John Samson Makes a Royal Announcement and Acts 10 on Today's Dividing Line

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Welcome to the dividing line. My name is Pastor John Sampson from King's Church in Phoenix It's a delight to be a guest host here on the dividing line
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And we've got a quick update regarding James's ministry in South Africa.
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Please be praying for him rich What is the latest? Okay, so we've been given a put up a nice fancy graphic there for everybody to see and we've been given a current
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List of his itinerary here and I sure hope that I pronounce everything properly but Friday October 3rd
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He will be speaking and well, he'd be debating Bashir Varnia the title will be
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Jesus or st. Paul who is the true founder of Christianity and many Muslims that is a a big
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Talking point and that is going to be at the Shannon Islam Hall in Lanasia 1821
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South Africa Argonne Crescent and Good Crescent opposite Rose Park at 7 p .m
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All right, and then Saturday October 4th will be the big biblical worldview conference
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The topic will be why can we trust our New Testament James? White with Tim Cantrell and that's going to be at the
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Sanditon Bible Church 15 Leslie Avenue, Sandton Douglas Dale South Africa 15
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Leslie Avenue Sandton 2191 and that's gonna go from 8 to 9 that evening.
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So well, no, no, no, my bad. That's a conference 8 a .m To 9 p .m.
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So that's gonna be a very long day a lot of work going on there and then Sunday October 5th, he will be at the
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Antioch Bible Church and The session will be on Roman Catholicism That will be at the
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Knights Preparatory School corner of ner Norena Street and Alexander Street Randberg and that's gonna start at 8 a .m.
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And then He'll be at the Heritage Baptist Church 25 5th
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Street on the corner of 5th and 7th in Melville, Johannesburg at 7 p .m. That evening and then
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Tuesday, October 7th, uh Reading each it's gonna be a debate reading each other's scriptures a
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Christian Muslim debate Christology in John's Gospel and the Quranic position on the Bible and James will be debating
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Yusuf Ismail and then That's going to be oh
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Kind of to make sense. Here's Juma Masjid mosque corner of Dennis Hurley Old Gray Street and Dr.
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Yusuf dadu Old Queen Street Durban South Africa and that's gonna be a big one because here we go again with another
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Mosque opening up the month amazing amazing opportunity. Absolutely. Amazing amazing situation there and then
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Wednesday October 8th, he will be debating Ayub Kareem Crucifixion and resurrection factor fiction and that will be at the
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David Landau Community Hall 5 Crocus Road Asherville Fazulu Natal in South Africa and that is the that is the itinerary as of this moment and He will literally be leaving
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Durban That Friday morning flying over to Johannesburg Airport and then flying straight back to Phoenix from there goodness me
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So, you know, he's as you can see He's got a long trip as it is and it's 32 hours plus the
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I think that's another hour and a half on top Of that is he flying right now. I know he arrived in. Yes. He arrived in Heathrow I think he's probably now in the air.
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Yeah, and should be on his way to Johannesburg. Very good So everybody be praying what will all of this be posted on the
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AOM in blog or it that's what I just read from Blog and you saw the the very pretty graphic that same king of graphics just made for us and for this and that was very nice and so just you'll see that on the on the website just follow the link in there and it's going to take you right to the
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To the Calendar there and I will later today be updating. Dr. White's online calendar, which is down at the bottom
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Which I've been very neglectful over as of late. So I'll be getting that. Okay, very very good Everyone be playing for dr.
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White's health as well as clarity in And in all of these amazing opportunities
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God will draw his elect people out of every corner of the earth and every people group and we're
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Committed to that because scripture is so that's very very exciting. Thanks for sharing all that and Wonderful wonderful news that is and it's amazing amazing opportunity
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Regular viewers and listeners to the dividing line show will remember that on the last broadcast in the last couple of minutes dr.
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White asked people to Join my ESV only movement
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Out of sympathy because up until then I had no membership Clearly he was moved with compassion
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However, I am very pleased to announce that this has all been changed.
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Yes. I Reeled in the big one and with that in mind there is actually on the dividing line show today a royal
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Yes a royal Announcement on this the 30th day of September 2014 here on dr.
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James White's dividing lane show. I would like to make two important announcements. I Am pleased to announce myself as a founding member of the
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ESV only movement Although pastor Samson is now an
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American citizen his efforts in spreading the English Accent has been duly noted my husband and I so appreciate his leadership in pointing to the
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English standard version as the only Legitimate God inspired version to be used.
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Hey, I haven't finished my announcement Keep going. Keep going people. Keep going. Keep going as the only
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Legitimate God inspired version to be used in all the colonies and beyond Which leads me to my second major announcement?
