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good morning welcome to the to the house award in regards to announcements Hanna Hanna Kim and Marissa Porter have requested baptism and of course along with that comes membership so just an FYI so it'll happen in a couple of weeks that we hope to see them enter through the waters of baptism if you attorney your Bibles please to begin worship this morning to Isaiah chapter 49 Isaiah chapter 49 Isaiah 49 will read the first 13 verses to begin worship this morning listen no coastlands to me and take heed you peoples from afar the Lord has called me from the womb from the matrix of my mother he has made mention of my name and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword in the shadow of his hand he has hidden me and made me a polished shaft in his quiver he has hidden me and he is and and he said to me you are my servant o Israel in whom I will be glorified then I said I have labored in vain I've spent my strength for nothing and in vain yet surely my just reward is with the Lord and my work with my god and now the Lord says who formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel is gathered to him for I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength indeed he says it it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth thus says the Lord the Redeemer of Israel their holy one to him whom man despises to him whom the nation abhors to the servant of rulers Kings shall see and arise princes also shall worship because of the Lord who is faithful the Holy One of Israel and he has chosen you thus says the Lord in an acceptable time I have heard you and in the day of salvation I have helped you I will preserve you and give you as a covenant to the people to restore the earth to cause them to inherit the desolate Heritage's that you may say to the prisoners go forth to those who are in the darkness show yourselves they shall feed along the roads and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights they shall neither hunger nor thirst neither heat nor sun shall strike them for he who has mercy on them will lead them even by the springs of water he will guide them I will make each of my mountains a road and my highways shall be elevated surely these shall come from afar look those from the north and the west and these from the lands of cinnamon sing o heavens be joyful o earth and break out in singing o mountains for the Lord has comforted his people and will have mercy on his afflicted Amen well please turn with me response to that to our first hymn hymn number 352 and Alaska stand please [Music] well let's go to God in prayer and ask his blessing to be upon our time here this morning let's pray our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we thank you Father that we come before our holy God this morning that you truly are above all the earth and father we pray that we would come before you as as as that God who has condescended to set your love upon his people how we praise you Lord that we have voices this day to lift up towards you in praise and adoration father give us a sense give us a glimpse of that holiness of the God of all gods the king of all kings the lord of all lords we pray Lord that our thoughts of you would not be would not be too human but rather we would have great thoughts grand thoughts of the God with whom we come before this morning father we pray Qi would be pleased to present yourself here amongst us we thank you for your holy spirit we thank you Father for that that gift of knowing that spirit of living God that does come amongst his people and and and we feel the warmth of that presence we feel a sense of that presence when the word of god is spoken when the things of Christ are opened up so we pray that Christ would be glorified here in this place it you be well pleased to to to present yourself here because the Lord Jesus Christ is sought to be lifted up we praise you for that you are a God who does adopt us as your as your own very own dear children when we consider the the creatures that we are the who were born in sin born in Adam born in born far from the from an interest of the things of God we praise you father that you set your love upon us an infinite love a love that does not change that does that that we will continue for all of eternity to seek to understand it to know and we will never be finished knowing and understanding that great love that that ocean of love that you have for people here in this earth but we praise You Father we are numbered amongst those people we thank and praise you that that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life we praise you father that you have gifted us with with a knowledge of the things of eternity and Lord we we do confess to you that that even our knowledge is is certainly a creaturely knowledge is whether it is with limitations but we praise you for that that heaven that we await that each one who was in Christ Jesus that longs for and looks forward to when for all of eternity we will understand we will seek to understand more and more the the blessedness of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and the holiness of God our Father and and the person of Christ who would leave his throne room in heaven to come to this earth - to - to die as a saviour for sinners such as us so lord we look forward we thank you that that this one day in seven is is the lord's day a day of rest that that will help us to look forward to our eternal rest and we pray lo that we would find much encouragement and much comfort and and much to to worship you in regards to as we consider the things that await so all who are in christ jesus lord thank you that you do persevere with us and we pray that you would he be pleased even this day forgive us for our sins we know if we do not love you as we ought to love and as we ought to love you Father as we through the in the evening messages will hear of the of the law of God and Lord we know it's an important these are important series too to hear of the law of God in regards their own lives that father all of us break your law daily and we pray that you would be pleased to forgive us for Christ's sake even this day Father forgive us and cause us to know that that blessedness of that of sins forgiven of sins washed by that precious blood of your son the Lord Jesus Christ where we desire to meet together this day - - in in unity we pray that you give to us that sense of unity of love for one another and love for the things of God we thank you Lord for your word and we pray your blessing father be upon that word that would be a precious word that you would be pleased to add that blessing that from on high as past about there comes the later to bring the Word of God and we pray Lord that you would embolden him and cause him to be kept in truth and would you pray that the Spirit of the Living God would take that word and deliver it to each heart here for those who are unsaved we pray lo that she would be pleased to awaken them from their deadness from their sinfulness and caused them to look upon the Lord Jesus Christ and know that newness of life in Christ and we pray Lord for any and all who are who are your children here we pray we would be edified and built up and our most holy faith did you be well please Lord to cause that word to find its target each one of our hearts whatever that may be we do pray Lord we do ask your blessing to be upon those who are perhaps sick amongst us as well those who are not able to come this morning those who are at home on their sick beds or those who are here but perhaps not feeling well or how are they they have concerns from the weak past or concerns for the weak forward we pray that in all these things father we might just give them to you and that you'd be pleased to cause us to just enjoy this this hour of worship we pray that as we come before an audience of one of our God eternal that father we would we would truly come with a with a sense of expectancy that we get to worship the true and living God they the thrice holy God Father Son and Holy Spirit so Lord bless this blessed this hour to those who are here to those who cannot be here and we pray that they would be that they would find that the help and the comfort of your aid and your Holy Spirit we do pray Lord we do ask your blessing upon other churches in this community and other churches that that are near and dear to us we think of the surrey church we think of the church and Vernon this day we pray Lord that you would be pleased to bless each and every church that that that names the name of Christ as the one and only Savior we pray though that they might know your strength your aid in those pulpits that Lord they might be men of God who would preach the Word of God and that that the Spirit would take that word and bless it to each person's heart we do pray Lord we think also of the persecuted church see the churches that that continue in countries where in nations that that certainly don't enjoy the freedom that we get to enjoy here how we pray though this should be gracious to them this day we pray that you would put a hedge of protection around the persecuted church put a hedge of protection around those who who are imprisoned not for any sin but rather for for simply worshiping you of not of not giving up their confession of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray though that you would strengthen them in the inner man strengthen them father we we do pray and cause them to to endure to the very end and we pray Lord that they might know the help and aid and the comfort of the Holy Spirit wherever whatever their circumstances may be we pray though that you would embolden the church in these persecuting countries and pray that they would be bold to preach the gospel and that you would cause them Lord to do not shrink back and not to fear man but