The sermon titled 'The Gentiles Brought Near' by Peter Allison explores the biblical narrative of Acts 10, where Cornelius, a devout Gentile centurion, receives a vision from God instructing him to seek Peter. Concurrently, Peter receives a vision challenging Jewish dietary laws, symbolizing the removal of the distinction between Jews and Gentiles. This represents God's plan to bring Gentiles into the fold of Christianity. Cornelius, though devout and generous, is not saved by his deeds but by faith in Jesus Christ. The sermon highlights the importance of grace in salvation, emphasizing that it is not earned through works but is a gift from God. Through divine intervention, both Cornelius and Peter receive visions, preparing them for a meeting that would bridge cultural and religious divides. This narrative illustrates that salvation is available to all who seek God and is a testament to the inclusive nature of the Gospel.

Acts 10. We begin at verse 1. Saul's conversion was recounted in chapter 9, and his brief introduction to his first few years is recorded. And Now we return to pick up a couple chapters that recount the work of the Apostles in Jerusalem, and particularly Peter. Here God's word.

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, Cornelius. And when he observed him, he was afraid and said, Who is it, Lord? So he said to him, your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter.

He is lodging with Simon a tanner whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do. And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa. The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour.

And then he became very hungry and wanted to eat. But while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven open. And an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and down to the earth. And in it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts creeping things and birds of the air. And a voice said to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat.

But Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean. And a voice spoke to him again the second time, What God has cleansed you must not call common. This was done three times, and the object was taken up into heaven again. 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 gate. And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there.

And 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, a 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. And on the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him. May his word be hidden in our hearts that we might not sin against him. Heavenly Father, Please open our hearts to receive Your Word with meekness, to lay Your Word up in our hearts that we might not sin against You. Help us, Lord, to receive Your Word in faith, to be doers of it and not hearers only.

Instruct us this morning where we are ignorant. Convict us where we have gone wrong. And bless us. And I pray that You would sanctify my lips that from a vessel of clay the riches of your grace might be proclaimed. And please keep me from error.

In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, Cornelius was a very devout man. There have been many people who are devout, but were not saved. Paul speaks about people like that in 1 Corinthians 13 when he says that if he gives his body to be burned, he's a martyr, but he doesn't have love, It's nothing. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's books are becoming increasingly popular among Christians today.

I see many people, many Christian writers quoting him as somebody to emulate, as somebody who is a reliable, exemplary Christian. He was a patriotic. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a patriotic and courageous German pastor who does in many ways act and sound like a man of exemplary faith. He believed that the law of God should be obeyed. He believed that Christ transforms culture.

He believed that Christianity was not just a private affair of our heart, as actually many Germans in his day and Americans of our day believe. Something that is just private. And you should leave it at the door when you come into the public square or when you come into the public assembly. He believed that it wasn't like that. He believed that We were to be Christians in the marketplace on Monday morning and not just Christians at church on Sunday morning.

He was even willing to die for his beliefs. He put his faith into action in attempting to remove Hitler from office by execution. He was unsuccessful in that and lost his life because of it. But some of the things that he wrote later in life clearly indicate that whatever else he was, he wasn't a Christian. In one letter written in the last year of his life he wrote, There is no longer any need for God as a working hypothesis, whether in morals, in politics, or science.

Nor is there any need for such a God in religion or philosophy. In the name of intellectual honesty, these working hypotheses should be dropped or dispensed with as far as possible." And then he says, At this point nervous souls start asking, What room there is left now for God? And being ignorant of the answer, they write off the whole development which has brought them to this pass." He's saying intellectually dishonest people recognize there's no need for God, but that scares them so much they just ignore where their logic has led them. In a book recently translated into English, he rejects the biblical idea that the Scriptures are the Word of God, the self-revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh and who dwelt among us, suggesting that we must glean what truth we can from a fragile and broken book." He says, As illustrated by the form of the Bible, this procedure means that the concept of the canon must be rejected as meaningless. The idea that God is spoken is meaningless.