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the sixth solar of the Reformation solar ESV tickets by the
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English standard version alone may God be pleased to use the
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ESV for the furtherance of the kingdom of God and the Official language of heaven the
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Queen's English and may all dividing line viewers and listeners one day here with their own ears the immortal words of our
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Lord Well done well good and faithful servant
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Wow, I was that was an amazing Announcement, of course only the Queen Her Majesty the
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Queen could with her official title as head of the Church of England defender of the faith
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Make such an announcement and you heard it live Here on the dividing line,
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I'm just sorry that James wasn't here to share this moment But it's been a glorious glorious couple of weeks for the
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Queen Retaining Scotland in her grip and now adding a solar to the
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Protestant Reformation You heard it live on the dividing line the dividing line. It's a place to be for all news worldwide and I'm excited that you were there to Witness this event from the
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Queen directly. All right, if you have a Bible, we'll go to Matthew chapter 16 and also
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Acts chapter 10 two openings in our Bibles and I'm excited to be able to open up the scriptures on a theme that I believe will be of Benefit and blessing to everyone who's listening has got a heart for the
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Word of God. Let's just pray before we begin father I just thank you for this opportunity. I pray you'll just give
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Me the ability to speak clearly and accurately and the people to hear it
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Accurately Lord let your word go forth in power and accomplish all you desire pray in Christ's name
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Amen as We go to Acts chapter 10
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It is a remarkable chapter and many are convinced. It's one of the most significant in the entire
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New Testament Before we go there though, I'd like us to read familiar passage in Matthew chapter 16
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Where Jesus is asking his followers what the current buzz was regarding himself
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What people were thinking what people were saying about him says in Matthew chapter 16 verse 13
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Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples.
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Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said some say
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John the Baptist others say Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets
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He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied you are the
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Christ the Messiah Greek word is Christos It's the Greek way of speaking of the
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Messiah the Hebrew word Mashiach You are the Christ the Son of the Living God and Jesus said to him
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Blessed are you Simon Bar Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you But my father who is in heaven and I tell you you are
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Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it
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I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven
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Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ Dr.
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James White in his book the Roman Catholic controversy Outlined this particular passage and described it.
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So well, I'm just going to quote what he said here And what he wrote the central theme is the
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Messiah ship of Jesus Christ any? Interpretation that takes the focus off of Jesus as Messiah is missing the point
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Jesus questions to the disciples about the opinions of the multitudes and then their own viewpoints are all directed towards his own person his own identity when
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Peter speaks up and Confesses that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God is confessing the faith of all the disciples not merely his own
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He often spoke for them all Jesus pronouncement of blessing upon Peter is not because of any inherent goodness in Peter But rather his being the recipient of a great blessing from the
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Father To Peter has been revealed the true identity of Jesus Christ And of course this revelation was given to the other
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Apostles as well We can hardly think that they all sat there amazed at Peter's words Never having thought that Jesus was the
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Christ the Son of the Living God the point of Jesus words is to is that to reveal the
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Son Requires the enlightening work of the Father the same Theme is seen in John 6 where no man can come to the
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Son unless drawn by the Father in That same context when all the disciples turned away from Jesus save the twelve
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It was speed of his Peter who spoke for the disciples again saying Lord to whom shall we go?
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You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that you are the
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Holy One of God John chapter 6 68 to 69 emphasis added when the
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Lord says I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it
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The focus does not change the subject of the passage remains the identity of Christ found in the confession of Peter Jesus is not speaking of the identity of Peter.
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He's still talking about himself and his church This is evident by continuing on through verse 20 where we read then he warned the disciples that they should
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Tell no one that he was the Christ some modern scholars having missed the fact that the focus remains on Christ all the way through are so Puzzled by this passage that they suggest that it's not original but such conjecture is not necessary The rock of which the
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Lord speaks is that common confession made by all who are a part of the church? Jesus is the
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Christ the Son of the Living God This is seen I believe in the fact that while the Lord is addressing
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Peter directly He changes from direct address to the third person this rock when speaking of Peter's confession
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He does not say upon you Peter. I will build my church instead you have a clear distinction between Peter the
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Petros and the demonstrative pronoun preceding Petra The confession of faith on which the church is built
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This statement is followed by the promise to give the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter at some time in the future when if you can look at the
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Passage if you have access to it just now and he says I tell you you are Peter and on this rock
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I'll build my church and he says in verse 19. I will future tense. I will
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Give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven He says this statement is
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Followed by the promise to give the keys of the kingdom to Peter at some Time in the future so that what he binds on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever he looses on earth
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Will be loosed in heaven. I emphasize. This is a promise for the verb is future intense
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Yet when we see this authority given in Matthew 18 verse 18 It is given not to Peter alone or even primarily to him it is conferred on all the
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Apostles using the exact same language regarding binding and Loosing if someone wishes to say that Peter receives keys in distinction from the other
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Apostles as their superior They are forced to admit that the actual giving of the keys is never recorded for us anywhere in Scripture a strange thing
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Indeed for something supposedly so fundamental to the Constitution of the church
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I say all this because in Acts chapter 10 we have
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Peter ministering at the household of Cornelius and many have described the events here as The Gentile Pentecost.
