like snakes, or jerking
spasmodically, because the spirit of God is not
the author of confusion, but of peace as
in all the churches, no matter what their
preference of worship or style is.
Paul said, as in all the churches of
God, he's a God of order and decency.
And when the spirit of God comes on
someone, there is self-control.
And here the spirit pours out and not
one person falls on the ground, yet they're
responding to the work of the spirit.
They of the circumcision which believe were astonished
as many as came with Peter, because that
on the Gentiles also poured out the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
You don't have to pay for it.
It's a gift.
All the things of God are such gifts.
Now, this is what's interesting to me that
we see creeping in the church today, demonic
things that the church is not discerning.
The church, I think, is so starved and
doesn't know what personal relationship with Jesus is,
and there isn't that fulfillment in real relationships
that they need so many experiences.
They need a new thrill, because they're not
fulfilled with Christ Himself.
Like Paul said, that I may know him
and the power of the resurrection and the
fellowship of the suffering, not as well naming
and claiming, but the fellowship of the suffering
being made conformable into his death.
That's all Paul lived for, and it's curious
to me that these people are saying that,
well, God's spirit is moving their revival and
people are barking like dogs.
You realize in Deuteronomy chapter 23 that God
says that there shall not be any money
even come into the house of God from
a sodomite or a homosexual, and he calls
them dogs.
I don't even want the money of a
dog, a homosexual, in the house of the
Lord.
In Philippians chapter three, Paul says, Beware of
dogs.
In Revelation chapter 22, 15, it says the
city's gates are opened all, but without the
city, no opportunity to come into the new
Jerusalem without our dogs.
So if the spirit of God is causing
revival and moving, I don't think he'd have
people acting like dogs in his house.
The church is not discerning.
The fruit of the spirit when someone is
baptized and filled with the spirit is self
-control, meekness.
See, didn't Jesus have the same problem when
he showed up the first time with the
scribes and the Bible teachers and the Pharisees?
He said, You do always err for you
know not the scriptures.
It's so important to read the scriptures and
allow the spirit of God to increase your
power of discernment to protect you, to keep
the church pure.
They heard them speak with tongues, glossolalia.
They began to just...and notice, they magnified God,
and there's the continuity and the beauty of
the text again in the book of Acts.
It isn't God giving messages to man.
It's man speaking to God, the glorious works,
the wonderful works of God in here.
As they got the gift of tongues and
they bypassed their intellect, they're giving perfect praise
and adulation, the wonderful works, the mighty works
of God.
And it's exactly what Peter taught in Acts
chapter 2.
Believe me, it's a powerful and a wonderful
gift to have, even though it's one of
the least of the few.
It's a blessed gift.
I don't believe anything God wants to give
us should be just set aside and ignored
and say, Well, I don't know if I
want it.
I'll bet you there's not one person here
that at Christmas time you're going to see
a package all wrapped up and say, I
don't think I want it, and just ignore
it.
I'll bet you you're going to unwrap every
gift that's sitting before you, and that's a
gift for man.
And you'll probably have to pay for it
in January because it's on the Visa card.
God's gifts are free, and they're perfect, and
you don't have to pay anything.
Lord, I want all the gifts you have
for me that will cause my life to
glorify you.
Whatever gift you have for me, Lord, if
it's going to help my prayer life, if
it's going to bring glory to you, if
it's going to have lasting fruit, if it
will touch lives and point them in your
direction, oh, Jesus, I want whatever gift you
have for me.
I don't care what it is.
I want to glorify you.
And he says, if you ask for his
gift, he's such a loving father.
He won't deceive you.
He won't give you a serpent or a
stone or a scorpion.
He'll give you what you need.
You don't have to fear, and you can
be filled with the Spirit.
You can ask God to fill you with
the Spirit.
Now, notice the order here.
Now, look at it already.
We're only in chapter ten, the first ten
years of Pentecost.
Notice you can't put God in the box.
Now, on the day of Pentecost, remember, they
went around and they spoke with tongues as
they were baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Tongues of fire resting upon their heads.
Remember that.
Then you remember here, Paul, earlier, he got
saved.
He was baptized in the Holy Spirit.
He didn't speak in tongues.
He got a healing.
Ananias said, Brother Saul, receive me the Spirit.
He laid hands on him, and the Spirit
of God came on him and filled him
with the Spirit.
He didn't speak in tongues.
Paul didn't get that gift until later on
in his life.
It says, scale, so he got healed.
So, you see, you can't pattern what's going
to happen to you when God fills you
with the Spirit.
And there's no order.
A lot of people say, well, it only
happens one way, so they form this denomination.
You're baptized in the Holy Spirit the day
you accept Jesus Christ.
It didn't happen that way with Paul.
He got saved on the way to Damascus.
He didn't get filled with the Spirit until
he got into Damascus.
And he got water baptized after he was
filled with the Spirit.
Some people get water baptized and are filled
with the Spirit at the same time.
Some people get water baptized and aren't filled
with the Spirit until later.
You can't put God in the box.
And here we have a different here again.
Here they're speaking in tongues.
They've been saved.
They've responded to Peter's message, filled with the
Spirit.
And then notice what takes place.
Water baptism here comes last.