Text criticism. That's what we get called our critical text. Text criticism says the Bible is just like any other book and we need to look at it critically and determine what is the Bible and what isn't. Of course, that makes man the measure, or the author, or the judge of God's word, instead of God declaring what is his word and what isn't. Text criticism and source analysis, that's another type of textual criticism, are applied.

Text criticism and source analysis are applied. Sources are identified. Form criticism and history of religion approaches fragment the text into its smallest units. Form criticism talks about the different forms of the Bible and what people could or couldn't have written and so on. And going on, After thoroughly reducing the text to rubble, the critics depart from the battlefield, leaving behind debris and shavings, their work apparently done." He's referring to the Bible.

In terms of content, the biblical picture is smoothed out to correspond to the spirit of its time. Miracles are parallel, then yes, even the person of Jesus Himself is stripped not only of His divine, but of His human splendor, and disappears without any distinguishing marks into the lists of rabbis, sages, and religious enthusiasts." If that is in the denial of Jesus Christ, I don't know what is. He's saying Jesus Christ disappears from history and becomes just like any other ordinary human. He's stripped not only of His divine nature, but even His human splendor. It goes on, Of course, the reflective historian will also recognize that this book deals with particularly strange and profound things that one catches sight of, figures of outstanding magnitude, and so forth.

Otherwise, he would surely be a poor historian. But he would be no better historian if he believed that with such observations, he could show that the Bible is the Word of God. He's saying the Bible is not the Word of God. He said there is no historical access to the person of Jesus that would be obligatory for faith. There is no historical access to the person of Jesus that's obligatory to faith.

Isn't the Bible saying just the opposite? There is salvation in none other than in Jesus Christ. And that those who believe on Christ are the ones who are saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. For with the heart one believes in the righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." From this point of view, the historian's word, whether it claims to affirm or deny Christ is irrelevant.

In faith, history is seen to be what it actually is from the point of view of eternity. We must read this book of books with all human methods. But through the fragile and broken Bible, God meets us in the voice of the risen one. Now that's another denial, explicit denial of Christ. You see Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, other examples of people who, though they Captivated many hearts by their selfless dedication to humanity and humanitarian causes, and by their religiousness, and by their devotion, they are outside of Christ.

This centurion here in Acts 10, Cornelius, is similar to these people in many ways, as this chapter opens. We'll see by the grace of God, He didn't depart this earth as these people did. Because God revealed Himself to Cornelius, a Gentile, a Roman, sending an angel to give divine guidance. God has revealed Himself through visions and dreams to others like Nebuchadnezzar had some visions from God, the Pharaoh of Egypt had visions from God. But they couldn't understand them.

And God did not reveal Himself savingly to them. But to Cornelius, God was merciful. Cornelius is a Centurion, this text says, in what was called the Italian cohort or Italian regiment. So a regiment was one-tenth of a legion. A legion was 6, 000 soldiers.

A regiment would have been 600 soldiers. And a centurion would have been one who was a commander over 100 soldiers. It would be like today somebody being in command of probably a hundred officers. The Italian, it's an Italian regiment means that it's a regiment from Italy. The Romans put regiments together from many places that they conquered.

This was a regiment that came from Italy. And it was stationed in Caesarea. Caesarea was a capital city on the Mediterranean Sea, just a little bit south of where Mount Carmel would have been, modern day Haifa. It was like a capital city. It had a lot of government funding to build big buildings and hippodromes and amphitheaters and temples.

It was the seat of the Roman government. This is where Paul was imprisoned. Remember when he was rescued from Jerusalem and the Pharisees, he was sent up to Caesarea. And that's where he had hearings with Felix and King Agrippa up in this city. This is where Philip the Evangelist settled.

We were introduced to Philip in A couple chapters ago as he was ministering to the Ethiopian eunuch and then in Samaria, well, he apparently made his way up to Caesarea and we find him as an evangelist living in Caesarea later on in Axe. So this is an important city. It's a place where strategically an evangelist would go to be in an important place that would have a lot of traffic through it, a lot of people through it, a lot of important people through it. So strategically, it's an important city. It's probably about 30 miles from where Peter was in Joppa.

So Canoias is here, and he's a God-fearer. He's one who feared God. That would mean that He respected the Word of the Lord. He respected His commandments. And He respected those who followed the Lord.