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This is where the Holy Spirit makes it very clear that Gentiles have full inclusion in the kingdom of God How important is this passage?
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well others have described it as One of the most important chapters in the entire
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Bible, let me give you a quote from dr. RC Sproul Acts 10 is one of the most important chapters of the entire book of Acts if not the most important chapter
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Actually, it is one of the most important chapters in the entire New Testament because it brings to our attention the extremely important moment in redemptive history a time of Transition from the old way of doing things to a whole new epoch of God's redemptive activity
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Peter was given the keys and it's speculation on my part, but there are
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Theologians who agree with me and I would be very very clear to say this is just speculation
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I wouldn't die on this hill, but it seems interesting to me because doors by their very definition open the way to something
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You go through a door and you're into another room that was probably locked before and if it is locked you need keys and Jesus is very specific in giving keys to his apostles and he says in Matthew 16
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I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven what exactly those are We can only speculate but it's a theory that in Acts 2
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Jesus gave Peter the keys To open the door For the
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Jews. It was the first Christian message after Jesus death and resurrection the first Christian sermon in Acts chapter 2 and Peter was used by God to open the door to The Jews now to believe in the resurrected
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Savior the good news of the gospel In Acts chapter 10, it would seem that the door was now opening through the use of keys
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Keys opening the door now to the Gentiles I think that's a tremendous thought because it would show in Scripture at least
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Something of what was going on with Jesus giving Peter keys There are at least two that keys open doors the door to the
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Jews Acts chapter 2 the door to the Gentiles Acts chapter 10 now the
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Lord gives Peter a vision and I want to read the passage again.
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It's a lengthy one. But again It's good for us to hear the Word of God Acts chapter 10 verse 1 at Caesarea there was a man named
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Cornelius a centurion of what was known as the Italian cohort a devout man who feared
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God with all his people With all his household He was a devout man who feared
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God with all his household gave arms generously to the people and prayed continually to God About the ninth hour of the day
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He saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him Cornelius and he stared at him in terror and said what is it
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Lord and he said to him your prayers and your arms have ascended as A memorial before God and now send men to Joppa and bring one
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Simon who is called Peter He is lodging with one Simon a tanner whose house is by the seaside when the angel who spoke to him had departed he called two of his servants and A devout soldier from among those who attended him and having related everything to them
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He sent them to Joppa the next day as they were on their journey and approaching the city Peter went up on the housetop
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About the sixth hour to pray and he became hungry and wanted to eat something Or wanted something to eat but while they were preparing it he fell into a trance and Saw the heavens open and something like a great sheet
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Descending being let down by its four corners upon the earth in it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air
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And they came a voice to him rise Peter kill and eat But Peter said by no means
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Lord for I've never eaten anything that is common or unclean and the voice came to him again a second
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Time what God has made clean do not call common This happened three times and the thing was taken up at once to heaven now while Peter was inwardly
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Perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean Behold the man who was sent by Cornelius having made inquiry for Simon's house
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Stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there
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And while Peter was pondering the vision the spirit said to him behold three men are looking for you rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation for I've sent them and Peter went down to the man and said
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I am the one you are looking for what is the reason for your coming and they Said Cornelius a centurion and upright and God -fearing man
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Who was well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation was? Directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say
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So he invited them in to be his guests the next day He rose and went away with them and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him and on the following day.
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They entered Caesarea Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends
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When Peter entered Cornelius met him and fell at his fell down at his feet and worshipped him
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But Peter lifted him up saying stand up. I too am a man and As he talked with him he went in and found many persons gathered and he said to them
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You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation
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But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean so when
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I was sent for I came without objection I asked then why you sent for me and Cornelius said four days ago about this hour
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I was praying in my house at the ninth hour and behold a man stood before me in bright clothing and said
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Cornelius Your prayer has been heard and your arms have been remembered before God send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who's called
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Peter He is lodging in the house of Simon a tanner by the sea So I sent for you at once and you've been kind enough to come
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Now therefore we're all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the
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Lord So Peter opened his mouth and said truly. I understand that God shows no partiality
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But in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is
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Acceptable to him as for the word that he sent to Israel preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ He is
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Lord of all You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed
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How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit with power?
