Tonight, I'm going to be talking, as it
says in the bulletin, on practical Christianity, and
you may be thinking, well, what does he
mean by that?
What's it all about?
I want to talk tonight about the nuts
and bolts of being a Christian.
You know, many times you and I have
been to places where we've heard a sermon
and we're very much motivated about being a
Christian.
Perhaps you don't know really what it means,
though, to be a Christian.
You say, well, yes, I agree, that's nice.
You might have heard a pastor speak on
achieving peace in your life, or achieving happiness,
fulfillment.
Or you may have heard a pastor speak
on a release from guilt and despair.
And all of these things, they have pointed
to Christ and said, now you can find
these in Christ.
And you're wondering, well, I want to find
those things, but how do I find them
in Christ?
Where does it come together?
What does it really mean to be a
Christian?
Some people would have you think that it
really doesn't make too much difference as long
as you're sincere.
As long as you sincerely believe something, that
that's good enough.
That faith in itself is a virtue and
will save you.
You know, that's really not true.
You know that if you just stop and
think about it for a moment.
Early in my career when I was working
Southwest Division, I went into an emergency hospital
and a young boy, about five or six
years old, was on the emergency table heaving
great gulps of air into his lungs because
he was about ready to die.
He had taken a 45 automatic bullet right
in the forehead.
And he was unconscious, of course, but his
body was trying desperately to live.
And he died right as I came into
the room.
The family was already there and they were
huddled around him.
And there was a great deal of emotion
and crying and weeping and anguishing.
And there was a young boy, just about
a year older than this boy, who had
a striking resemblance to him.
And he was in the next room and
he had his head in his hands and
he kept saying, oh, I didn't know it
was loaded.
Oh, I didn't know it was loaded.
He had shot and killed his own brother.
Now, that boy really didn't believe the gun
was loaded.
He had faith that it was an empty
gun.
He had a sincere belief, an honest faith.
And when he pointed that gun at his
brother's head and pulled the trigger, he honestly
had faith that it would not go off,
that it was empty.
He had taken the clip from the handle.
He didn't realize there was a round still
in the chamber when the slide had closed
shut.
It was an honest mistake.
He had an honest belief that caused him
to do a certain action, but that belief
was not correctly placed in the right manner.
He had faith, but it was not appropriate
faith.
It wasn't placed in the right person or
thing or concept.
So you see, it does matter what you
believe.
And tonight I'd like to begin by talking
about what the Bible says we must believe
in talking about this.
I would like to relate to you from
the Bible, a story about a police captain.
Did you know there was a story about
a police captain in the Bible?
You say, now, wait a minute, Bernie, you're
stretching a little bit.
Would you turn in your Bibles to Acts,
the 10th chapter?
In Acts 10, we have a story about
a certain man by the name of Cornelius.
And he was indeed a police captain.
You see, back then, they didn't have a
civilian police department.
The land of Palestine had been taken under
the authority of Rome.
Rome had swept across most of the then
known world with its armies, with its legions,
and Palestine was under the command and control
of Rome.
They had detachment of soldiers there, a garrison
at Fort Antonio.
And at Caesarea, they also had a garrison.
And Cornelius was the police captain in charge
of Caesarea, this city in Palestine.
At that time, the army, the occupying army
were, in fact, the police.
When something happened, when you called the police,
the soldiers came and they were the police
officers.
And so here we're talking about the police
captain of Caesarea.
And it says here there was a certain
man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of
what was called the Italian cohort.
And then it says some very interesting things
about Cornelius.
It says really four things that I think
are very remarkable.
Number one, it says he was a devout
man in verse two and one who feared
God with all his household.
In other words, he believed in God.
He was a devout man.
He was a religious person.
He believed, it says he feared God with
all his household, and he gave many alms
to the Jewish people and he prayed to
God continually.
Now, you notice those are four great things
about this man, virtuous things.
He was religious.
He believed in God.
If there had been a church to attend,
he would have been attending.
He would have been a churchgoer.
He gave alms.
He practiced the good works of what you
might say is a Christian way of living,
although they didn't really have the name Christian
at this time.
And thirdly, he even, rather fourthly, he even
prayed.
So as we look at this man, he
was devout and religious.
He was probably, he would have been a
churchgoer.
He believed and feared God and all his
household.
He made them get together and give respect
to God.
He had the good works of giving to
the poor and all those kinds of things.
And he prayed constantly.
You'd think that would be enough, wouldn't you?
You'd think surely this man would find favor
with God.
Well, he did find favor, but he really
wasn't in God's family yet because we'll find
out what happened here in verse three about
the ninth hour of the day.
He clearly saw in a vision, an angel
of God who had just come into him
and said to him, Cornelius, can you imagine
that?
You got to get the picture now.