But He was not circumcised. He wasn't a proselytite. He didn't quite go that far. But he was a morally upright person. He worshipped God.

He was devout, meaning he was religious. He gave alms generously, it says. So he wasn't stingy. He was generous with his money, and he was generous with his money to those who were the Christians. And it also says, surprisingly, that he prayed with.

He prayed about everything. He prayed always. He prayed, in a sense, continually. Many of these things we would say are the characteristics of a Christian, and yet these things are not what makes one a Christian. There were many people that feared God at various times.

Pagans that feared God. When they saw the power of God displayed. Remember the people in Jericho, the people in Canaan, when they saw God part the ocean basically, the Gulf of Aquipa, a thousand feet deep, and God parted it so that the Israelites walked through on dry ground and then he caused the Egyptian army to drown to their bodies washed up on the shore. When people saw that, they were afraid of God. And the Bible says they feared God.

Their hearts melted, but they weren't saved. They didn't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many devout people, like we've listed a few. There are many of those kinds of people today, very devout, very sincerely devout, who do many good deeds. Outwardly, they can be kind people.

Sometimes they put Christians to shame with their ability to Forgive. I was listening to another interview that Tucker did with the guy that's the January 6th shaman. People called him a shaman thinking they were mocking him, but he actually says, no, I am a shaman. He's not a Christian at all. But he had completely forgiven all of the sins against him in the sense that he had no bitterness.

And it was shocking to the person interviewing him. He just couldn't believe that this person who had been so mistreated and unjustly prosecuted and persecuted and his life destroyed had absolutely no bitterness to those who had destroyed his life. But he wasn't a Christian. He puts many Christians to shame in his ability in the flesh and by the common grace of God to not be bitter against those who had so grievously sinned against him. So devotion, even praying about things, doesn't make one a Christian.

There are many religious people who pray a lot. Think of the Pharisees. Think of the Pharisee that Jesus talked about who went up to the temple to pray and he made a great display of his prayer. And he fasted twice a week, right? And he did all these outward things, but he wasn't saved.

He wasn't a Christian. There are many today like that. They are very religious, very spiritual. They go over to India to learn spirituality and they spend long hours in prayers and things, but they are not saved. They may even pray to God.

And not Buddha. But they're not saved. Because that's not what saves people. And this is hard sometimes to accept this. We look at somebody who is like this so good and we want to just say, well, he must be a Christian.

But he wasn't. He was a seeker. He was a seeker, but he wasn't saved. He feared God. He worshipped God.

He led his household to worship God, it says. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household. He cared about them. He prayed about everything. He gave alms generously.

He was seeking for God, but he wasn't saved. You see, when Peter recounts these events of this chapter to the Jews in Jerusalem, he adds one thing to what Cornelius told him the angel said. See, when Cornelius meets Peter, Cornelius said to Peter, the angel told him to send to Joppa and call Simon and he will speak to you. And he will tell you. In verse 6 it says, He will tell you what you must do.

Peter would tell you. The angel told Cornelius that Peter would tell him what he should do. But when Peter recounts this In chapter 11, he says that Cornelius told him, he will call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who will tell you words by which you and your household will be saved. Because at this time, Cornelius was not a Christian. He wasn't saved.

Because his salvation is not defined by how good we are. It's not defined by the experiences that we've had. It's not defined by some words that we might say at one time. It's not defined by our feelings, by the emotional experiences we may have had, or the emotion that we might feel toward God or Christ. That's not what salvation is.

Cornelius was devout, he was religious, but so were the Pharisees. And so were many other religious people who can far surpass us in their deeds of penance, in their deeds of charity and almsgiving, in their devotion. But we are not saved by these things. We can't contribute to our salvation through these. They do not make us closer to being saved either.

We are saved only by faith and repentance. These are gifts of God and they operate together. Faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. See, we are saved, we are justified by a declaration of God. Justification is an act of God wherein He pardons our sins and declares us to be righteous in His sight because of the righteousness imputed to us by faith alone.

That's what salvation is. And there's nothing in there of what we do in any way. We are saved by grace through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast." But Cornelius is seeking. And God promises that those who seek Him will find Him.

Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is God declaring us to be just and pardoning our sins. But we are commanded to seek Him, to repent and to believe. And we can't be saved otherwise. In Deuteronomy 4.27, God speaks about He would scatter the children of Israel so that they would be few in number where the Lord would drive them.

And He said there you would serve other gods and the works of men, hands, wood, and stone which you can't see and hear and can't smell. But He says in verse 29, "'But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. And when you are in distress and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to Jehovah your God and obey His voice. For Jehovah your God is a merciful God. He will not forsake you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to you." And Paul makes the same point not just to those who were in the covenant, but he makes it to the pagans in Athens.

In Acts 17 he said in verse 26, God has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him though He is not far from each one of us." You see, where does that good soil come from that the seed falls on and sprouts and brings forth fruit some 30, 60, and 100 fold. Where did that good soil come from? Is it because the person cultivated their heart and made that soil good? No. It's because The Lord, the Holy Spirit, prepares that heart and makes that soil fertile and able to receive the Word.

Hebrews 11 says, "...but without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." So Cornelius is seeking. And he's seeking because God has been gracious to Him. And God is preparing His heart. And Cornelius, by the grace of God, is placing Himself under the sound of the Gospel and the preaching of the Word. He's seeking.

And God's true to His promise that those who seek Him, He will find Him. God sends an angel to Cornelius. And the angel addresses him by name and says, Cornelius! And Cornelius, like any other sinful man, is afraid to stand in the presence of a Holy One who is from heaven. And he answers, what is it, Lord?

And the angel says to him that God has heard His prayers and received His alms. They have come up from a memorial before God. Send now men to Joppa and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon at Tanner, whose house is by the sea, and he will tell you what you must do." Why was Cornelius seeking? He was seeking because God was gracious to him.

And God was preparing the soil of his heart to hear the Gospel. And then God gave him a commandment which he obeyed. Why did he obey that? Because God was gracious to Him. And He told him to send for Peter who had proclaimed to him the Gospel what he must do to be saved.

Now that is God preparing the soil, preparing the heart of those who will hear. But God is also at the same time preparing the messenger to bring the message. That's not a human effort any more than salvation is. So Peter, in a city 30 miles away, is very hungry. He's suddenly very hungry.

And so he went up onto the rooftop, the roof which was flat in those houses. That's why they had to put a fence around them, because they used those rooftops for living spaces. He went up to pray about the sixth hour. This is the next day after Cornelius has seen this angel. So Peter, and remember it was the next day that he sent them to Joppa.

He sent them on to Joppa. I shouldn't say it was the next day. He sent them on to Joppa. This is now one day later, at noon. So he appeared to Cornelius at about three in the afternoon.

It was the ninth hour. And then, now the following day, Peter is up there on the rooftop. Or the following day he would have sent the servants. And Peter is on the roof about the sixth hour, about noon. And he is very hungry.

And while they are cooking the meal, getting it ready, he falls into a trance and has a vision. And heaven is opened and this great sheet comes down that's held at the four corners, and it's full of all sorts of unclean animals. And he hears this voice that says, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. And what does Peter say? And what does Peter say?

Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean. Peter has a history of contradicting Christ. Christ wanted to go to Jerusalem, and Peter said, no, no, can't do that. And he continues this pattern. But what's happening here?

Well, God is preparing the messenger. And like a clock that has plexiglass clear sides to it so you can see all the inner workings of the gears as it's working. The Lord is revealing to us here in this passage how the Lord is at work in all these circumstances to not only prepare the soil for those who would hear the Gospel, but to prepare the messenger who will bring that Gospel. So just like Ananias and Paul both had the same visions telling them both what they would do and what the other person would do. So Peter and Cornelius have matching visions as God is preparing these two to meet.

And so when God says for Peter to kill and eat those unclean animals, God is telling Peter that there is no longer any Jew or Gentile distinction. Now, why do we say that? Well, in Leviticus 20 that we read last Lord's day, verse 24, it says, But I have said to you, you shall inherit the land, and I will give it to you to possess a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. So God called this people out of Egypt, God called Abraham actually out of Ur of Chaldees, but He also called them out of Egypt.