rather that you would you would be pleased to to cause them to to preach all the more knowing that that that that that ultimately they are in your hands and you will protect them you will keep them even whether it means persecution or not we pray though that they would know your strength and your help from day to day so Lord we just ask your blessing upon our place our time here today we we again just give you our grateful things that that we are your children their father you smile down upon your children we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ we we thank that he is the captain of our salvation that he is the head of the church and so Lord we just pray and ask that you would be pleased to bless us with your presence here this morning empower the preaching empower our worship this day that you would be worshiped and honored and glorified by the praises of your people and in Jesus precious name we pray amen well please turn with me your hymn books to him number 458 458 and again I'll ask you to stand please [Music] sir your Bibles please to Acts chapter seven Acts chapter seven Acts chapter 7 obviously following chapter 6 where accusations were made of of Stephen that they basically brought to accusations against him that he was against the law and helped me against Moses and the fact that he had a low view of the temple thus a low view of the place where God dwells while Stephen in Chapter 7 now is going to address those those charges obviously obviously as as false charges the fact that he's going to state that God's presence is certainly not confined to the temple which Delia which the the people of this day the scribes and Pharisees believed they had an idolatrous view of the of the temple that that's the only place where God's God's presence was oh he's gonna he's going to explain in his first in the first part of his defense here in Chapter 7 they know God's God's presence is in many places not confined to the to the temple and of course the Lord Jesus Christ is the is the fulfillment of the temple and so it's obvious to see why why they why they brought these charges against against even it was ultimately to justify their own idolatrous hearts well with that let's begin chapter 7 of Acts well we'll just read the first 16 verses then the high priest said are these things not so and he said brethren and fathers listen the god of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran and said to him get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that I will show you then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran and from there when his father was dead he moved him to this land in which you may know in which you know as well and God gave him no inheritance in it not even enough to set his foot on but even when Abraham had no child he promised to give it to him for a possession and his descendants after him but God spoken this way that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land and that they would bring them into a bondage and oppressed them for 400 years and the nation to whom they will know in the nation to whom they will be in bundage I will judge said God and after that they shall come out and serve me in this place then he gave him the Covenant of circumcision and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day and Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat in the twelve patriarchs and the patriarchs becoming envious sold Joseph into Egypt but God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house now a famine in a great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan and our fathers found no sustenance but when Jacob heard that there was a grain in Egypt there was grain in Egypt he sent out our fathers first and the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers and Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him 75 people so Jacob went down to Egypt and he died he and our fathers and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of him or the father of Shechem Amen well it spread again father we praise you that in this rehearsal rehearse 'men of history we see that the the God the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob was with his people and his presence was with his people and how we praise You Father we who live in the New Testament times and the church age that father we have that promise presence of the Lord Jesus Christ as well that you have promised to build your church and father we praise you that that presence of the Lord Jesus Christ is in is amongst his churches and Lord how we praise you that we worship a God who is who is spirit we praise you Lord that you are a God of truth of the of the whole Bible we thank you for these 66 books that sit in our laps this day and how we pray we would prize this book and cause us Lord to look into your word and see what you would have for us even in this in this day we pray that you would bless the preaching in a few moments we pray Lord that you would instruct and that would it would lift up and it would bring praise and glory and honor to you and we pray load that and all these things you would be honored and glorified and well pleased to give to us your presence for that is what we desire here in this place this day now and sin Jesus precious name we pray amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to the last him before we listen to the preaching and that would be a psalm 130 members 130 a hymn number 138 I'll ask you stand please [Music] [Music] [Music] with me in your Bibles to the book of Acts Acts chapter 10 Acts chapter 10 the incident or the scene where Peter is sent to the household of Cornelius to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ the significance is seen in Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God Almighty so want to read beginning in acts 10 at verse 17 now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant behold the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the game and they called and asked whether Simon whose surname was Peter was lodging there while Peter thought about the vision the spirit said to him behold three men are seeking you arise therefore go down and go with them doubting nothing for I have sent them then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius and said yes I am he whom you seek for what reason have you come and they said Cornelius the Centurion a just man one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you then he invited them in and lodged them on the next day Peter went away with them and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him and the following day they entered Caesarea now Cornelius who was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends as Peter was coming in Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him but Peter lifted him up saying stand up I myself am also a man and as he talked with them he went in and found many who had come together then he said to them you know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for I asked that for what reason have you sent for me so Cornelius said four days ago I was fasting until this hour and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house and behold a man stood before me in bright clothing and said Cornelius your prayer has been been heard and your alms were Remembered in the sight of God send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here whose surname is Peter he is lodging in the house of Simon a Tanner by the sea when he comes he will speak to you so I sent you immediately and you have done well to come now therefore we're all present before God to hear all things commanded you by God then Peter opened his mouth and said in truth I perceived that God shows no partiality but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him the word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ he is Lord of all that word you know which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached a God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him and we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem whom they killed by hanging on a tree him God raised up on the third day and showed him openly not to all the people but to witnesses chosen before by God even to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be judge of the living in the dead to him all the prophets witness that through his name whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins amen let us pray our Father in heaven we thank you for the written word of the living and the true God we thank you for this great historical book this theological history concerning the the beginning of the church how we thank you that the disciples are made the disciples formed together in local churches we see how in this passage a great and significant event happened were the the Gentiles according to the promises of God are brought in and Lord I pray that our hearts would be stirred up and encouraged I pray for any and all who have come here this morning that do not know you saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord that you by the power of the Holy Spirit would convict them of their sin and show them the the glory of Christ and his ability to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God's through him do forgive us now for our sins and our rebellion and our transgression wash us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and fill us with your Holy Spirit and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen well as we look at this particular section I do want to try to get to all of this because what we find in verses 17 to the 17 to 33 is pretty repetitious in terms of what we've already seen in this chapter we saw the vision given to Cornelius and then we saw a vision given to Peter and now in God's providence he is bringing these parties together so in the first