Cornelius is, is there at probably taking the
traditional afternoon siesta or about to, uh, there
in Palestine.
They did that.
That was part of that culture.
And all of a sudden an angel standing
there.
And it says that he clearly saw him
in a vision, which indicates to us he
wasn't asleep yet really.
And, uh, I'll tell you that that shook
him up because it says in verse four
and fixing his gaze upon him and being
much alarmed, he said, what is it, Lord?
He used the right phrase there, man.
He said, don't want to mess with this
dude.
I mean, after all, you know, here he
is angel, uh, some kind of flashy clothing
on it says later on in the chapter,
it doesn't really say flashy, but it says
he had shining Raymond.
We noticed that about angels that whenever they
appeared there, Raymond shined, it said like, uh,
like lightning kind of had a glow about
it.
And so I don't blame Cornelius for being
a little bit alarmed.
He was righteously alarmed, you know?
And he said, what is it, Lord?
And he said to him, your prayers and
your alms have ascended as a Memorial before
God.
In other words, you've got the attention of
God Cornelius.
And now dispatch some men to Joppa and
send for a man named Simon, who is
also called Peter.
He is staying with a certain Tanner named
Simon, whose house is by the sea that
is in the city Joppa.
And when the angel who was speaking to
him had departed, he summoned two of his
servants and a devout soldier of those who
were in constant attendance upon him.
Currently, one of his soldiers was also a
believer.
It gives us a little indication when it
says, and one of the soldiers was a
devout soldier.
So he brings in a couple of them
and a devout soldier, probably a believer.
And after he had explained everything to him,
he sent them to Joppa.
Now you have to get the picture here.
Here, Cornelius is religious.
He believes, he prays, he gives alms.
And all of a sudden there's an angel
saying, in effect, that's not enough.
There's something else you've got to find out
about.
There's something else than just this of being
a Christian.
And I can imagine Cornelius probably had some
questions in his mind.
Now, wait a minute.
He's shaking his head and scratching his head.
There's something more?
Now he didn't say that because he was
alarmed.
I mean, you would too be if an
angel appeared to you, whether it was a
vision or otherwise.
And Cornelius was like that.
So he didn't really say that.
But I imagine he was thinking that.
There's something else yet?
But he assumed there was, and he sent
some of his servants immediately.
And on the next day, as they were
on their way and approached the city, Peter
went up into the house, stopped about the
six hour to pray.
And the Lord prepares Peter's heart.
Because you see, Peter was a Jew and
things had to be kosher.
I mean, literally.
And Peter was not used to associating with
non-Jewish people, that is Gentiles and especially
soldiers.
That would be kind of a disgrace to
go to an occupying soldier's house.
And so the Lord prepared Peter.
We're not going to go into that right
now.
But he prepared him with a vision, letting
him know it was OK to talk to
this guy, Cornelius.
And so later on, down through the chapter,
you have to read it some other time
if you haven't read it before.
Peter does go with the soldiers back to
Cornelius at Caesarea.
Verse 24.
Rather, verse 23.
And on the next day, he arose and
went with them.
And some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied
him.
And on the following day, he entered Caesarea.
Now, Cornelius was waiting for them and had
called together his relatives and close friends.
He probably had a pretty spacious house being
the the centurion of the detachment there at
Caesarea.
And he probably had one of those typical
Mediterranean houses that had a patio in the
center and was built around this patio.
And it says he had he had invited
many of his relatives and friends.
And he was waiting for this message of
what else he was supposed to do, except
what he was doing in order to find
favor with God.
And when it came about that Peter entered,
Cornelius met him and fell at his feet
and worshiped him.
But Peter raised him up.
Peter was embarrassed.
He raised him up saying, stand up.
I, too, am just a man.
And as he talked with him, he entered
and found many people assembled.
Doesn't say how many.
It just says many.
So Cornelius was anxiously awaiting the arrival of
Simon Peter.
And in verse 28, it says, and he
said to them, you yourselves know how unlawful
it is for a man who is a
Jew to associate with a foreigner or to
visit him.
And yet God has shown me that I
should not call any man unholy or unclean.
That is why I came without even raising
any objection when I was sent for.
And so I ask for what reason you
have sent for me.
And then Cornelius, beginning in verse 30, relates
to him what happened as far as his
vision and how he was supposed to send
for him to find out what else he
was supposed to do.
And it says in verse 33, and so
I sent to you immediately and you have
been kind enough to come.
Now, then we are all here present before
God to hear all that you have been
commanded by the Lord.
And in opening his mouth, Peter said, I
most certainly understand now that God is not
one to show partiality, but in every nation,
the man who fears him or respects him
and does what is right is welcome to
him.
The word which is sent to the sons
of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ.
He is Lord of all.
And then he goes on and begins talking
about Jesus and he talks about how he
was crucified in verse 39 and how he
rose from the grave in verse 40 and
in verse 41.
