Peter's sermon in Acts 10, delivered in the house of Cornelius, emphasizes that God shows no partiality in salvation, accepting anyone who fears Him and works righteousness, regardless of nationality or social status. The sermon underscores the importance of proclaiming the Gospel through speaking, rather than through other means like drama or gifts. Peter affirms that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all, meaning all people have a duty to obey Him. He recounts how God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power, His crucifixion, and resurrection, which were witnessed by chosen disciples. The message concludes with the declaration that whoever believes in Jesus will receive remission of sins. The Holy Spirit's interruption during the sermon signifies divine validation of the inclusion of Gentiles in God's salvation plan. Peter's message is rooted in scripture, drawing from the teachings of Christ, the apostles, and the Old Testament prophets.

Our Scripture reading this morning is from Acts chapter 10. We are in the middle of Luke's account of Peter's visit to the household of Cornelius. He's been called from Joppa. He's been called from Joppa. He's traveled two days' journey to Caesarea.

And we pick up here in verse 34 as he begins his message to the church that is assembled in Cornelius' house. Acts 10 verse 34. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I perceive 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.

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 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 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 the Gospel and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witnessed that through His name Whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. And while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.

And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. And then Peter answered, Can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, and then they asked Him to stay a few days." May God revive us according to His Word. Almighty Heavenly Father, please open our hearts to receive Your Word with meekness.

Please open our eyes to behold the wonderful truths in Your Law. And please sanctify my sinful lips that they may proclaim Your truth. And please keep me from error. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. This is the Gentiles are being brought near. And we saw two weeks ago that God prepared both the messenger and the receiver of that message. And last week we looked at the posture of the messenger, both the messenger and those hearing the message. And this week We want to look at that message that we have just read, the message itself.

You'll notice in reading that sermon that Peter gave, it doesn't have three points. It doesn't have an introduction to orient the listeners to the message. It doesn't have a conclusion or an altar call because it gets interrupted by the Holy Spirit. But it is a sermon. It's a message from the Scriptures.

The Scriptures are explained, their senses opened, and application is made to those who are hearing. And this is what we read in Ezra 8, where the people had gathered together to worship God, that the Levites, Nehemiah 8, helped the people to understand the law. So they read distinctly from the book in the law of God, and they gave the sense and they helped them to understand the reading. That is the essence of preaching. To bring the Word of God, to explain what it means, and to help us understand what it implies for us, how we ought to respond.

So we see this message that Peter gives is uniquely tailored to those to whom he is speaking. He didn't give the same message to them that he gave at Pentecost several years earlier. But rather this is a message that is specific to the people that he is speaking to. And the first point then that Luke records about this message is that Peter opened his mouth and spoke. That might seem quite obvious.

Of course he opened his mouth. Why would Luke write that in there? How can you speak without opening your mouth? Unless you're maybe a ventriloquist, but even they have to open something to let a little air out. I think this is a point that is often missed, that the Gospel is communicated by speaking.

It's not communicated by theater, by acting, by drama, by stunts, or any of the other methods that are sometimes employed to communicate the Gospel. It's not even communicated by forming relationships, or by giving gifts or ministry. Although those things are very good in and of themselves, they are not the same as proclaiming the Gospel. They don't take the place of opening our mouth to speak the Gospel. People may be more willing to listen when you have established a relationship with them.

They may be more willing to listen when you have fed them and ministered to them in some way. And so those things definitely have their place, but they can never replace opening our mouth to speak of who Christ is and what He has done and how we are to be saved, how we can be saved from the wrath to come. Peter first opens his mouth, and then he preaches the Word. He draws his message from the Scriptures. His message, he first speaks about what Christ preached beginning after the baptism of John the Baptist.

That was Christ. He specifically identifies the beginning of Christ's ministry beginning after the baptism which John preached. John the Baptist. The word which God sent to the children of Israel proclaimed that there was peace through Jesus Christ. He also then goes to the apostles.

It was the message of the apostles who were commissioned as Christ's heralds. It was the message that they proclaimed throughout all Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. But then you notice that Peter also says it was the message of all the prophets, which includes the Old Testament. You see, Peter supports his message entirely from the Scriptures, from the Word of Christ, from the Word of the Apostles, and from the words of the prophets of the Old and New Testament. And this is the message that Peter brought.

God is not partial in whom He saves. Peter opens his sermon by talking about what he has learned. In truth, I perceive. He's learned. He's just learned this.

He's in this chapter that the Lord came to him in that vision and gave him those unclean animals and said, rise, kill, and eat. And you remember initially Peter said, no Lord, not so. Or Lord, not so Lord. But then he learned. He learned that he should not call unclean what God has called holy.