place we have the arrival of the messengers in verses 17 to 23 secondly the meeting with Cornelius in verses 24 to 33 and then finally in this section the preaching of Peter in verses 34 to 43 so let's look first of all at the arrival of the messengers in verses 17 and 18 we see the Providence of God again bringing these two parties together in his blessed government J Alexander says that this coincidence of time between Peters anxious meditations and the inquiries of the men from Caesarea bring the two parts of the providential scheme into conjunction and cooperation certainly in our studies in Genesis on Wednesday night we are appreciating the Providence of God we see how God does govern all his creatures and all their actions according to his wisdom according to his purpose and plan and how he does bring to pass all that he has decreed in history and this is no sort of exception so we see that Peter is musing on the vision he's meditating he's wandering he's doubting as the old King James says he's he's provoked as he's rehearsing what he is seeing previously in verses 2:16 and as he is doing that these messengers arrive these messengers come to the gate they ask if there is in fact a Simon whose surname is Peter lodging there and then in verses 19 and 20 we have the Holy Spirit directly speaking to Peter to interpret for him the various events that are transpiring and I think in this we see two things concerning the spirit in the first place he is personal you'll know that Jehovah Witness Java's witnesses who are not jehovah's witnesses deny the personality of the law of the Holy Spirit they say he's God's active force well we see the personhood of the Spirit as he communicates directly with Peter in this particular instance but we also see that the Spirit is God because the Holy Spirit has sent these men to contact Peter the Holy Spirit is over all of the details involved the angelic vision-- given to Cornelius the vision that Peter gets in terms of those animals comes from the Lord so the Holy Spirit is directly responsible over this particular situation and so the Spirit gives him this information in verse 19 while Peter thought about the vision the spirit said to him behold three men are seeking you arise therefore go down and go with them doubting nothing for I have sent them and then in verses 21 and verse 21 we see the men meet with Peter and then the men explained themselves in verse 22 again with data that we've already received from the beginning of the chapter but one thing we ought to appreciate before we leave this brief scene is the hospitality of Peter in verse 23 now I don't emphasize this because we should all show hospitality we should but because Simon Peter is entertaining Gentiles you see this sort of breaking down in his experience later on in verse 28 he tells his Gentile audience how they even know that it's not the case that Jews associate with Gentiles but God is bringing this down this sort of a this sort of barrier wall between Peter and these Gentiles and that is precisely what the cases in verse 23 notice he says that he invited them in and Lodge them on the next day Peter went away with them and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him and so what we are finding in this particular instance is that what Simon Peter had been accustomed to is now breaking down he's staying at the house of a Tanner which was taboo with reference to the Book of Leviticus he is receiving these Gentiles he is feeding them he is eating with them they are spending the night it's too late in the day for them to embark on the 30-mile journey to Caesarea so they spend the night there and then ultimately he's going to go to the house of a Gentile he's going to preach to a bunch of Gentiles he's going to see the Holy Spirit fall upon those Gentiles and then he's going to make the case in Jerusalem that we're not supposed to burden these Gentiles with having to first become Jews they don't have to be circumcised they don't have to follow the ceremonies of Moses but rather they are saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ so this in bits and pieces is breaking down in the heart and life of Simon Peter so that Simon Peter will be an outspoken voice at that Jerusalem council to highlight that God in His mercy is including Gentiles in the covenant of grace now notice secondly in terms of the meeting with Cornelius in verses 24 to 23 I think verse 24 indicates something to us about Cornelius as a man it shows his expectancy and it shows his compassion notice in verse 24 in the following day they entered Caesarea now Cornelius was waiting for that there's that expectancy he knows that he's going to hear from God and he has that expectancy I wonder if you and I have that same sort of expectancy when it comes to our Lord's Day is it just something we do because that's what people do they they show up on church or show up at church on Sunday or is there an expectancy we want to we want to hear from God we want to know what the mind of the Lord is later on he's going to tell Peter that very thing we are here before God and we want to know all the things that have been commanded by God to you do you have that expectancy Jesus pronounces the beatitude blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness that's a hard one to try convince people you follow if you don't have any interest in the Word of God a hunger and a thirst after righteousness is going to be manifested and demonstrated by our approach to God's Word if you never read scripture if you frequently miss Church if Bible study is something that is just contrary to you then you need to readjust your priorities you need to think about what really matters blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness a vivid expression of this is in the way that we respond to the Word of God so he has this expectancy he knows that his servants and that soldier have gone to Joppa he knows that they're going to fetch Peter and he's not just sitting around he's got this expectancy waiting but the compassion of Cornelius is evident as well because notice what he has done and had called together his relatives and close friends he wants them to hear the truth of the gospel as well he has reckoned that if this angel has given me this vision and if this angel has told me to contact this Simon Peter then what God has for me must be most important and if that is the case then I want my family here I want my close associates here I want everybody who I know to be present when Peter gets there there are many present at that particular time so Cornelius has an expectancy for himself but he also has this compassion manifested for others and he assembles them together and it's really a beautiful thing and a blessed thing and I think as we move through this section we see the emphasis of the apostolic ministry was not on so many things that occupy churches today what really consumed them was the proclamation of God's holy word now I know that may sound like a no-brainer but that's the main issue that the church is tasked with that's our function that's our role that's why we're here it is to make known the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to sinners to call sinners to repentance and faith and to call the people of God to an increased faithfulness in their service to him that's the bottom line now that doesn't mean we can't do other things that doesn't mean we can't have this or that or what ever but we can't have this or that or whatever to the neglect of the main thing preach the word Paul says be ready in season and out of season convinced rebuke exhort with all longsuffering and teaching the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine we don't let them determine what they get or what they want you preach sound doctrine to them I don't want sound doctrine you're gonna get it anyway that's Paul's emphasis in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 now notice the reception in the meeting here Cornelius shows Peter great reverence he doesn't know all the particulars and he doesn't know all the ins and outs but he knows this that if the angel has orchestrated this meeting with him in Simon Peter and this angel has appeared to him on behalf of the God of Israel then whoever this Simon Peter is he's pretty important he's a man that is worth revering in this particular instance and that's precisely what Cornelius does in verse 25 as Peter was coming in Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him now there's some dispute or debate as to the nature of the worship that he actually think that he was deity did he actually think that he was God or was this just a high form of reverence that he would show to a man a man of esteem a man of position whatever it is we see that reverence is given and expressed to Simon Peter but notice what Simon Peter does he doesn't accept it he doesn't say good for you knave that's right everybody should do when I come into their presence that's not the response of Simon Peter he does what Paul and Silas will do later Paul and Barnabas will do in acts 14 and he does what the angel does in Revelation chapter 19 he rejects this he refuses this in contrast to our Lord in the gospel narratives there were instances where people came and they would reverence the Lord or they would worship the Lord did Christ ever say don't do that did Christ ever say oh I refuse that no Christ accepted that because Christ is the son of God Almighty Christ is the second person of the Trinity and therefore religious worship is due in fitting for him but not for Peter and not for angelic beings and that is precisely what Peter says in verse 26 Peter lifted him up saying stand up I myself am also a man turn to acts 14 for just a quick second to see the same emphasis with Paul and Barnabas acts 14 at verse 13 then the priest of Zeus whose temple was in front of