Can any man forbid water that these should
not be baptized which have received the Holy
Ghost as well as we?
So, you see, they got saved first, responded
in their heart, filled with the Spirit, and
water baptized last.
When John was preaching the kingdom, they're getting
water baptized right away, before Pentecost.
The thing is, have it all.
I don't care what order it is.
Make sure you get it all.
Make sure you're saved.
Make sure you are filled with the Spirit,
that you're not ashamed of Christ, that you
have the boldness and the power to declare
Christ openly, not just with a bunch of
Christians, you know, when we gather together, feel
safe in.
But see, that's the baptism of the Holy
Spirit.
It gives us that power.
It frees us from the fear.
We can be a witness.
And then Jesus said, well, prove that you're
not ashamed of me.
Openly declare your identification of my death, my
burial, my resurrection.
Get water baptized.
Can any man forbid water that these should
not be baptized which have received the Holy
Ghost as well as we?
We know that they were already saved because
the Holy Ghost won't count it as dead.
There's a beautiful type in Genesis.
Remember, God judged the earth.
There's death everywhere.
The water hadn't receded enough, but Noah knew
that the ark was beginning to settle down.
Maybe the waters were settling, as God had
moved everything in all the great depths in
the new mountain ranges.
The Himalayas were established, the new land masses,
and he could tell as the waters were
not swishing back and forth in new ocean
basins and things were settling down.
Remember, Noah sent a dove out of the
ark and a raven.
And he knew that a raven was a
carrion, a bird of carrion.
It would eat dead flesh.
And he knew a dove would not land
on anything dead or rotting.
And sure enough, the dove came back.
There was nothing to light upon.
But the raven didn't come back.
He started hopping around on dead, floating dinosaurs,
having a feast.
So Noah knew since the dove came back,
it's not safe to leave the ark yet.
There's no life.
The dove does not land on anything that's
not alive.
And the dove is a symbol of the
Holy Ghost.
You're not going to be filled with the
Spirit and be touched by God's Spirit until
you're saved for his life, until you're born
again.
So to go somewhere and say, I want
this tower to run down and have some
experience, you're thinking you're getting saved because you
experienced some power and you haven't been born
again.
That order is wrong.
You must be born again.
When Jesus met Nicodemus, when Nicodemus came to
him, he didn't say, Nicodemus, you must be
filled with the Spirit.
No, he said, you must be born again.
That's the first and most important thing.
You have to have new life.
And then God says, I'll put my dove
upon you.
We'll find out later that some people were
water baptized before they were baptized in the
Holy Ghost.
Again, God is changing the order, so he's
trying to keep us from forming our denomination.
This is the only way God does it.
He'll do it anyway.
The important thing is, has it happened to
you?
If you've been water baptized, are you really
saved?
Are you filled with the Spirit?
Does your life magnify God?
That's what we want in our lives, to
magnify God.
And the Spirit of God enables us.
Paul wrote, you remember, in Philippians chapter 2,
verse 12 and 13, work out your own
salvation with fear and coming forward as God,
which work is in you to will and
deal with good pleasure, working in you through
the power of the Holy Spirit to enable
you to glorify God and to enjoy Christianity.
So, he commanded them to be baptized in
the name of the Lord, and prayed they
him to tarry certain days.
So, Peter's set free.
He realizes that there's nobody that God calls
common, that God loves everybody, and he's not
going to have some sort of an attitude
that God's going to save a certain people
before another people, or quicker, or have a
higher regard for a certain race.
You see that tragically in the United States,
you know, with white people, thinking that God
has some special favor for the white Anglo
-Saxons.
There are probably more saved Africans than there
are Americans.
There are probably more saved Chinese than there
are Americans.
You consider the population, and you hear the
reports and the beauty of God's spirit moving.
Remember, God started saving people in Africa 400
years before the United States even existed.
So, there's a heritage over there far before
the white people over here.
So, some people believe some wrong reports, and
you look at the population of China, the
way God is working in China, the way
God's working in the Soviet Union.
God's got his 7,000, his perfect number,
his wonderful people everywhere.
And so, Peter, his ministry is just becoming
more dynamic.
He's just growing in the Lord.
And again, the Bible is so faithful to
show that just because someone is baptized in
the Holy Spirit, that doesn't mean we've arrived.
We're constantly learning, constantly learning.
Oh, Lord, open my heart.
Change my life by your love.
Broaden my horizons.
Paul prayed for the Ephesian church, that they
might grow in the knowledge and the love
of Jesus Christ.
That's the most powerful, effective force in the
universe, the love of Jesus Christ.
Father, we thank you for your surprises, that
we don't have to fear them, that if
we'll just be obedient and trusting, Lord, you
can break in and do something wonderful in
our lives through the power of your Spirit,
your grace, your love.
And Lord, we'd ask you to continually work
in our hearts, in our lives, your grace
and love.
May we glorify you, Lord.
And may there be one person on our
pedestal, and that person Jesus Christ.
Lord, don't let us rest until you free
us, until we're ready to face up with
the things we need to let go of
and turn over to you.
We desire to be free, Lord, from our
own fears, our own doubts, and we desire
to bear fruit for you, Lord, that remains.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Farmington, New York, 14425.
May Jesus bless you as you study his
word.