And so he says, in truth, I perceive, I have learned that God shows no partiality. God is not partial in whom He saves. He's not partial to one nation over another nation. He saves those who are of the circumcision and those who are gentiles, the unclean. He saves wicked people, murderers, blasphemers.

He saved Paul, who said he was a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent man. He saved Nineveh and Nebuchadnezzar. He saved upright people who loved their wives and their families. He saved Cornelius, an example of an upright man. He saved enslaved people.

He saved Anesimus, Philemon's servant. And He saves free people. He saved Philemon, a master. He saves people of means. Wealthy aristocrats, kings and princes.

He saved Zacchaeus and Moses, who grew up as the daughter of Pharaoh. He saves people of no means, homeless, destitute, can't hold a job. He saved Lazarus, who was a beggar lying at the gates of a rich man. He saves sick people, blind, lame. He saved Bartimaeus and Aeneas.

He saves well people, those who are in perfect health. He saved Daniel, a specimen of health. He saves those who have it together, and He saves those who don't. He saves people of every nation. People, nations that we are at war with, and nations with whom we are at peace.

So we need to remember this, this message, that God is not partial in who He saves. Anytime we are tempted to think that such and such a person wouldn't be a good candidate for the Gospel, we need to remember that God is not partial. And there is no person who is not a good candidate to hear the Gospel. There is no reason that somebody is not ready to hear. Because God is not partial to those He saves.

I think in saying this, Peter is also putting his hearers at ease a little bit. He's addressing what might be the source of some awkwardness. Gentiles having Jews into their homes. Since Cornelius was very familiar with the customs of the Jews, he was commended. He would have been sensitive to how his Jewish guests would feel coming into a Gentile home.

And so this is the first thing that Peter opens with, that God is not partial and that He saves people of every nation. So I think this introduction by Peter would serve to put them at ease as well as proclaim this truth that He has learned. Now, this is not saying that God makes no distinctions between people. To say that God is not partial in whom He saves is not saying that God makes no distinctions between people. God separates the sheep from the goats.

This is not saying either that God saves everyone. It's saying that of those He saves, there are no distinctions as to where they come from, what nation they're in, or what their status is, or their situation. He's not partial. But it doesn't mean that He saves everyone. It's saying that the distinctions that God makes are not based on anything in us.

They're not based on our race, our ethnicity, our wealth, or lack thereof, or any other category into which we might be placed. Salvation is of grace, is undeserved. It's without regard to who we are. Peter then says that God accepts all who fear Him and work righteousness. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." Now, what does it mean to fear God?

It's something that the Bible speaks a lot about. It actually says Jesus would come and He'd tell the disciples they'd be afraid, and He'd say, don't be afraid. But we also read in places like this that we are to fear God. So what is commanded here and what is being forbidden? Well, to fear God is to put great weight on what God says.

It's to put weight on what God says. To put weight on what God says means that we take Him very seriously. We take very seriously when He commands us to do something or not to do something. And so to fear God brings a carefulness that we don't do unrighteousness. To fear God is to take His words seriously.

It's to stake our life. It's to stake our future. It's to stake our wealth. It's to stake our family, our prosperity on what He says. When He says to flee fornication, if we fear God, then we take that very seriously and we do that.

If He says, don't be anxious, and we fear God, we take that word very seriously and we cast our anxieties upon Him when we find ourselves becoming anxious. You see how this works? To fear God is to put weight on His words. I think I've recently given the example that when we are afraid of somebody who is threatening us, the source of that fear is the weight that we put on their words. We believe that their threatening words are credible.

And we put weight on them. We think that it's a credible threat. That makes us afraid. If we think that their words are meaningless, then we don't put any weight on those words. We're not fearing them.

We're not afraid in that sense. You see, to fear God in the right way is to put great weight on His words. It's to act on what He says. And so to work righteousness then is the result of fearing God. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

Now, this is not saying that we are saved by our works. This is describing those who are accepted by God. It's not giving us the basis by which we are made acceptable to God. This is describing those who are in the Kingdom of Heaven, not the way we enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Paul said in Romans 14, the Kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

For He who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. He who serves Christ in these things, in what things? Righteousness, peace, and joy is acceptable to God. Paul is not saying there that this is the way by which we enter or become acceptable. He's describing those who are in the kingdom, who have been made acceptable by the blood of Jesus Christ.

See, the one way that we enter the kingdom, by which the one way that we are made acceptable to God is given in verse 43. Whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. You see, Peter is not teaching a work's righteousness here. We have been saved to be holy. We've been ordained to salvation so that we might walk in the works that have been prepared beforehand for us.

You see the idea that grace covers every sin and so We don't need to pay too much attention to the law or that we're not under the law as a rule by which we live. These ideas are foreign to the Scriptures and Peter proclaims that. Those who are accepted by God are those who fear Him and work righteousness. You notice Peter begins his message with the law, not with how people can be saved. Because if we don't know that God is the Lord of all and accepts those who fear God and work righteousness, then we won't see any need for grace.