their city brought oxen and Garland's to the gates intending to sacrifice with the multitudes but when the Apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this they tore their clothes and ran and among the multitude crying out and saying man why are you doing these things we are all we also are men with the same nature as you literally we're men of like passions God is impassible but we as passable men are like you worship the one true and living God don't express religious worship to us we also are men with the same nature as you and preached to you that you should turn from these useless things to the Living God who made the heaven the earth to sea and all things that are in them so we look at these particular responses by the Apostles and by the angels we ought to hold in contempt this mindset where men receive the adulation of men brethren it's not wrong to show respect it's not wrong to show a steam it's not Rhondda to show common courtesy but no creature is worthy of worship no creature ought to receive the accolades of men no creature is over other creatures in the sense of superiority or supremacy if Simon Peter rebuffs this attempt to reverence him then certainly the lesser than Simon Peters ought to be the same sort of man it is a celebrity culture that we live in in terms of evangelicalism and I think so much of this is wrong it is not the case that men that preach are somehow better than men that don't preach everybody has a job everybody has a function Christ is Lord of all and he is over the division of labor that's all certain men have been given certain gifts certain men are to exercise them and in particular ways but they're not to be held up as if there's some champion in his or as if there's something worthy to be worshiped and glorified that is for God alone now note the introductions these two men introduce themselves first Peter and then Cornelius and in Peters instance he highlights what they all knew verse 28 then he said to them you you know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation now they knew this because Cornelius was a god-fearing remember we've studied that or we saw that it wasn't the case that he was saved but it was rather the case that he was interested in the true and living God the God of Israel so as a God fear he would have been somewhat familiar with their scriptures he would have known the sacred writings he would have known the Torah he would have known the prophets he would have known those things to some degree or other and so Peter says you know how this doesn't normally happen it's not typically the case where Jews hang out with Gentiles now perhaps it was overstated a bit in terms of no association whatsoever I don't think the Old Testament taught that but as was often the case they would have a particular command and then they would pad that command so they wouldn't get anywhere near violating it for instance keep the Sabbath or remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy so they came up with in interpretation all these rules so that you would never breach the Sabbath command well we weren't supposed to be unclean or the the Jews weren't supposed to be unclean and one of the vital means by which unclean this game was through meats through foods through things that God had forbidden so the argument went that if Gentiles eat this unco sure diet and they are unclean beings as a result we shouldn't eat with that because if we ingest their whatever it is then we will be unclean but nevertheless this obtained and everybody knew it that Jews didn't hang out with Gentiles and Peter reminds them of this in verse 28 you know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation now here's Peters interpretation of the vision that he had seen verse 28 be but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean again the particulars with reference to the vision was that Peter was to rise kill and eat Peter says I've never done that I've never ingested these unclean foods and God says what God has cleansed don't call comment in other words Peter understood that what is happening now is the formal inclusion of Gentiles not to say that Gentiles could it be proselytes in the Old Covenant Ruth was a Moabite Asst and appears in the genealogy of the Savior there were other pagans or others outside of the Commonwealth that were brought nigh they got circumcised they engaged in you know obedience to Torah they did what was required of them as Jews but this is the formal dissolution or at least a reference to the formal dissolution of that barrier that is now down it's broken the ceremonial law has been fulfilled by Christ such that now Jews can receive Gentiles and preach the gospel to them and eat with them with the goal that they come to know the Savior as their Savior so that's what's happening in this particular instance Bach says Peter interprets the visions provision to eat food as freeing him to associate with Gentiles since their dietary habits would be one of the Jewish concerns about purity especially being hosted in a Gentile home just think about it Peter's in a Tanner's house peter has lodged other Gentiles now Peters travelled to Caesarea and he's in a Gentiles house and he's going to eat with them but even more importantly he's going to preach to them the great gospel of Jesus Christ so he understands what the vision was and its significance it has to do with man Gentile man being counted clean at least outwardly so that he can come to hear the truth as it is in Jesus so hopefully he's cleansed inwardly purified by that precious blood and associating with the very people of God Almighty and so he asks would you call me for now notice what Cornelius says in terms of his introduction he speaks about the vision that he had in verses 30 and 31 again ground we've already seen the instruction he had received in verses 32 and 33 a and then finally the desire he had and brethren I can't overestimate this because it's so absolutely important and it's so crucial what Cornelius says at the end of verse 33 now therefore we're all present before God to hear all the things commanded you by God there's an earnestness about Cornelius there's a seriousness about Cornelius does he on some level want to get to know Peter better maybe I don't know do you want to know about his wife does he want to know about his kids does he want to know about the best day ever that he had fishing he may want to know all that later on while there breaking bread together but right now what he wants is what God has commanded see brethren that's what it's about it's what God has commanded that's why in churches it ought not to be the case that it's story time or it's or it's your illustration time or it's it's just happy time its instruction time the church is the pillar and ground of the truth it is the household of the living and true God and we are to play by his rules it is not a free-for-all it is not a session to be innovative it is not about expressing our creativity the public worship of God is to express our obedience to God doing what he calls us to do in terms of preaching listening in terms of sacraments in terms of all the other sort of elements that are involved in the worship of the Living God he has a deadly earnestness with reference to this scenario now therefore we're all present I love this friends before God if in this pagans house in Caesarea in the first century he is conscious of the presence of Almighty God how is it that we can come into the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and have our minds wandering a million different directions we are before God right now not that you're not on Thursday in your living room because God is omnipresent God is omniscient God is omnipotent he's over all but there is a special sense where God has purposed to dwell with his people in the Church of Jesus Christ I think we ought to reflect on that prior to entering into this place we are before God and we are here to hear all the things commanded by God we don't want Peter we don't want whatever celebrity pastor we don't want the the anecdotes we don't want story time we don't want amusement we don't want entertainment we want the truth of the Living God we want the Word of God and that's why the emphases throughout the Bible is going to say the New Testament but what was the the task of the prophetic ministry you know Ezekiel I want you to go there and go to those rebel centers and entertain them you know I say I want you to tell them stories about how life was growing up on your father's farm that's not it it's preach the word what part of that have we missed what part of that have we we sacrificed you've got these sermonettes you know 1215 minutes sermonettes typically for Christian X we mean preaching 16 ounces to the pound biblical exposition and application of God's Holy Word that's the expectancy in the heart of Cornelius and no doubt in the hearts of those who had assembled together with him and that brings us to the preaching of Peter in verses 34 to 43 Peter brings it Peter doesn't say well let's first get to know one another let's have some therapy time let's let's have a group hug no he gets right to the task at hand he preaches the Word of the Living God notice in the first place he highlights the impartiality of God in verses 34 and 35 this is key to understanding what's happening in the inclusion of Cornelius and his household he says in verse 34 Peter opened his mouth and said in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality this does not militate against Sovereign Grace this does not argue against discrimination on the part of God choosing according to his own good pleasure but what it simply means is that it's not a race it's not a nationality it's not a particularly long favors he shows no partiality the gospel goes where to every tribe every tongue every people every nation