We'll take it up.
Actually, let's skip down to verse 43 of
him.
All the prophets bear witness that through his
name, everyone who believes or trusts in him
has received the forgiveness of sins.
And that kind of sums up what Peter
said to Cornelius.
He told him about the fact that Jesus
died on the cross, was rose from the
grave the third day and how he lives
today and how that was a substitutionary death.
And then he said, and it's everyone who
believes or trusts in him.
That's how you become a Christian.
That's what it means to be a Christian,
being devout, being religious, giving alms, praying.
All of those are good things, Cornelius.
But you see, you have to accept Jesus
Christ as your savior.
You've got to believe in what he did
on the cross.
That's the key issue.
That's how you become a Christian.
Now, let's leave that story right now for
a moment and find out why all of
this was necessary after Cornelius, being such a
good guy, still had to do something else
in believing in Christ.
Turn in your Bibles way back to Genesis,
the first chapter, verse 26, Genesis 1, 26.
And we're going to find out why Cornelius
had to do something more than just be
religious, a believer in God, that is a
prayer and a guy with a lot of
good works, giving alms and all those good
things.
Why did he have to do something else?
We begin to see the reason right here.
Then God said, let us make man in
our image.
Notice he says, let us, you know, there
were the Trinity was there way back then,
always has been father, son and the Holy
Spirit.
And they're talking with one another.
Let us make man in our image, according
to our likeness and let them rule over
the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the sky and over the cattle
and over all the earth and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
And God created man in his own image,
in the image of God.
He created him male and female.
He created them.
Now, that's a very important concept to understand,
and that is that we were created originally
in the image of almighty God.
Now, what does that mean to you?
Does that mean that originally we looked physically
like God?
Well, you know, if you if you look
around this room, you can see there are
many different kinds of looks as there are
people in this room.
Nobody really looks the same.
In fact, I've heard it said that if
you don't think God has a sense of
humor, just look at one another, you know,
look at how different we are and and
how we all have different looks on our
faces and different hairstyles and everything else.
And, you know, that's beautiful that we're all
different.
God has made us different.
And so it's not physical that he's talking
about.
It wasn't that we were created to look
physically like God, but it says we were
created in his image.
And many Bible scholars believe that what that
means is we're recreated really a trinity, a
body, a soul, the person behind the eyeballs
and a spirit.
You say, well, I kind of understand the
first body.
I can I can see that.
I can understand what you mean when you
say man is a trinity and that he
has a body.
But what's the difference between soul and spirit?
Well, I've had it explained this way and
it makes a lot of sense to me.
You know, a body gives you contact with
with a material world.
And Jesus Christ was the body form of
the Godhead gave God the ability to walk
this earth and to talk with us and
to let us touch him and see him.
He had a body, Jesus Christ.
There's a soul, the intrinsic you, the person
behind the eyeballs, the the personality that you
get to know.
You know, there's more than than this body
to Bob Vernon.
Some of you know me and I know
some of you.
And and it's more than just knowing my
body.
It's knowing me, that person that lives in
this body.
I want to be great.
Someday we'll all have rejuvenated, perfect bodies when
we see Christ.
We won't have the imperfections we have now.
We won't have the problems we have with
this body.
And, you know, it says that in first
Corinthians, it says that we go, we kind
of get grown and get tired of having
these bodies because they fall apart.
They they have problems and want to be
great.
It says in first Corinthians to slip into
our new bodies when we see the Lord,
the perfect ones that he has reserved there
in heaven for us.
That'll be great.
But we have a body and then there's
a person that lives in this body, the
soul, and that gives us the ability to
not just contact the physical world, but to
contact one another, to have communication with other
human beings and to get to know and
and to be self-aware and to be
aware of others.
The soul, the spirit gives us contact with
God.
The spirit is that form that that part
of us where we literally have communion with
God almighty and man originally was created a
triune, a triune person, a three parted person
with a spirit that gave him constant contact
with God.
But something happened in chapter two, verse 17,
but from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, you shall not eat your
God speaking to Adam and Eve, for in
the day that you eat of it, you
shall surely die.
Now, God said in the very day that
they eat from this tree of good and
evil, the knowledge of good and evil, they
would die that very day.
Now, let me ask you the question.
Did Adam and Eve, did either one of
them physically die that very day when they
ate of that, whatever it was?
No, they didn't.
In fact, they lived several hundred years later.
Was God wrong?
Did God make a mistake?
Did God make a booboo when he said
in the day that you eat of it,
you will surely die?
No, no, no.
God doesn't make mistakes.
You see, they did die.
They were born rather created by God to
be a body, a soul and a spirit.
But when they sinned, their contact with God
was severed.
Their spirit died.
They were no longer spiritually alive.
You say, how do you know that?