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He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him and we are witnesses of all
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That he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem They put him to death by hanging him on a tree
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But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear not to all the people
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But to us whom he had chosen by God as witnesses who ate and drank with him
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After he rose from the dead and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead
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To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name
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There's an emphasis here in the book of Acts by way of repetition. The Lord gives
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Peter a vision Peter then Repeats that lesson to Cornelius and then later on in Acts chapter 11
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He recalls the event to the Jews at Jerusalem That was oftentimes the way that things were emphasized in the
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Hebrew mentality not to just say it once or even twice But here when it's the third time, you know that God is at work
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He wants us to know something this event is obviously Pivotal it
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Speaks of the Gentiles being included in the kingdom of God now What is also interesting is that after this event
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Peter begins to fade from view? Paul now becomes much more dominant in the book of Acts up until now
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We've seen something of Paul, but mainly Peter at work, but after this event, it seems that Peter begins to fade
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There's a few short things that Peter is talked about So certain events that take place but really it's
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Paul that becomes the central focus the story here has Six sections.
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There's the introduction regarding Cornelius the preparation of Peter. There's Peter Meeting the messengers and then put
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Peter's journey to an arrival in Caesarea Then there's the sermon itself and then there are the results that are really dramatic
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Let's talk about the first of these Cornelius he was a Roman he was a Gentile He was a centurion a centurion is a man who is over a hundred men sometimes that would
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Centurion is used for someone with even higher authority than that and it seems that he was a very prominent man because of the elite nature in which he was governing as a centurion ruling as a
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Centurion because it speaks of the elite guard the Italian cohort or the Italian regiment and it's interesting that Jesus speaks well of Gentiles often and In the
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Gospels, you remember he spoke of one centurion and said of him I've not found anyone with such great faith not in all
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Israel you find that in Matthew chapter 8 verse 10 Acts chapter 10 here speaks of Cornelius is genuine faith.
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He was devout. It says he was God fearing He was a giver and he was praying we could speak much about those four characteristics of Cornelius he was a
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God fearer. What does that mean? He was one who feared God. Well, it was actually a description of Gentile people who worshipped the
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Hebrew God Yahweh, but not yet a Jew by means of circumcision they
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Did not believe in the gods of Rome They did not believe in the goddesses of Rome or the
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Greek deities They were believers in the true God, but yet were not
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Circumcised and they were known as God fear as we see that mentioned in Acts chapter 13 as well
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Acts chapter 13 and Verse 16 where it says Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said men of Israel and you who fear
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God Listen notice the two distinctions men of Israel the Jews and then you who fear
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God these were Gentiles who believed in the God of Israel believe verse 26 says something similar where he says brothers
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Sons of the family of Abraham and those among you who fear God again
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Jews and these Gentiles who believe in and worship the one true God of Israel so This was a
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Gentile who expressed genuine interest in Judaism He would attend the the synagogue, but he was not yet fully converted.
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He was on track He was I'm sure being drawn by God to worship the true
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God, but he was not yet a drew a Jew and Because of that historically it was improper for Jews to associate with them socially these
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Gentile God fearers were allowed to attend synagogue But it was not proper for the
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Jews to fellowship with them. That's very important and that's actually vital to understand this passage
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Cornelius was still a Gentile. He was being prepared by God. There was a dissatisfaction with the paganism that was so Dramatic and so outlined everywhere.
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He went so apparent everywhere, but he was drawn to the God of Israel He was being prepared by God for what?