here's another fundamental flaw with dispensationalism they still have a Jew centric mindset they still think that the Jews are the primary people of God and that is contrary to what we find in Scripture the movement of redemptive history is not to a geopolitical state in Palestine the movement and redemptive history is the New Jerusalem where the Israel of God will be with their covenant head where we will worship and praise and glorify and honor hip world without end amen it isn't that we have this earthly sort of Kingdom that were tied to if there's one aspect of dispensationalism on a practical level that is really not cool who wants to be tied to this earth I mean even if it is geopolitical supremacy wouldn't we rather be in a manual and wouldn't we rather be in that new heavens and new earth now that may sound like I'm denigrating this earth I guess I can't think beyond what I presently see I don't want to be tied here forever I don't know if any of you want to be tied here forever there ought to be that sense where we sing with the children in the sunday-school this train is Bound for Glory and that is a great and encouraging theme that scripture lays out before us in so many instances there's there's no a partiality with God he's no respecter of persons he doesn't see a white guy and say oh I I'm gonna convey privilege on you or or a black guy I'm gonna take for him that's not the way God operates you know there's this mind set out there among some that that God is the God of the white people that's not true every tribe tongue people and nation wherever there are sinners to be saved Christ ought to be proclaimed with power and with the spirit present he then highlights the access that all nations have now for us we appreciate and we are grown up knowing this but remember for Peter some of these things for Peter are are new he's heard the Lord's Great Commission go make disciples of all the nations he he has heard the Lord purified meats or foods according to Mark chapter 7 he sees all this but it's become practical it's become real in the sense that now he's been given this vision he's been given this command by Christ to arise kill and eat and when he Demers on that it when he rebuffs that God says what I've clans don't call common so he is bye-bye little bits and pieces coming to that place and now he makes this confession in verse 20 35 he says but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him now the emphasis here is not that there are saved people that populate the nations of the earth but rather that the salvation of Christ has come to all people groups sometimes people mess up verse 35 and they teach the doctrine of holy paganism and everybody is okay based on the light that they have and the light of nature in them no that's not what Peter's emphasis is Peter's emphasis is simply this the barriers broken down the ceremonies have been fulfilled the preaching of the gospel is to go all over the earth and wherever there are sinners who by the grace of God believe that gospel have that imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ given to them and received by faith alone God is not ashamed to be called their God in fact one commentator I think explains verse 35 better than most he says the emphasis is that Cornelius's Gentile nationality was acceptable so that he had no need to become a Jew not that his own righteousness was adequate adequate so that he had no need to become a Christian see there's a distinction there what Peter is saying in verses 34 and 35 is that it's not requisite for Gentile believers on the Lord Jesus Christ to get circumcised to obey the ceremonial law but rather from all nations from all people groups they don't have to first stop and become Jews simply believe the gospel it's going to come out in Acts chapter 11 it's going to come out in Acts chapter 15 when Peter gives the interpretation and explanation of the events associated with the salvation of Cornelius's household so he highlights the impartiality of God and then the bulk of his sermon has taken up with what we would expect the revelation of the Son of God it is Christa centric it's about Jesus this is what Christian preaching ought to be if preaching satisfies Jews if preaching satisfies Muslims it's not Christian preaching we preach the triune God the living and true God the God of the Bible the god of unrivaled sovereignty power and glory and the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has sent his son in the fullness of the times born of a woman born under the law to do what to redeem those under the law we preach Christ crucified the Apostle Paul says so when Peter takes up the task and says or when corneria says we want to know everything that's been commanded by God to you we want to hear that what does Peter do he preaches Christ I want to look at four things in this sermon first the peace of God secondly the person of Christ third the work of Christ and fourthly the prophetic witness to Christ but first notice the peace of God you want peace Cornelius you want peace whoever the way to peace is through salvation by grace in Christ Jesus the Lord everybody wants peace don't they everybody hates chaos I mean there's the odd duck here and there that that likes to stir up things the odd duck that likes to finance people to stir up things at particular common a political situation there are some sick twisted minds out there that they'd like to have ruckus and chaos but most normal people like peace most normal people like cosmos they don't like chaos Lorent most normal people like stability and security it's intriguing that a Simon Peter begins his message he does so with the peace of God verse 36 the word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ not a geopolitical piece where our king will beat up your king but that peace which results in peace between heaven and earth Romans 5:1 therefore having been justified by faith what we have peace with God if you want peace this morning and you have none come to Christ as well there's peace between Jew and Gentile according to Ephesians chapter 2 Christ has broken down the barrier Christ has taken the two men he's made them one new man he has brought them peace together he has brought together these two warring factions and now they are united as one man common commonly bound under the Lord Jesus Christ the word was proclaimed throughout all Judea having begun in Galilee after the baptism of John that's what Peter says here and some suggest that he's following Mark's Gospel in this brief sort of sermon now for the relationship Peter and Mark had the kind of relationship that Paul and Luke had Luke was the beloved physician and Paul was very bright to take him along when he go into these various climes and places where he could fall sick I mean yeah keep your pray to God keep your powder dry as cromwell would later say the apostle paul already had that bit under control he takes the beloved physician yeah because he can write theological history and yeah because he's a beloved physician and if something happens along the way it'd be nice to have a beloved physician but they bore a very a very close relationship and it was Paul that no doubt helped Luke or at least spoke to Luke a lot in terms of the composition of Acts and probably the Gospel of Luke well Peter and marks are seeing that kind of a contact as well some suggest and I think they're right is that the Gospel according to Mark was a series of lectures preached by Peter in the city of Rome and that mark was described mark wrote it all down and after the conclusion of the sermon people said hey can we get a copy of that and that's what started circulating as the Gospel of Mark it reads in a sermonic manner it reads like lectures having been preached so there's this close relationship and some suggest that he's basically rehearsing or resting on his knowledge of the Gospel according to mark and then notice as well he highlights after having mentioned the peace of God the person of Christ and verses 36 and 38 in other words we need to tell people Jesus is what's unique about Jesus see every religion has sort of a leader every religion has sort of a wone that person's follow what's unique about the Lord Jesus what's what's different about Jesus well Peter tells us in this instance two things in particular one he has absolute lordship and two he was true humanity he has true humanity now when he says he is Lord of all notice what he says there in verse 36 the word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ he is Lord of all that lordship was expressed by Jesus to the disciples in the Great Commission all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me Christ has comprehensive lordship but you see how that functions that reference to the lordship of Christ overall in the context over Jew and Gentile over all kinds of people from every tribe tongue people and nation remember when those Samaritans in John's Gospel come to them come to the Lord Jesus Christ not based on the testimony of that Samaritan woman but having spoken to that to him themselves they said we know now that he is what the Saviour of the world that's not the case that all roads lead to heaven if anybody ever gets to heaven it's based on the the work of the Lord Jesus Christ he has lordship over all again Bach says even though the remark is parenthetic Grammatik a parenthetical grammatically it sort of set off that way in our translation he is Lord of all it is the theme of the speech conceptually Jesus is the one with authority to deliver the peace that comes from God to those of every nation so we search the lordship of Christ in this particular sermon now could Christ be or is Christ our God yes he is certainly God and that comes out through Peters preaching but he also stresses the true humanity of Jesus Christ again rehearsing the gospel narrative notice