We won't see any need to be saved if God doesn't have any requirements for us. If there's no wrath to come, there's no need to be saved. There's nothing to be saved from. And so Peter begins this message with the law. This isn't a fire and brimstone message like he gives in 2 Peter 2 because of the people whom he is speaking to.

He's speaking to devout people. In 2 Peter 2, He is speaking of false teachers. And He has words of utmost condemnation for them. But not here. He is speaking to God-fearers and devout people.

But He declares to them nevertheless that they too need to be saved. There is remission of sins to whoever believes in Him. His message proclaims the person and the work of Jesus Christ. The word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of all.

Jesus Christ is the Lord of all. If He is the Lord of all, then all need to obey Him. Pretty simple to follow, isn't it? He is the Lord of all, then all need to obey Him. Pretty simple to follow, isn't it?

He is the Lord of all, then all need to obey Him. That means every class of people need to obey Him. Civil rulers need to obey Him. State legislatures need to obey Him if He's the Lord of all. Unbelievers need to obey Him.

He's the Lord of all. Judges need to obey Him. He's the Lord of all. The homeless need to obey Him. Doctors need to obey Him.

Parents, husbands, wives, children need to obey Him. He is the Lord of all. That's what Peter preached. That Jesus Christ is the Lord of all. And if He's the Lord of all, then there is a duty for all to obey Him.

We ought to be very clear about that and never feel embarrassed or ashamed to proclaim that Christ is Lord of all. He's Lord over every area of our life. He's Lord over every discipline. He is the truth, the way, the truth, and the life. And there is never a situation where we should ever feel hesitant to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus Christ, to bring His law to bear into the conversation.

What does God's Word have to say about this? What does God command us to do in this situation? That is a question that is relevant when we as parents talk to our children. It's relevant when we speak to one another. It's relevant when we speak with our neighbors.

It's relevant when we speak with civil rulers. It's relevant when we speak to the homeless. Jesus Christ is Lord of all. We all need to obey Him. He certainly doesn't save us so that we can deny His Lordship.

The second thing Peter says about Christ is that He is anointed. God anointed Jesus. That word Christ actually means anointed. The Hebrew word is Messiah, means anointed. The Greek word is Christ, means anointed.

The English word is anointed. And so Jesus of Nazareth is the anointed one. It means He is the Christ. Peter is proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ. He's the Messiah of the Old Testament.

God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He received the Holy Spirit without measure and power. And he defeated and overpowered Satan at every turn. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. Then he talks about Christ's death.

He was killed by hanging on a tree. God raised him in the dead and showed him openly. And here's an interesting thing. He says he didn't show him to all people, but to witnesses chosen by God beforehand, even to us who ate and drank with Him. And He commanded them to preach to the people and to testify that it is He who is ordained by God to be judged at the living and the dead." Christ's resurrected body was only shown to witnesses chosen beforehand by God.

So many times when we talk to unbelievers, especially atheists and agnostics, they want to say, well, if God is God, why doesn't He show Himself to me? Why doesn't He do something? And then I would believe maybe. Well, the answer is they wouldn't believe. Because faith doesn't come by seeing a miracle.

Jesus was not shown on purpose to everyone, but only to a select few who were to be the witnesses. And God's ordained the preaching of the Word to be the means of convincing and converting sinners. And He's ordained to do it through vessels of clay that the glory might belong to Him. See, God commanded these people, these apostles, to preach the Gospel. He could have sent it by angels, but you see, angels never proclaim the Gospel.

They help us, but they don't themselves proclaim the Gospel. That's up to people that God has called and chosen. People who are to proclaim it by speaking, by opening their mouths. And What is then the Gospel? That whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.

Whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. It's not what we do. It's not the family that we come from. It's not how many catechism questions we learned or the Scriptures we've learned or all of the ministry that we've done. But It is those who believe who receive the remission of sins.

And you notice this is what happens in the very people that He's preaching to. As He is speaking those words, They believed. And the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard that word. There was no prayer. There was no asking Jesus into their heart.

There was no sinner's prayer. There was no confession made. These people believed as He was speaking. This is a powerful example that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And that salvation, justification, adoption, is to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? Believe on Him and you will receive the remission of sins and deliverance on the wrath to come. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you that You have given to us Your Word through men. We thank You that You save.

That it is not in any way dependent upon our strength or our ability or our willingness. For Lord, we acknowledge that we are not willing by nature, not strong or able as sinners. But we thank You, Lord, for Your grace, that You show no partiality, and that You save by Your power, by your sacrifice, by your righteousness, and not our own. For this, Lord, we are ever grateful, and we bless and thank your name through Jesus Christ. Amen.