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for Peter for Peter and the message of salvation and Peter himself was being prepared for this event by means of the vision that he had while on the housetop
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Peter was being sent to Caesarea to tell Cornelius the message of salvation
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God prepares hearts and Yet the person needs to hear the message of salvation being prepared by God is not enough
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You have to hear the message That's what Romans 10 speaks of how shall they hear without a preacher and the preacher has to be prepared by God and Then the person who hears the message is then prepared by God and that certainly was taking place in two directions both with Cornelius and with Peter in the
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Preparation of Peter we see from verse 9 onwards of the chapter the vision that he had
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Though Peter was a Christian hear this. He still thought as a Jew, obviously
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And according to Jewish thought get God did not save Gentiles as Gentiles they had to become
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Jews first We need a grasp that otherwise the passage doesn't make too much sense
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Jesus in fact said this salvation is of the Jews Jesus said that in John chapter 4 if us as Gentiles I speak as a non -jewish person by way of ethnicity
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If I'm to come into the kingdom, I've got to come in by means of the Jewish Messiah Jesus was and is
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Jewish according to the flesh. He is the Jewish Messiah. Thankfully. He's not simply or merely the
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Jew the Jewish Messiah He's the Messiah of the world. He is The the
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Savior of the world But we come in because the Bible is basically a Jewish book the prophets and the apostles all being
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Jewish Peter was prepared by seeing God's work in Samaria and That needs some explanation to the
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Samaritans were partly Jews and partly Gentiles and at the end of chapter 9
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We see that Peter was staying with Simon the Tanner now That itself is significant tanners worked with leather and What they did was handle the dead carcasses of animals to get the color into the leather
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Dead animals were unclean so anyone who touched a dead animal was seen as Unclean in Jewish thought have nothing to do with that person and yet Peter stayed with Simon even in that God directed him and Was preparing
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Peter's heart God was breaking down prejudices God was breaking down the defenses of Peter still
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Simon was a Jew But Cornelius was not a following this Simon was a
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Jew But yet because of his work was considered unclean Cornelius was not even a
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Jew. He was a Gentile and Historically God did did save Gentiles Not very often when that many that came into the kingdom
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But they were only saved if they became Jews think of Rahab think of Ruth We could talk at length about those two, but they came into the kingdom, but they had to become
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Jewish But now God had broken down the wall of partition or he is about to show that that was indeed the case
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Gentiles could now come into the kingdom as Gentiles now we're so used to in the 21st century
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Recognizing this fact that we really need to go back into the first century and realize what a remarkable turn of events acts chapter 10
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Actually is because without acts chapter 10 We can't really grasp the significance of us as Gentiles coming in we're so used to it because we've had 2 ,000 years of Christian history where Oftentimes, it's the
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Gentiles that are number the Jews in the kingdom of God in the Church of Jesus Christ We're so used to it
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Gentiles were no longer unclean Around the sixth hour
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The vision came to Peter what was the vision it was a sheet and animals were on the sheet and there were animals that were
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Kosher according to a Jewish thought but then unclean as well and The voice came to Peter rise
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Peter kill and eat and what was his response? No, I can't do that Why was he saying that not merely tradition, but because of the teaching of?
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Books of the Bible like Leviticus which said certain animals are to be eaten and some and to be avoided don't ever eat such things and Peter's response was very
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Jewish and Rightly, so because up until then God had not decreed
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That certain meats can be eaten. They were to be avoided at all costs.
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He says no, I can't do that They are unclean I've never eaten anything like that I've never done that and the answer from God came in verse 15 what
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God has made clean do not call Common Peter had never heard anything like this before Do you realize the significance of acts 10 here in this moment centuries of dietary laws?
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Are repealed by God? Remember Shadrach Meshach Abednego They were put into the fiery furnace.
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One of the reasons being they wouldn't bow down to the ruler, but also they wouldn't eat the food of the
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Empire in which they were living that was unclean in the eyes of God and now here in Acts 10
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God is changing the rules This vision is repeated Then it's repeated again.
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God is up to something. God is getting the message to Peter and it had far more Ramifications than simply
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Peter's Dieter diet and what he would be eating on a plate. This was going to refer to people not just meat powerful stuff he was powerful powerfully drawn by God this
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Cornelius and now Peter is Drawn to see something he had not seen before and God declares
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Don't call unclean what I call clean So he's puzzled over the vision the man from Cornelius then arrived
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Exactly that moment that the vision had ended for the third time and God Told Peter to go down and welcome them
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Then we read in verse 19 while Peter was pondering the vision the Spirit said to him behold three men are looking for you rise and Go down accompany them without hesitation for I've sent them and Peter went down to the man and said
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I am the one you're looking For what is the reason for your coming and they explained it then in verse 22?
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they said Cornelius a Centurion an upright and God -fearing man who was well spoken of by the whole
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Jewish nation was directed by a holy angel To send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say
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Peter then invited the men into the house to be his guests and again, we are so used to living on this side of Time the 21st century get our minds in the first century.
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This was amazing Peter invited the men into his house to be his guests
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That's not normal for a Jew. It's fact. In fact, it's forbidden, but Peter had got the message
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God called these men clean and Peter was not to call them unclean
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Peter started the journey to Caesarea He took some brothers from Joppa and I believe this was very wise to take some
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Jewish brethren with him because he knew Perhaps not everything that was going to occur but he knew
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God was up to something and should he have to explain to others what happened he wanted some witnesses and Scriptures talk about having at least two or three witnesses when
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You you are going to a trial and he might be put on trial for what happens here And it was just wisdom on his part to bring six brothers
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Maybe he thought I need double the normal ammunition here more than three. I need six.