in verse 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him I think this harkens back to Isaiah 61 the Spirit of the Lord is upon me Christ reads that a synagogue in Nazareth and Luke 4 and he says today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing Christ was anointed by God the Father with the spirit without measure so that Christ could go and take care not only of the the bodies of men but the souls of men as well so as he moves in his message he moves from the the lordship of Christ to the true humanity of Christ that's who he is in his person and that is crucial for each and every one of us we need to know what the Bible says concerning Jesus Christ he's not an amalgamation a little bit of God and a little bit of man he is true man true God there are two natures in the one person theology calls this the hypostatic Union before you say well that's way off you know that's not in my wheelhouse it needs to be in your wheelhouse even if you don't know the language hypostatic Union you need to know what it signifies Christ is two natures in 1 percent Christ is true humanity Christ is true deity everything that is true of us was true of him except of course sin everything that is true of the father and of the Spirit is true of the Lord Jesus Christ this is crucial information for Jesus himself says if you do not believe that I am you will die in your sins in other words he's not just a little bit of a better version of man but he is in fact the god man and if we reject his deity if we reject his humanity we reject the person of our Lord Christ that's what the history of heresy has done for 21 centuries it's at this point either a denial of his true humanity or a denial of his deity you end up with some sort of a third thing a tertian quid and it is not the scriptural Christ now he moves from that person of Christ to the work of Christ and here verses 38 B to 42 notice his earthly ministry don't you love what he says in verse 38 he could only say this about Jesus how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good does that describe your day he he went about doing good yeah for about 38 seconds that you know you have this idea this into this desire this desire and you might actually fulfill it for about 38 seconds but but it's not the overarching sort of statement of our lives according to our true humanity that we go about doing good now if you kind of look like you're ready to battle with me on that okay prove your case I'm just kidding ha its glorious statement he went about doing good so why the the antipathy why the enmity of the the religious leaders at the time you know the yesterday there was a pro-life walk and there are little hundreds of people I think I don't know I never you know I could probably describe this as hundreds of people evangelistic numbers right but but but there was one soul voice standing on the street corner that says you know abortion is health care and and my body my choice so you know at least that I saw the one sort of testimony against what we were trying to accomplish now I get it free speech everybody has allowed their particular opinion but just think about what underlies that we're out there trying to promote life you think that's just what species do and they try to promote life they can't die they can't engage and you know self-destruction it should be sort of part and parcel of our DNA that that we promote life so it's a good thing and then of course people drive by and they either you know honk and give you a thumbs up or they give you a thumbs down or a different finger up and they just want you to know that what you're doing is horrible look at the life and Ministry of Jesus he went about doing good and yet they despised him they hated him never forget the doctrine of total depravity the darkness hates the light it doesn't want to be exposed say cockroaches you turn on the light and off they go or turn on the light and off they go not that we had cockroaches but I've seen that sort of thing habit it is the case that is this enmity Express toward those who actually try to do what's right in society so it's what happens to our Lord Jesus Christ he went about doing good what did it end up with in him crucifixion as Peter will continue in his sermon this is the emphasis of the Apostle he went about doing good and evil that good was seen in his care for the souls and bodies of men he healed all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him and then notice in verse 39 he says and we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem whom they killed by hanging on a tree you see what Peter is doing and you see what gospel preaching should be doing we tell people who the person of Christ is and we tell people the work of Christ his earthly ministry was about fulfilling the righteousness of God his earthly ministry was about expressing the goodness and compassion and kindness of God for God was with it but his earthly ministry was associated with death and that death was absolutely crucial as well and it's just here those who have never heard Christianity say well why did that have to be the case what was the purpose behind that well verse 43 will make that clear unless Christ died unless Christ was raised again then we all stay in our sins see Peter not only States the facts death resurrection exaltation but he gives the explanation or the interpretation of those facts because you see there are martyrs out there that have died for the faith there are those who have suffered grievously for the faith does their suffering does their death have any positive effect upon the people of God it might serve as an encouragement might serve as an example but it's not redemptive in nature and the Apostles don't simply declare that Christ died but they tell you why Christ died and when you understand the reality behind it you ought to again appreciate just how sinful we are for God to bring us into his presence it took the death of his son for God to reconcile sinners so that we will stand before him in righteousness it took the death of his son life and death of his son it took that rezar Raksha again Paul summarizes the entirety of the gospel in Romans 4:25 he speaks of Jesus who was delivered up why because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification again they don't just stress the fact but they give you the interpretation of the facts just like that preface to the Ten Commandments I am the Lord your God who who brought you out of the land of Egypt I'm not gonna just tell you what I've done but I'm gonna tell you why I did it I set my love upon you you are my firstborn I want you to live in the land I want you to be that country from whom Messiah comes you see we need to not only tell the facts of the Bible but give the theology concerning those facts as the Apostles do in their preaching when he mentions the tree I think he does this in chapter 5 at verse 30 as well and I think it harkens back or it's reminiscent of Deuteronomy 21 22 and 23 if a man has committed a sin deserving of death and he is put to death and you hang him on a tree his body shall not remain overnight on the tree but you shall surely bury him that day so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance for he who is hanged is accursed of God Paul speaks of this in Galatians chapter 3 verse 13 telling us in particular that Christ became a curse for us substitutionary curse bearing on behalf of the Messiah for us wretched vile guilty sinners this is what Peter is doing to Cornelius and to his household notice as well he doesn't stop there he highlights the resurrection of Christ in verses 40 and 41 him God raised up on the third day and showed him openly now there's a contrast we see saw it in Peters preaching in acts 2 you see it in acts 3 and you see it in acts 4 he essentially says this is how the Jews dealt with Christ they killed it this is what the father does with Christ he raised him there is this great contrast that is highlighted by the Apostle in his preaching to show the corruption of man the wickedness of man the deceitful heart of man and to show the grace the glory and the power God in the salvation of sinful man but when he mentions this witness notice in verse 41 not to all the people but to witnesses chosen before by God even to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead you see the Apostles function as witnesses the Apostles functioned as those who would testify concerning the glory of Jesus Christ I think this is part of the reason why Peter rebuffs the attempt and worship irreverence on the part of Cornelius what is an apostle an apostle is a witness an apostle is a testifier an apostle is not a saviour we don't look to that class of men that body of ruling men within the context of the church and somehow think that they're able to take care of all of our problems they preach the Savior but they're not save yours and in terms of that having eaten and drank with our Lord Jesus after the resurrection it's when he ate the broiled fish in the honeycomb he ate the honeycomb in the King King James tradition if you are not using a Bible in the King James tradition he only had broiled fish I like to think my Saviour enjoyed a bit of sweet and savory when he when he had as his post resurrection meal but that's what he's referring to he wasn't an apparition he wasn't a phantom there was an early heresy called docetism and it said Jesus just appeared to be a man he just appeared to be a physical body well Jesus himself blasts that out of the water in Luke 24 he says reach touch you see an unflushed on bones I'm not an apparition I'm not an idea I'm not just some ethereal thought I am flesh and bones I am the one that went into the ground I've come up out of the ground transformed to be sure glorified to be sure but the self same Jesus that went into the tomb comes out of the tomb we sing that song