Well, there are many parts of the Bible
that talk about that.
But I think one of the classic chapters
about becoming spiritually alive again is a very
familiar one.
It's John, the third chapter.
Turn over to John, the third chapter.
And, you know, once you understand that spiritual
death concept that the Bible talks about and
that God talks about, you'll understand what Jesus
was talking about when he talked with Nicodemus
in John chapter three.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to him by night and
said to him, Rabbi, we know that you
are come from God as a teacher, for
no one can do these signs that you
do unless God is with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, truly, truly,
I say unto you, unless one is born
again, he cannot see the world
as he sees it.
And he said to him, truly, truly, I
say unto you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the world as he sees
it.
And he said to him, truly, truly, I
say unto you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the world as he sees
it.
And he said to him, truly, truly, I
say unto you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the world as he sees
it.
And he said to him, truly, truly, I
say unto you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the world as he sees
it.
And he said to him, truly, truly, I
say unto you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the world as he sees
it.
And I almost am getting to the point
where it kind of has a negative connotation.
It shouldn't because it's a very descriptive connotation.
I mean, meaning to it.
It's a phrase that Jesus himself used.
And he told Nicodemus, you've got to be
born again.
And of course, Nicodemus was very confused.
He didn't know what he was talking about.
And he says in verse four, how can
a man be born when he is old?
I mean, he is confused.
Can he enter a second time Into his
mother's womb and be born Kenny.
I mean he's just this really just kind
of as a kid say blew his mind
and Jesus in verse 5 says truly truly
I say unto you Unless one is born
of the water of the Spirit.
He cannot enter into the kingdom of God
You see what Jesus was saying going back
to that original concept of man being born
with a spirit But when Adam and Eve
sin, God said in that day, you'll surely
die They died spiritually and now God is
telling in the person of Jesus Christ and
Nicodemus Nicodemus.
You've got to come alive again Spiritually, you've
got to be born again spiritually.
You see Nicodemus.
You're dead spiritually and There's no way you
can have contact with God unless your spirit
comes alive again That really all matches in
with many other verses that you read in
in the Bible for instance in Romans the
sixth chapter There's a classic series of verses
rather Yeah, it is.
It's verse.
It's chapter 5.
I'm sorry Romans 5 beginning with Verse 6
for why we were still helpless that is,
you know Here we are spiritually dead at
the right time Christ died for the ungodly
For one will hardly die for a righteous
man though Perhaps for the good man someone
would even dare to die but God demonstrates
his love toward us in that while we
were yet sinners And we'll find out just
what that means a little later on here
Christ died for us much more than having
now been justified by his blood We shall
be saved from the wrath of God through
him for if while we were enemies We
were reconciled to God through the death of
his Son much more having been reconciled We
shall be saved by his life and not
only this but we also exalt in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ Through whom we
now have received this reconciliation that is being
brought back into Relationship with God member dying
spiritually no contact with God.
He's talking about being reconciled and in verse
12 Here's the classic verse therefore just as
through one man sin entered into the world
he's talking about Adam there and death through
sin and he's talking about spiritual and physical
death too but spiritual death primarily and death
through sin so that death spread to all
men and All have sinned And so what
he's saying here is is Every man that's
ever been born into the human race since
Adam has been born spiritually dead a sinner
And I want to make a statement that
that is easy to to get confused over
but listen carefully What the Bible is saying
here is we sin Because we're born sinners
We're not sinners because we sin did you
get that But we sin because we're born
sinner We're spiritually dead.
Every one of us was born spiritually dead
Every one of us was like Nicodemus.
We need to be born again now Jesus
goes on and Back in John 3 if
you'll flip back there just a few pages
You know, this is one of the rare
churches I speak in in many churches in
my travels This is one of the rare
churches where when you say back in John
3 and all of a sudden you hear
all the shuffling Of pages like crazy in
most churches.
They just sit there and look at you
You know, it's kind of neat to see
you following along and you being interested enough
to to read yourself Jesus goes on and
he talks about being born of the Spirit
in chapter rather verse 5 of chapter 3
And then he says that which is born
of the flesh is flesh.
In other words your body Yeah, that's one
thing but that which is born of the
Spirit is Spirit do not marvel that I
said to you you must be born again,
and Then I guess he could see I
mean being God He knew what was going
on this guy's mind and he has to
explain a little more and he said I
You know Nicodemus.
I assume he's thinking now.
Wait a minute.
I can't see a spirit Now, how can
a spirit be born?
Jesus answers that and he says the wind
blows word wishes and you hear the sound
of it But you do not know where
it comes from and where it is going
So is everyone who is born of the
Spirit?