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He took six with him from Joppa and They went to the house of Cornelius.
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He wanted I believe a very verification He wanted to have when he spoke later on about the events that would occur not knowing all that would occur
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He wanted to be able to substantiate the claims he was making I believe this was a smart move It was going to be controversial walking with God is controversial anyway
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But best to have some facts and some facts that can be proven whatever
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Would happen Cornelius was prepared Peter was prepared the preacher was the hearers were
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Cornelius his household were prepared prepared. The audience were prepared God did all the work.
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I wonder if you can Recognize that when people respond to the gospel is because God's been at work not because man has stooped in humility
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But God has changed hearts and he often does that through a momentous
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Instant or over a period of time many people come to Christ and say it was a dramatic moment I can point to the date others say it was over a period of three months that God was drawing me
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I can't pinpoint the exact time when he Regenerated me or maybe it was even over a period of four or five years
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They can't point to a time but in both cases There was a time when God turned the heart of stone into a heart of flesh
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God knows the time even if we don't we're not to look for a time but to look for evidences of life
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Examine yourself to see if you're in the faith scripture says so as we come to Peter and his actual message with everybody being prepared
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It says so Peter verse 34 opened his mouth and said that seems redundant to us
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Because you need to open your mouth to say something, but this is the Jewish way of saying he's preaching now
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He's opening his mouth to preach and his message was first of all the fact that God shows no
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Favoritism God shows no Partiality in other words Peter had got the message
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God's favor is extended to all God does not show favoritism.
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God will save Jewish people Gentile people he'll save the down -and -out.
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He'll save the up -and -out He'll save every kind of person and that's the only way you and I became
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Christians again I'm assuming that most of the viewing or listening audience is probably not
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Jewish if you are that's wonderful But I certainly wasn't born and raised in England with a
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Welsh father and an Irish mother. I Can't say that I have any Jewish blood in me and the only way
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I'm in the kingdom is because of the cross of Christ the resurrection of Christ and because The church has observed acts chapter 10 in the
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New Testament and recognize what the cross and resurrection of Christ achieved for all people
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Anyone who call calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. God does not check your passport
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Before he saves you He does not check your ethnicity He checks to see if your heart has been warmed by him
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He's taken out a heart of stone put in a heart of flesh and you call upon the name of the Lord He regenerates you you're born again
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Then you come into the kingdom and again Jesus made it clear that we have to be born again first before we can
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See or enter the kingdom. The gospel is to be preached to all
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If I got in to the kingdom and I did The gospel is for everyone If we understand that we then it can then understand passages that perhaps were a little mystical to us little strange to us, but now in Understanding the events of Acts chapter 10 we can read passages like Ephesians 2 and they come alive to us.
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Let me just read Ephesians chapter 2 and normally I love to spend time in the first 10 verses which speaks of God's Activity and raising his elect from the dead
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Spiritually Nekros is a Greek word that means dead like a corpse and it says you were dead in your
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Trespasses and sins and we we could spend much time on on that and then the activity of God but God Not God plus man, but God alone, but God being rich in mercy because the great love with which he loved us
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Even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ so much we could say about that But let's just jump to chapter 2 verse 11 therefore
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Remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh now think with this First century mindset.
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This is amazing news at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the
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Uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision called uncircumcised by the
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Jews Which is made in the flesh by hands remember that you were at that time separated from Christ the
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Gentiles were Separated from Christ had no way into the kingdom unless they become circumcised unless they become
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Jewish separated from Christ alienated from the
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Commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise having no hope and Without God in the world.
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Do you do you get that? We're so used to living on this side of these events
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That it's hard for us to picture in the first century just how dramatic this was we had no hope
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Gentiles have no hope for the kingdom or entering the kingdom unless they become
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Jews Thankfully the cross and resurrection of Christ changed that and the events of Acts chapter 10 tell us the ramifications but now
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In Christ Jesus you who once were far off who is he speaking of Gentiles?
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Have been brought near by the blood of Christ for he himself is our peace Who has made both one who are the both here?
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Jews and Gentiles who has made both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of Hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances
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That he might create in himself one new man in place of the two So making peace and might reconcile us both who are the both
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Jews and Gentiles Might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross thereby killing the hostility and He came and preached peace to you who were far off.