He separated them, Abraham and the children of Israel, to be a special people, a holy people. A holy people is a people that is set apart from what is common. And so God says, I have separated you from the peoples. Now, you therefore, because I have separated you from the people to be holy, to be different, Therefore you shall distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground which I have separated from you as unclean. And you shall be holy to Me, for I, Jehovah, am holy, and have separated you from these peoples, that you should be Mine." So why were they to observe these distinctions between clean and unclean animals?

Well, God very clearly says that was because God had separated them as a people. And because God had separated them as a people, therefore they were to observe these distinctions between clean and unclean animals. They were to observe this distinction between the Gentiles who were considered unclean and those who were cleansed by circumcision. That was what the significance of circumcision was. Remember when they planted fruit trees, they were to consider them unclean for so many years.

It says they were to consider them uncircumcised. But then after the number of years had passed, and they were clean. And so when God tells Peter to kill and eat these unclean animals, He is saying that this distinction between the Jew and Gentile is removed. Now if you received a vision telling you to do something that God's Word forbid, what would you do? David prayed, direct my steps according to your Word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.

Paul said if an angel comes bringing another Gospel, let him be anathema. To the Word and to the testimony, if they're not according to the Word of God, there's no truth in them. So is this direction according to the Word of God? Well, if it wasn't according to the Word of God, then Peter should have disobeyed it. But actually it was according to the Word of God.

It was. Because the Scriptures also talk about the day that God would call the Gentiles into His church. In Amos 9, 11, on that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down and repair its damages, and I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does this thing." You see, this was not contrary to God's Word. This was in accordance with God's Word because God's Word said that God would bring the Gentiles into His covenant and remove the distinction between Jew and Gentile. He said, I will rebuild these ruins, and the Gentiles who are called by My name." Christians are those who are called by the name of God.

Those on whom God has placed His name. Or Isaiah 2. "'Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountain and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it, and many people shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem, and He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks." The nations, the Gentiles would come to the temple. Or Isaiah 25.

And in this mountain, Jehovah of hosts will make for all people a feast of choice pieces, a feast of wine on the leaves, of fat things full of marrow, of well-refined wine on the leaves, and He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations." God would destroy the veil. Isaiah 42, verse 6, I, the Lord, I, Jehovah, have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to The Gentiles. And in Isaiah 60, I can't read the whole chapter now, but you can read it this afternoon. It speaks very clearly of this as well.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has arisen upon you. Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people. But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light, the nations, and the kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around and see, they gather together, they come to you.

Your sons shall come from afar, from the nations, from the Gentiles, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you." Verse 5. The multitude of camels shall come to your land. The dromedaries of Midian and Ephphah and all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and incense and they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord.

And all the flocks of Keter shall be gathered to you, and the rams of Nabaioth shall minister to you. And they will end with acceptance on My altar, and I will glorify the house of My glory. Surely the coastlands, that's a reference to all the nations, will wait for Me and the ships of Tarshish will come to bring your sons from afar. The sons of foreigners shall build up your walls and kings shall minister to you." See, the Scriptures did speak of the time that God would bring the Gentiles into the church. And so when Peter received this vision, He wasn't being told to do something that was contrary to the Word of God.

God had said that this is what he would do. And so this is in accordance with his Word. And So God is telling Peter that now this time has come for you to be a light to the Gentiles. And He would bring His Gentiles who were once afar, He would bring them near. And it says that Peter is now pondering what this meant.

And while he's pondering what this meant, these people arrive. You see how God is working all these details together down to the very timing of their arrival at a house, a day's journey away. But Peter's pondering what this meant. If God wanted to know that the Gentiles were to be included in the church, why didn't He just say, Peter, the Gentiles are now to be included in the church. Why does he do this with his vision and his command to kill and eat these unclean animals?

Well, God could have just told Peter that in so many words. But He doesn't work that way, does He? Not all parts of God's Word are equally obvious. God expects us to study His Word and to dig for these truths. He does.

Peter said, there are some things that are hard to understand. And things that are hard to understand, what does that mean? We have to think hard to understand them. We have to work at it. And this is what God wants us to do with His Word.