In other words Jesus was saying you may
not see it happen with your eyes But
as sure as you see a tree bending
over from the influence of the wind, although
you don't see the wind You know that
the wind is there because of the effect
of the wind the results of the wind
Everyone doesn't dispute the wind, you know, it's
there because you see the results and he
said it's that way with your spirit Nicodemus
if you get born again spiritually, there'll be
some results Something will happen to you you'll
be a changed person and Nicodemus answered and
said how can these things be and he
said are you a teacher of Israel do
not understand these things and he Goes on
and he gives him the classic verse that
many of you have memorized as children in
verse 16 for God so loved the world
That he gave his only begotten Son So
that whosoever believes or trusts in him Should
not perish But have eternal life God did
not send his Son into the world to
judge the world, but that the world should
be saved Through him.
So here we have this classic Explanation to
Nicodemus by Jesus Christ himself about the necessity
of being born again Now the Bible is
a beautiful book it it fits all together
So neatly it just kind of all falls
into place and you know, the rest of
the Bible all agrees with this Isn't that
amazing?
It's not really is it because it's inspired
And you know there there are basically three
steps that I followed just getting down to
the nuts and bolts now Of what does
it mean to be a Christian?
There are basically three steps that I Took
when I became a Christian and expressed my
belief in Jesus Christ First of all the
step of recognizing that you are a sinner
and confessing that to God The Bible says
if we confess our sins He's faithful and
just and will forgive us our sins and
cleanse us from all unrighteousness You've got to
take that first step of confessing that you
need God Now that's a tough step for
many of us to take Especially for some
reason men they they don't like to admit
many men.
It's a kind of a macho thing They
don't like to admit they need anyone.
I don't need anybody I'll make it.
I'll clean up my life.
I'll I'll make it through the pearly gates
someday.
I'll be good enough I I will will
it to be I'm a strong individual.
I can make it but the Bible says
no no In order to really come into
God's family in order to get for sick
forgiveness for being a sinner You've got to
confess to God God.
I'm a sinner.
I need you.
I Reminded and I'm not sure I tell
so many police stories here in my messages
I forget which ones I've told and I
asked Esther I said did I tell this
one and she said I don't know I
hear You speak so much.
I can't remember but I'm gonna tell it
anyhow because it illustrates this point I'm trying
to make and frankly, I can't remember whether
I told it here or not but one
night we were chasing some kids in a
stolen car and The car that we were
chasing it was over in the East LA
area We got into the sheriff's area and
we actually chased them over a cliff and
it was kind of a hairy thing you
know, we'd gone in pursuit on the radio
and All the other cars in the district
were coming in and you know us cops
We cheat we we use a radio when
we get other guys to help out And
so we were hopefully waiting for these other
units to come in and help us But
they hadn't switched over our frequency to the
sheriff's and so we didn't get any help
We're all by ourselves over in the county
and it went on for quite a while
We were screaming around the hills up there
by this glue Center and my partner that
I was working with that night was Bill
Lynch He's now ahead of our anti-gang
squad called crash and Bill Lynch said look
at Bob I think they're gonna crash and
just he said that they hit a telephone
pole and the last we saw him We're
going over the cliff upside down.
Now.
That was a very Sobering sight for us
to see we knew they were young kids
We knew they would probably be killed and
I guess I was a little shook up
and I don't know whether I said it
wrong Over the radio or or whether the
girl was upset and mistook what I said
But I'll never forget I I said for
j9 the vehicle We were chasing just went
over 200 foot cliff and before I got
out of the car.
I started asking for merge equipment requesting an
ambulance Fire department heavy equipment heavy equipment.
Oh, you know, I'm asking for all these
things and she burst in she said For
j9 all units on all frequencies for j9
just went over a 200-foot cliff I
guess he thought I was broadcasting on the
way down saying for the ambulance, you know
Heavy equipment, you know Tell my wife I'll
be late, you know going down and She
really came out that way, you know, and
I picked up the radio and I said
no no No the unit we were chasing
just went over the 200-foot cliff, you
know and I cleared that up and I
got out of the car and I rushed
over to the side fully expecting to see
this car at the bottom of this 200
-foot ravine and Instead an amazing miracle that
occurred as I hit the telephone pole and
the car began rolling over It had somehow
ripped out the cable guy wire that was
into the ground and the cable guy wire
had somehow got tangled around The left rear
wheel and the car was dangling over the
cliff holding on to this telephone pole with
this guy wired amazing thing and Well, we
didn't know how long it was gonna hang
there, you know And so we're out of
the car and the car was just down
not too far from us and by that
time some neighbors had heard the crash even
though it was late at night and they'd
come out and we got some guys garden
hose and we were using it as a
rope and we kind of made a human
rope also and I was kind of Hanging
over the edge and and as the kids
come out of the car The car was
on its side and the door opened like
a tank turret, you know These kids are
coming up out of the car and I've
got my big police flashlight and I'm saying
hey over here You know, I'm gonna give
you a hand and I'll never forget look
on this one kids face He looked at
me and all he could see was cop,
you know, and he said no man I'm
gonna make it and he started toward the
other side of the car and you know,
he didn't realize where he was He just
didn't understand and I I flashed the light
down into the ravine I said you better
look and see where you're at buddy, and
I shined the light down into the ravine,
you know And I'll never get his eyes
He's holding on the side of this car
and he started down the beam of light
and the further down the light he went
the bigger his eyes became and He said
yeah.