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That's the Gentiles and peace To those who were near that's the Jews for through him
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We both Jews and Gentiles have access in one spirit to the father
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So then what's the conclusion? so then you are no longer strangers and Aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the
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Saints and members of the household of God That's dramatic.
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That's a Wow moment You're fellow citizens. You don't have a less
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Than perfect citizenship you have full citizenship in the kingdom of God no matter what your nationality
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Fellow citizens with the Saints and members of the household of God built on the foundation of the
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Apostles and Prophets the Apostles and prophets Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the
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Lord in Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God By the
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Spirit who is both Jews and Gentiles now chapter 3 verse 1 continues the same thought
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One of the blessings we have are the chapter and verse Divisions in our
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Bibles to help us find particular verses, but one of the curses Are the chapter and verse divisions in our
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Bible because oftentimes we stop reading but Paul is continuing the same thought by saying this for this reason
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He's continuing on the conversation. He says for this reason. I Paul a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you
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Gentiles Assuming that you've heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you
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How the mystery was made known to me by revelation as I have written briefly
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When you read this you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ Which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy
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Apostles and prophets by the Spirit. What is the mystery? This mystery is that the
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Gentiles are fellow heirs Members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel
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That's coming alive that this passage is now Meaning more to me. It's more rich to me now that I understand the events of Acts chapter 10
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Most of us in the church today are from a Gentile background but we're included in the kingdom of God because of what took place on the cross and By the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the events that took place in Cornelius's household at Caesarea That's dramatic.
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That's very dramatic I hope that your heart is enlarged by just walking through this passage and seeing what is being said here as we turn to the message of Peter in Acts chapter 10 here
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I want to focus on some of the things he said and we're going to See how far we can go in this hour and then we'll hopefully
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God willing pick it up in our next dividing line What was
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Peter's message? He started off by saying there's no partiality with God.
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I Believe that in the church at large if you look through the preaching of the early church the theological word for it is the kerygma the
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Preaching of the Apostles you'll see that it's often very different from what is proclaimed by the so -called church in our day
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The church at large has a very weak message, but the Bible message is very strong In fact, it was something of a revelation to me when
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I realized although John 3 16 is Certainly a tremendous verse in the
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Bible speaking of the love of God for the people of the world The message of the
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Apostles I've yet to find the word love there in anywhere in the preaching of the
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Apostles They didn't start off with God loves you and as a wonderful plan for your life Some of the people you might speak to might be dead within 24 hours
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What's the wonderful plan if they don't repent the plan is hell? Mm -hmm why don't we go back to what the
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Biblee says the early church certainly believed in the love of God but the message was of God as a holy
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God and of Jesus as Judge and Savior and we're going to see that those two concepts in this passage
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It was dr. RC Sproul who spoke of the eclipse of God and you understand that in a solar eclipse when that happens the moon gets between earth and the
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Sun and The moon casts a shadow over the earth the last one I've got it written in my notes here was on April the 29th this year 2014 the next one
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October 23rd 2014 it's interesting when an eclipse take place
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Perhaps in an office oftentimes the office manager might say all right, you're all going to look anyway through the window
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Let's take five minutes and look at the eclipse and people have a little bit of time off during the day
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If that's when it's happening and they go out and look at something, but it's interesting They're not actually seeing the revealing of something
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But the obscuring of something you and I are not to look at the Sun because it's just too bright
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It's not good for our eyes to look directly into the Sun. But when a solar eclipse takes place the moon
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Gets between earth and the Sun and we can see The obscuring of something and it's interesting to us
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Ozzy Sproul says this he makes this as an analogy an eclipse does not destroy reality
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It only hides it conceals it covers it over Puts a shadow on it.
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That's where we are in our culture today God has not been destroyed
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God still exists, but we have cast a shadow over his face The full resplendent glory of God has been deliberately hidden from view by the traditions of men and Sproul says my passion is to help people get beyond that shadow to move that shadow aside so that we can see the
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Transcendent majesty the glory of the reality that is there. I believe that's true
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Certain attributes of God have been clearly Proclaimed by the church the love of God the mercy of God the peace of God But things have been left out of the equation such as the holiness of God the sovereignty of God the majesty of God the justice of God and most people are not
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God fear is most people are not fearing God in our culture today because the church at large has not proclaimed the
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God that Could be feared they do not fear him because they don't believe that God would ever
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Throw someone into the lake of fire, but the Bible says in fact he does and it's Jesus who tells us that Jesus is the one who tells us most about hell in the
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Bible God had not given that assignment to any apostle He gave it to his son because it's so Horrific that we think it was just Paul or Peter or James or John just on a tangent somewhere.