This is what Peter is doing. He is pondering. He's thinking, what does this mean? I have to kill any... He's thinking through the implications of this.

And I'm sure all these passages were familiar to Him because Jesus spoke these same prophecies. And so Peter is thinking. He's meditating. Not randomly, mindlessly, on whatever comes into his mind, but on the Word of God. Peter is thinking about the Word of God.

That's Christian meditation. And it's right then that These people come. And Peter recognizes, through this providential timing as they arrive, right as he's pondering this, he recognizes what He is supposed to do. The Spirit, you see, spoke as He was meditating on the Word of God. The Spirit said to Him, behold, these three men are seeking you." The Spirit said to him.

And yes, Peter was a prophet and apostle and he spoke prophetically, but the Spirit still speaks to us as well. We're to test the Spirit to see whether they are of God. And so Peter is thinking about what he's heard. He's thinking about is this what the Bible says? And yes, it is, according to the Word and the testimony.

It is true. While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three men are seeking. Arise therefore, go down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them." And so Peter goes down and says, Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come? So we see here an example where we get the privilege of looking through the walls and into the workings of how God put together both the messenger and the one who would hear the message.

He prepares the speaker and the hearer. And these are works of His grace that He prepared Cornelius and opened his heart to receive the Word of God and caused him to seek after God. See, the fact that God heard his prayer indicates that God was working in him. He wasn't saved yet, but God was working in him. Because the prayers of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord.

So the fact that God heard His prayer means that God was working in Him and was gracious to Him. The second thing we see is that God uses men to preach the Gospel. He told the apostles, you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and Samaria and Judea and to the ends of the earth. You will be My witnesses. Angels don't preach the Gospel.

Both of these people saw these visions in angels. The angels were used to prepare them. The angels were not used to bring the Gospel to Cornelius. You think, well, why couldn't the angel just have brought the Gospel to Cornelius? Why couldn't the angel have said, Cornelius, here's the Gospel?

Because God has ordained men to bring the Gospel, not angels. They are God's ministers who do watch over us. They protect us. They strengthen us. You remember when Elijah fled to Mount Hora because he was overwhelmed by Jezebel's threat.

An angel strengthened him for the journey. And God spoke to him and then sent him back to finish the work he called him to. God could have just sent an angel to do what He needed done, but He doesn't. He doesn't. He has ordained the Gospel to be proclaimed by the weakness of human flesh, not by the power of cherubim and seraphim.

The cherubim and seraphim. He uses us because we have a need to proclaim the Gospel. And a need to bear testimony to Him. We have a need that our mouth should tell of His righteousness. Of His righteousness only.

And to speak of His righteousness all the day, as Isaiah says. Cornelius becomes saved, as we'll see later on in this chapter. But it's only because he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. And God declares him to be just and pardons his sins. That's salvation.

There is no other salvation in any other way. There is no salvation in any of the works that Cornelius did, or any of the works that we do, or any of the works that anyone else does. They don't save us. They don't contribute to our salvation in any way. Salvation is not of works.

It is all of grace. Otherwise, grace wouldn't be grace. It wouldn't be grace if we did some work for it. If we had to do something, if we had to repent first, or if we had to cleanse ourselves, I should say, in order to come to Christ. We have to come to Christ to be cleansed.

And may God Bless our testimony. And may our mouth tell of His righteousness all the day. Heavenly Father, we thank You for speaking to us through Your Word and by Your Spirit. We thank You for Your light, the lamp that Your Word is to our feet and to our path. We thank You, Lord, for Your grace that is greater than all of our sin.

We thank You that we are preserved not by our ability to cling to You, but by You clinging to us. And we thank you that there is no one and nothing that can take us out of your hand. We thank you Father that our salvation is of grace for we are wholly unable to come to you, to seek you, to know you, apart from what is undeserved, undeserved favor. So Father, we love You because You have loved us. And we want to serve You because You have saved us.

And we want to obey you. Because you have taught us, because you have loved us, and given yourself for us. And we ask for your grace and your strength to do so. In Jesus' name, Amen.