All right.
Would you like to still help us, you
know?
And I mean he was ready to come
off and you know amazing as it may
seem We got all three of those kids
out of that car and the only kid
that was hurt was a kid in the
backseat for Some reason he'd gotten under the
seat during the pursuit He thought that we
were going to start shooting you and he
thought the seat could protect him from our
gunfire and When the car went over the
bottom part of that seat with the springs
had cut a gash in his head But
that was the only problem with these three
guys amazing but you know for a moment
they didn't want to admit they needed help
and Really?
I couldn't help him.
I mean that the situation was such that
They had to come to me, you know,
I couldn't get on it.
I wouldn't get on the car, you know
and They had to come to me.
They had to admit All right cop.
I need you and You know as I've
tried to explain it was tough for him
to do These were young kids that were
trying to get away from some cops and
to admit to a cop cop.
I need you It was tough and you
know It's kind of that way with many
of us in God I don't know about
you, but but most human beings kind of
have a problem that way with God It's
kind of hard to come to God and
say God.
I just got to admit something to you.
There's no way I'm gonna make it myself
And you know, that's what you've got to
do If we confess our sins He's faithful
and just will forgive us our sins and
cleanse us from all unrighteous And you know,
it's not that way just to join the
family of God.
It's that way in living with God You
know that the prayer that I pray every
morning I pray while I jog and I
pray as I drive to work and I
pray out loud in my car because I
find if I pray in my mind I
Start thinking in my mind wonders and pretty
soon.
I'm not praying you ever had that problem
And all of a sudden I'm way up
on a tangent I all of a sudden
I come to and say wait a minute.
I'm supposed to be praying man I haven't
prayed for the last 10 minutes.
You know, I've been just thinking about something
I start praying about some guy, you know,
and then I start thinking about him and
it's his house and I think about my
house I'm thinking about the doing something on
the roof or something a man.
I'm not even praying and So I found
that I've got to pray out loud And
so as I go to work I pray
out loud and the one of the first
things I say Soon as I get in
my car and I'm going down Linda Vista
turning through the freeway I say something like
this.
It's not always the same.
It's a little different, but I always say
this.
Well God here.
I am again old sinner Vernon Lord God
admit to you.
I'm a sinner.
I need you today If I'm gonna be
an effective assistant chief of police for the
city You've got to give me that kind
of wisdom that kind of strength because God
I want to admit to you I don't
have it myself You know God loves that
kind of prayer, you know where I got
that from the Apostle Paul He was like
that He was a kind of guy that
would say when I'm weak then I'm strong
When I admit to God just how weak
I am Then I'm strong.
Well, that's neat.
That's the way I like to start today.
You know, that's the way you start the
Christian life To begin to join in God's
family.
You have to come to the point where
you say God I have to admit something.
I need you.
I am a sinner the second step you
take when you join God's family is you
have to make an Expression of faith to
him you have to step out in faith
and take what many Bible theologians have called
the great leap of faith the leap of
faith Not only do you say God you're
up there But you have to believe some
specific things.
The Bible says this I want to turn
you to John 10 9 and 10 many
of you have memorized this It's a key
verse if you haven't you should I've memorized.
I want to try to quote it to
you right now If thou shalt confess with
thy mouth Jesus as Lord and Believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead Thou shalt be saved There are
some specific things that says you must do
you must confess with your mouth To someone
that you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord
what that phrase is Lord means He is
the Son of God and that takes a
leap of faith You have to believe that
Jesus was who he said he was the
Son of God not just another teacher As
a matter of fact, if you really think
it out, you know, I've heard people say
well Vernon I can't quite go along with
you.
I I do believe that he was a
great teacher And you know that that's inconsistent.
You can't really believe that let me show
you why Could a great teacher be a
liar in one of the principal doctrines that
he teaches You see Jesus said I'm the
Son of God Jesus said that Now he
couldn't be a great teacher if that was
a lie It's either he is who he
said he was or he's a fraud and
a charlatan and we shouldn't follow him but
I believe he was and is who he
says he is and of course Most of
you in this room tonight are with me
there But Jesus is Lord and it says
if thou shalt confess with my mouth Jesus
is Lord and Believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead thou
shalt be saved But with the heart men
believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth Confession
is made unto salvation.
That's very important That's very important.