five bleeding wounds he pleads received on Calvary brethren we will see him as he is according to first John chapter three and Peter highlights not only the death but the resurrection but he doesn't stop there because in verse 42 he highlights what we call the exaltation of Christ verse 42 he commanded to preach to the people again context all kinds of people when did Jesus command the disciples to preach to the people he commanded them in Matthew 28 go make disciples of all the nations Peter is saying that what our Lord has said we are now doing and the gospel has come to this pagan household the gospel has come to this Centurion this gospel has come to liberate to free to bring Redemption and salvation in the remission of sins to Cornelius and all that many people that were gathered together to hear what the Lord had commanded he's exalted he he first of all he tells them to go and preach and then it says and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead if you're not a believer here this morning I want to encourage you that one day you will see Jesus all men everywhere will see Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father but may I encourage you and exhort you and even command you in the name of God Most High to believe and confess now because on that day it will be a confession unto shame confessing him as Lord and then being discarded from his presence cast away from the presence of the Lord confess him as Lord now because you see he's not only judged then but he saved York now and do not tarry do not wait do not say well I want to live I want to do I want to engage I want to you know wait until I'm an old man when I'm 150 or sixties I don't get serious about these things that the Bible talks about now don't do that it is now it is imperative and this is what Peter says he says he was ordained by God to be the judge or to be judge of the living and the dead I think Daniel 7:13 and for Daniel 7:13 and 14 are in the scene I think Jesus statement John 5:27 it's going to come up again in Paul's preaching at the Areopagus in act 17 that God furnished proof that he's going to judge the world in righteousness by raising Jesus Christ from the dead 2nd Timothy chapter 4 same emphasis with reference to Jesus Christ as judge but Peter sir doesn't stop there see if it was just about you know scaring people anybody could bridge but that's not all it's about you probably have all heard of Harold Camping he made a name for himself several years ago he he passed away a few years ago he wrote a book called 1999 I think that was the first attempt when he thought Jesus was going to come and then obviously he was wrong I think you'll all sort of testify and then he retold it and I think he picked a date maybe to 15 or something 14 13 I think it was some somewhere that that obviously was wrong as well and certainly as a prophetic forecaster he was not correct you know something a bit more troubling about Harold Camping was that he used to have a radio program a radio show Colin show and I remember one time somebody calling in to that show v sounding convicted of sin I mean this person sounded desperate this person wasn't you know treating and you know theory this person was was crying out for for the answer he didn't give it to him he was a hyper-calvinist yeah he was bad as a prophet to be sure but he was bad as a preacher of Christ and him crucified hyper-calvinism kills men we preach Christ and him crucified to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness but to those who are being saved Christ the wisdom and power of God so you don't just tell men oh Jesus is gonna judge you without giving them the encouragement to flee to the Savior Christ this is verse 43 he says to him this is the crescendo this is the pinnacle this is where the sermon is coming certainly you need to know something of this person you need to understand the hypostatic Union certainly you need to know his work his life of obedience to the Father he's going about doing good you need to know something about the death of Jesus Christ that it was substitutionary in in nature he stood in the place of all those whom the father had given him you need to know that he was raised from the dead but without being urged to flee to Jesus Christ the job ain't done you don't simply lay out this information and say well I hope everything works well for you which in a sense is what exactly Harold Camping did it's almost like somebody coming to your front door and you're doing what James tells you not to do they're hungry and they're cold and then you say be warm and be filled and you you send them on their way there's a sort of preaching that's like that lots of law lots of sin lots of misery lots of judgment lots of punishment lots of torment but not lots of Christ when you look at the Apostles and you ask them how do we preach Christ and him crucified they preach Christ and him crucified they proclaim the glory not only of the life and the death and the resurrection but in the efficacy of his blood to shed or to save sinners guilty vile helpless we notice what he says in verse 43 to him all the prophets witness that through his name whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins kids remission is just another way of saying forgiveness you're a sinner kids and adults the way of salvation is not based on your works and a little Jesus it is based solely and alone upon God's grace that comes to us freely through Jesus Christ the Lord so what Peter says here is that he shows the soteriological significance of the life the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ why did he do this it's so that you and I might have forgiveness why does he go to the cross so that he can wash us in his precious blood why did he live a life of obedience for 33 years so that we can receive a righteousness that avails with God don't you love that toplady him that we sang it just speaks of the glories of justification by grace alone through faith alone we're forgiven and we received a righteousness it's imputed to us and it's received by faith alone this is Peter's point and Cornelius it's him alone it's not him and the ceremonies it's not him and circumcision it's not him and Moses but rather it's him alone he is preaching to this man the doctrine of justification by faith alone and I think this functions in this particular contacts in another significant way what's happening throughout the book of Acts as the Apostles go from place to place and preach as the Apostles go from place to place to teach as they make disciples as they form churches what they are saying in essence is that the religious leadership in Israel has missed the point of the Bible to him all the prophets witness now we could think that particular prophetic passages the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah the 49th chapter of Isaiah that Steve read at the outset of worship the 55th chapter of Isaiah Daniel chapter 9 and the the 70 weeks prophecy you can think about Zechariah 13:1 in that day there will be a fountain open for for sin and uncleanness there are certainly prophets that we could invoke and speak of but I think Peters point is this the focus of the prophetic ministry was on Christ everything scriptural focuses upon that darling of heaven he is heaven's jammy as heavens prize and that's what scripture is about as a god-fearing and one familiar with the Old Testament he must not miss the point as fellow Jews or other Jews are doing again Cornelius is not somebody who has no inkling whatsoever of Old Testament religion he has been exposed to Jews he has been exposed to Israel in fact the sermons come and tell Peter he's highly favored among the Jews right certainly he knew Isaiah certainly he knew Daniel but Peter doesn't want him to make the mistake of these Jews that didn't see Jesus in Isaiah and Daniel he wants that he wants Cornelius to understand that the the whole drift of prophetic scripture was to focus upon the person in the work of our Lord Jesus Christ so there are particular prophets that we could speak concerning there are particular texts of course that we could speak concerning but I think Alexander is right when he says the whole drift of the prophetic scriptures is in this direction that's the point to him all the prophets witness that through his name whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins it's a beautiful statement and one that does deserve all acceptance it's a faithful trustworthy statement and everybody on the face of the earth should hear it everybody on the face of the earth should know that if they come they will not be turned away doesn't Jesus say that in John 6:37 he says all that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out if you have heard preachers before say well there's no hope for you there's never gonna be any hope for you can I just tell you honestly and candidly there is hope there's hope in Jesus there's hope and verse 43 in Acts chapter 10 because to him all the prophets witness that through his name whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins and for those of us who by grace have tasted that by God's grace who enjoy that forgiveness of sins there's nothing better is that there's nothing better my sin oh the Bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise the Lord praise the Lord brother I just don't know how anything could make you happier than that if you don't know the forgiveness of sins you are missing out on that piece of information that is most excellent most wonderful and most glorious but it's not esoteric it's not just to the few but the gospel goes forth to every tribe tongue people and nation including Canada including British Columbia including whatever your ethnicity may be including whatever your age may be this text holds true whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins beautiful whoever