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No, it's the same Jesus Who proclaimed John 3 16 who also speaks of John 3 36
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John 3 16 speaks of for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him
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Should not perish but have everlasting life but John 3 36 is a verse in our
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Bibles in that exact same chapter and it speaks of the present -day reality of the wrath of God on People who have not believed in Christ Whoever believes in the
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Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life But the wrath of God remains on him
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People do not like to hear about the wrath of God But it's there staring at us in the face in both the
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Old and New Testament when Jesus comes back The book of Revelation tells us he comes to tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God God shows no partiality
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But in every nation Anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him That's where Peter starts with the message.
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God will save anyone who calls on the name of the Lord So what does it mean about?
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Fearing him and doing what is right? Before God or Jesus explains in John 6
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They said to him what must we do to be doing the works of God and Jesus answered them This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent
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What is the doing that is right? It's believing believing in the one he sent second thing that comes out of this passage in the
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Sermon of Peter in Acts 10 is That Jesus is Lord of all do you see that in your
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Bibles? There's in verse 36 as for the word that he sent to Israel proclaiming good news of peace through Jesus Christ He is
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Lord of all Jesus is not merely a life enhancement coach a stress reliever
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Mood enricher a success guru a Financial planner.
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He's the Lord of heaven and earth Coming to him means coming to him on his terms as the sovereign king of the universe
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Lordship is not an option. We come to him as Lord on day one Romans 10 9 says if you confess with your mouth
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Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead You shall be saved the
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Lordship of Christ is not an option chosen by Committed Christians further on down the road.
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They accept him as Savior one day and then maybe three years on They might make him
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Lord. No Christ Lordship is a non -negotiable in our salvation third
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Concept that comes out of this sermon Firstly, he does not show favoritism.
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Secondly. Jesus is Lord. The third would be the life of Jesus it says
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He went about doing good. I'm amazed by both acts 2 and acts 10
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Peter did not stop to speak of the teachings of Jesus the parables of Jesus He spoke about the person and work of Jesus Peter could have
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Mesmerized the crowd in Acts 2 and in Acts 10 by what he knew that others didn't
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He was not only one of the twelve there were the seventy if you remember There was the twelve the
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Apostles and there seemed to be three that had particular Closeness to Christ Peter James and John at the first of that list is
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Peter He could have said I've got some insight about the Sermon on the Mount that will just amaze you
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I know what he was wearing. I know the type of sandals. He was wearing You're interested in and in hearing about he didn't go anywhere near that.
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He didn't talk about the teachings of Jesus. You know, why? The teachings of Jesus are not what saves a person
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It's the person and work of Christ and once we're in the kingdom The people with new hearts want to know the teaching of Christ.
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They want to know the parables They want to know the laws of the kingdom of God, but you can't get into the kingdom by observing law
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You get in through Christ and believing in him alone Jesus life he went about doing good
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God's assessment of the entire human race is that there are none that does good No, not one, but there's one exception the
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Lord Jesus Christ Remember God says of Christ at the baptism, this is my beloved
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Son in whom I'm well pleased and It's that goodness of Christ that is transferred to the believer
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The moment he believes our sins transferred to Christ on the cross he dies for the sins of all those who would ever believe in him and also the
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Righteousness of Christ, which is the life of Christ is transferred to us as believers so that in the court of God When God looks at the record of John Samson and anyone else
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Who believes in Christ it records the fact that? God sees me as having
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Christ as my life on the cross God treated
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Christ as if he lived my life and Now treats me as if I lived his
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Not only did Jesus die for my sins he lived for my righteousness
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Jesus did good and Only he did good
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He gets then to the cross and the resurrection and there's so much more we want to say about this
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Passage and we'll just have to stop here for the sake of time. But I hope your eyes and your heart are
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Thrilled your eyes to see your heart to respond. What is the response? Oh, thank you
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God Gentiles are now full citizens in the kingdom of God because of Christ and Because of these events that we're reading of in Acts chapter 10
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Let me just pray as we wrap up our time together father. Thank you for the Word of God Thank you for the name of Jesus upon which we can call and anyone who believes in him
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Will not in any way perish but will for certain have
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Eternal life father. We thank you for Christ. We thank you for his work. We thank you for what he's done for uncircumcised
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Gentiles and He's brought both Jews and Gentiles together Abolishing the war of hostility the wall of hostility and has brought us together in Christ into one body
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We thank you in Jesus name Please continue to pray for Dr.
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James White on his travels for the ministry that you can read about on the blog here My name is pastor
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John Sampson of Kings Church here in Phoenix It's been a delight to come to you. God bless you as you walk in the light of his