You must take that leap of faith in
Believing that Jesus Christ is who he says
he is and that God raised him from
the dead That's another key element.
You have to believe I was over one
night Had a dear friend of mine who
has now passed away He kind of nurtured
me on the department brought me up in
the ranks of management Tom James Helen James
his wife attends here Tom Is a great
man He was like Cornelius He was a
good man He was religious He believed in
God he had good works he even prayed
once in a while and Really that was
his problem.
He was such a good man.
He didn't think he needed to do anything
else.
He was like Cornelius God didn't send an
angel to him But he sent crummy old
Bob Vernon to him and I told him
what he yet had to do and one
night I was over at his house and
we were having dinner I dropped by on
my way from Venice station where I was
captain at the time and He had just
had open-heart surgery and he didn't want
to Make that statement of faith before I
wonder went to surgery because he said I
thought it would be Hypocritical that I only
would call upon God when I needed him
He says now that I don't need him
and I have this bypass and it's working
real well now I I want to talk
about it and so I I sat down
and we talked about it over dinner and
Helen was there and in cooking.
I never forget.
We had spaghetti that night and I Suddenly
for some reason just looked across to Tom
and we really hadn't been talking about the
Lord and we're just talking about other things
I was talking about Venice and about police
work and he was a commander at the
time and I said boss Isn't it about
time?
That you take the step of faith And
become a Christian He said yeah You know,
I'm so shocked.
I don't know what else to say.
I sat there Helen was going around and
things were burning on the stove and she
was saying oh great.
Oh, he's gonna do it, you know and
We were kind of excited there and I
didn't know quite what to say and I
said well, uh, I What let's see, uh,
I was kind of stumbling around and he
said well, what do I do?
What do I believe he said I do
believe I believe that Jesus was who he
said he was I believe that much and
I believe that he that he died and
he rose again.
I believe that much He said I'm not
sure I know all of I'm ready to
buy all that stuff in the Old Testament
about a guy being swallowed by a fish
and all That but but I do believe
that Jesus was who he said he was
and I said hey Tom that is enough.
I Said the other may come Later on
but that initial belief that you have that
initial faith that Jesus was who he said
He was that he died for you that
he rose again and you're ready to admit
to him that you're a sinner.
That's enough That's the initial step of faith.
You don't have to accept the whole thing
the whole thing You don't even know the
whole thing yet.
You know, how can you accept it all?
He said you're right.
I only know a couple things something about
a fish on a guy something about Ocean
open or not for something he says I'm
not sure I I know all of that
I said well if you just take that
initial step and he said well if that's
all I have to do I'm ready to
do it.
Let's do it and Right there around the
table as the food burned on the stove
You know as Helen was jumping up and
down alongside the table Tom James bowed his
head and he took the third step.
Remember the first one was to confess God.
I'm a sinner I need you secondly express
that faith that Jesus was who indeed he
said he was and is and thirdly Receive
him as your personal Savior That's found in
John the first chapter and this is the
verse that literally brought me into the family
of God John 1 12 the gospel of
John first chapter the twelfth verse where it
says Talking about how God entered history in
those first few verses of the chapter the
word became flesh and dwell amongst us God
the Communication of God to man became flesh
and dwell amongst us then in verse 12
It said but as many as receive him
to them Gave he the power to become
the sons of God Even to those that
believe and trust in his name You know,
it does take more than just a simple
belief you say, how do you know that?
Well, you know the Bible in the book
of James has this to say Now believe
us in one God Big deal.
No, it doesn't really say big deal.
That's Bob Vernon's translation But it says thou
doest well, which is kind of King James
for big deal.
Okay now believe us in one God now
do us well the devil's believe and tremble
In other words, it's not enough to just
believe in God You've got to take that
belief to the point of commitment As the
Bible puts it in John 1 12, you
got to receive him into your life to
ask him to come in last summer August
The 18th, I believe I was just talking
to the officer who was involved yesterday.
No Friday A young officer by the name
of Pearson worked Central Division Pearson and his
partner were going down.
I believe it was Hope Street and They
saw some men out behind this hotel and
they Something drew their attention to them and
these men did something to attract the officers
the officers got out of their car and
Pearson went on the right side of the
hotel and his partner whose name I can't
remember right now went on the left side
of the hotel Going toward these men who
were in back of the hotel doing something
that looked like it was illegal And as
the officers approach, it was quite dark suddenly
They opened fire on Pearson The first round
hit Pearson right square over the heart and
what we call the ten ring right on
his chest and It blew him to the
ground and as he went down the second
round caught him in the left elbow It
just grazed his left elbow Spun him to
the earth as he laid there He picked
up his Rover radio that we have and
he told his partner in short gasp that
he'd been hit his partner heard the gun
fire Rushed over to his partner's aid after
he had taken a shot or two at
the men fleeing over the fence into the
night Being more concerned about his partner's welfare.