believes Plus know whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins well in conclusion first we ought to appreciate we ought to stand in awe of the Providence of God and I think that Providence of God is seen in our particular narrative in two ways first the details in this narrative it really is amazing I think about this I mean Peter happens to be a Jaffa at the house of Simon the Tanner Cornelius happens to get this vision from the angel Peter happens to get no it's not happy it's not haphazard it's not random it's not fortuitous it's not chance this is of God the Spirit comes and speaks specifically to Peter say I sent these men I'm bringing this together in this the spirit honors the very means he's ordained in the life of the church certainly as we saw the angel could convict and convince Cornelius that Jesus is the way of salvation certainly they didn't have to walk these 30 miles if there were angelic beings involved who could have published this gospel to Cornelius but God honors the preaching of his word God honors the the ongoing Ministry of the word and so we see in these details the hand of God all over it but then stepping back going perhaps to Wednesday night to Genesis chapter 27 and that family you know you think about that instance where Isaac is deceived by Jacob and you say Oh dirty rotten scoundrel Jake well we don't cuz he's the son of promise but it just doesn't sit right the way that Rebecca and the way that Jacob sort of dupe Isaac but as we saw that night Isaac and Esau had their issues as well Isaac and Esau were not you know Lillywhite beautifully perfect spotless sinners they had their issues also so the reality is is that God in the history of his ancient people managed by his Providence to bring about the seed he brought Jesus in the fullness of the time born of a woman born under the law even though at so many points the very people himself tried to sabotage it remember that scene in Nehemiah and Ezra where they're marrying the pagans you're not supposed to marry the pagans because the seed is going to originate from this people group you can't pollute the gene pool you've got to keep it pure you see there was all these attempts not perhaps consciously on the part of the people of God at that point to sidetrack the very promise but God in His grace God in His power God in His Majesty brings it to pass according to his decree secondly as we see in this passage as we see throughout the new task we need to appreciate the ministry of the apostles and then after them the ministry of elders because you see the Ministry of the Apostle cease there were the twelve and once they died that was it these religions that have apostles they're wrong there's no apostle in you know Mormonism there's no pasaran jehovah's witnesses of them but you know these charismatic groups they have an apostle of this or an apostle of that what was one of the fundamental requirements of an apostle he had to witness the resurrection of Jesus you know whatever apostle in whatever charismatic church that may be out there today hasn't witnessed the resurrection of Jesus so it is the elders that have been then given that task to preach and teach the word that's a fundamental requirement in first Timothy chapter 3 if you look at elders at the top and then you look at Deacons at the bottom and I don't mean that in some class sort of way I feel like I have to qualify that because I have elder privilege or whatever they might sort of say about that but but you look at that there's a great deal of similarity the elders and the Deacons are supposed to possess the same sort of urges it's not the elder has to be a one-woman man in the you know the Deacon can have five wives or you know the older has to not be giving a much wine but the you know the Deacon can get hammered that's not it the virtues are very much the same there's a lot of overlap there's one key ingredient that differentiates the eldership from the diaconate and it's an apt miss to teach why do you think that is because that's the stress of the eldership that is the emphasis of the pastoral ministry not apt to entertain not apt to cajole not apt to guilt manipulate not apt to nag not apt to just be a CEO but apt to teach and that's precisely what the Apostles did Peter walks from Joppa to Caesarea why because he's going to preach the gospel to this heathen this is the emphasis that carries through the New Testament this is the emphasis that must carry through our era with reference to the church thirdly we see in this passage and if we don't we need to pray to God to have the eyes and the heart to see it the glory of Jesus look at what Jesus is about look at what Jesus did he went about doing good he always fulfilled the law of his father you want to know what righteousness looks like study the 33 years of Christ's life that's it there's not 33 seconds and you're my your life or mine where we see this utter spotless righteousness but for that 33 years Jesus fulfilled all righteousness he goes to the cross not because he's a sinner but because were sinners God made him by way of imputation by way of constituting by way of legal by way of forensic he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him the significance of the cross death is simply this he stood in the place of sinners and he took in himself the wrath the penalty and the judgment that you and I deserve such that through his blood we are washed clean his resurrection he was raised for our justification Paul says to show he wasn't simply a martyr he didn't just do something for a good cause but rather he is a factual rather he is declared to be the Son of God with power and that is evidenced by his resurrection from the dead according to Paul in Romans 1 for you see the glory of Christ is all over this small sermon brethren it's a tiny sermon it's probably a specimen of the amount of what he preached we know that he continued because while Peter was still speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those but the bottom line is is that it was filled with Christ the glory of Christ the excellence of Christ the majesty of Christ the goodness of Christ and the saving ability of Christ and you will and I will one day meet Christ it's going to happen I stink for the saints of God when we see that he is the judge of the living and the dead we can rejoice we can be encouraged because we know we're clothed in a righteousness not our own we made a bit of a spiritual or allegorical application of that scene in Genesis 27 actually Ambrose did and I quite liked it as did John Calvin remember when Isaac or rather Jacob is engaged in his deception and Isaac pulls him near to smell him he wanted to smell that he was indeed his his his son that was out there a shooting game that son that was out there in the bush in the wilderness Lambros made the observation that when were pulled near to the to the nose of God the Father he smells Jesus on us he smells Christ on us we've been given that that cloak that righteousness that garment and there's that odor that comes from us not because of us but because of our position in the Savior so that reality that the judge is our Savior should encourage us it should cause us to to walk through this life though afflicted though tried though having hardships nevertheless singing with the kids this train is Bound for Glory but for those of you who do not know Christ those of you who are not perfumed with him those who have not got that garment listen to the apostle whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins this couldn't be any any more glory from Simon Peter to a pagan to a to a to a Centurion to a military man to a commander of troops I mean all the things that are that are so backward in our society we looked down upon such such persons well this person had lots of strikes against him but he is told that whoever looks to Christ in faith will receive the forgiveness of sins that holds true for everyone here that will look to him in faith they will receive the remission of sins well let us pray father we thank you for your word we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ and that the whole scope of prophetic Scripture the law itself the writings the New Testament all point us to that one who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 we thank you for clothing us in His righteousness we thank you for accepting us in the beloved we know God that we are not the sorts of people that go about doing good but we have all gone astray like sheep we have all rejected we have all resisted we have all turned from you and yet you sought us out and in your grace you called us and you have shown us the beauty of Jesus and you've given us faith and repentance and we rejoice in this and we pray that wherever this gospel is preached and we would say specifically here God that your spirit would be in attendance and that your spirit would bring that conviction for sin and your spirit would give that grace of faith that sinners may come to know Christ as Lord and Savior and we ask these things for your glory and for the good of souls in this place and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you can take your hem book and turn to 564 564 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete and every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever amen God made these things be true in our hearts and in our lives may increase our faith in the Savior and our love for him and God help us to sanctify the day to enjoy the Lord's Day to call it a delight and may you gather us together again tonight as we come corporately to worship the father through the son and the power of the Holy Spirit and go with us now and keep us in the remainder of this in the coming week keep us and cause your face to shine upon us and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you may be seated you