He rushed to his side He saw a
bullet hole right in it in Pearson's tie
right over his heart And he said how
bad are you hurt partner?
And Pearson said I'm I'm hit badly.
I I think I'm dying Get me to
a hospital if you can He reached under
his shirt to see just how bad it
was.
Perhaps he could stuff something into the wound
And his hand came upon something.
It was kind of abrupt and Pull out
his flashlight and ripped open his shirt and
he saw his ballistic vest His bulletproof vest
on him and the bullet protruding from the
vest He said Pearson Pearson you've got your
vest on man, you're okay and Pearson said
you mean I'm okay.
I've got my vest on he set up
and found her there He said he said
yeah, and he said let's go get those.
You know, he's ready to go after those
guys Now now you're laughing of course, but
let me tell you something those vests are
kind of light They're about three point eight
pounds they're only a quarter of an inch
thick it's kind of a Plastic like nylon
webbing type material and it does give and
his chest took a big impact and he
was bruised In fact, I just found this
out a few weeks ago as I was
talking with him I didn't know this until
now but he had to stay in the
hospital several weeks because of the trauma that
his rather several days because of the trauma
that his body took and It was a
you know hurt that he experienced and he
thought he was dying But you know as
I was visiting with him that night and
he was laying there in the California Hospital
Just about two blocks away from where he
was shot He was on this bed there
and I was talking to him and he
had a great big red spot and it
was already turning into a bruise and I
was kind of Joking with him about how
he acted and how he was giving messages
to his wife and all that thinking he
was gonna die You know, we were making
fun of him and he said well look
if you guys are gonna make fun of
me He's I'm gonna tell one on my
partner And his partner kind of stood at
attention there as I my gaze fixed over
to him and I said, what's that?
He said well, sir.
He didn't have his vest on tonight.
I Looked at him and I said you
didn't have on your vest No, sir It
was in the trunk of the police car,
sir And I said and Could have been
you he said as a matter of fact
we argued over who was going to drive
that night It could have been me You
see the vest was extremely important that night
to Pearson.
It saved his life.
I Know he would have been killed what
it went right through his heart But the
vest wouldn't have helped the other officer even
though he had one Because it was in
his car you see the point I'm trying
to make it's not enough to believe in
the vest You've got to put it on
To make it part of you in order
for the vest to help you and it's
that way with your relationship with God The
Bible says thou believest in one God thou
doest well the devil's believed But as many
as received him to them Gave he the
power to become the sons of God That's
how practical Christianity starts.
That's what it means in nuts and bolts
in cop language to be a Christian To
confess to God God.
I need you just like Cornelius did and
by the way, he did After he found
out what he had to do, even though
he was religious a believer did well prayed
Once he found out what I told you
tonight, he took the step of faith.
He put on the vest of Jesus Christ
And you know what?
Tonight is going to be the most important
night in the lives of many you because
I'm convinced that some of you tonight for
the first time understand what it means and
you're going to step out and you're going
to receive Jesus Christ and put on the
vest and take your Belief to the point
of commitment and in so doing you'll begin
This Christian life of coming alive Spiritually not
being just a body with a soul that
lives in it But with a spirit that
can give you eternal contact with a God
that created you and this universe Let's bow
our heads in prayer While our heads are
bowed You're in an attitude of prayer I'm
going to suggest that All over this auditorium
if if you would like to take your
belief to the point of commitment if you
would like to begin Being a Christian if
you would like to receive Christ You just
take those three steps that I outlined and
I'm going to repeat them to you So
you can pray right now right where you
sit Number one Romans 3 23 says for
all have sinned Confess to God God.
I'm a sinner.
I need you do that right now Secondly
Bible says that if thou shalt confess of
thy mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead thou shalt Be saved just make
that statement of faith to God that great
leap of faith Maybe you don't completely understand
it yet, but you're ready to just take
that leap of faith and say yes I
know it's real.
I don't understand it all but I'm I'm
willing to take the leap of faith God
I do believe I Do believe that Jesus
is who he said he is And I
express my faith in him right now thirdly
but as many as received him Put on
the vest of Jesus Christ Invite him into
your life Take it past the point of
just intellectual belief or assent Tell God that
you want him to be personally involved with
you that In the person of Jesus Christ
you want him to come in and make
you the man or the woman That he
wants you to be Put on the vest
our father
Thank you for those who have prayed those
words In their own words to you sincere
as they are father Bless them Give them
the assurance that they are indeed in your
family Father may this be just the beginning
of a wonderful spiritual life Contact with you
the very creator of the universe Father, thank
you for sending Jesus to die on the
cross to to be my substitute to be
our substitute Thank you for making it so
clear what we must yet do Come into
personal contact with you and be truly as
your word says born again in Jesus name
Amen