“Take Action” By General Pastor Peter F. Paine July 1st,
2018
Amen. Please be seated. It is great to be here with you
today. I'm very
thankful. I bring you greetings from Sister Davis. She wanted to make
this
trip, but, frankly, she wasn't up to it, physically. And, so, keep her
in your
thoughts and prayers. She's doing well, she's doing well, but she was
tired and
felt she needed to stay home. And, so, she'll come when she can, and
I'm hoping
that's not going to be too long. She's doing very well. For those of
you don't
know that, our founding Pastor is Pastor Davis, and that's his wife.
Pastor
Davis passed in 1999. And, so she is still with us, and we're very,
very
thankful for that. Parrish was kind enough to loan me his Bible. I forgot to
bring mine
today. I think it's the first time I was ever supposed to preach and I
forgot
my Bible. So, I want to talk to you a little bit before I get into our
text,
today. And, I want to visit with you, and I want to ask you some very
deep and
serious questions. And, I'm not going to ask you, at this point, for
any show
of hands or any, you know, shouting back, yet. But, I would like you to
really
think about these questions, very personally, as I ask them. Have you
ever
really felt that, that you’ve had God speak to you and give you
direction? Have
you ever really felt like, you know, “This is God showing me a
direction, a
path, a place for me to go; this is God actually answering a prayer,
ministering
to a need I have?” Isn't that a powerful thing? Isn't that a beautiful
thing,
when you feel like God through His Scripture or through the Holy
Spirit,
however it comes to you in some way, you know that God has heard, and
is
answering your prayer? What a powerful and wonderful thing. What I hope
will
happen, as I share what I feel God has laid on my heart today, is that
we will,
afresh, find ourselves knowing exactly how to be in a place where we
can hear
from Him, where we can know His direction, where we can feel His
presence,
where we can be led by His Spirit, amen? And, now I will ask you for a
show of
hands: how many of you think that's an important thing? That when you
read
God's Word, you can actually say, “That's God speaking to me. That's
God answering
my prayer. That's God ministering to my need?” And, sometimes it's not
what we
expect. Sometimes, you know, we think we know the best path. We think
we know
the best direction. And, then, God speaks and says, “No, don't,” or,
God says,
“Go now!” or, God says, “Wait on Me.” But, what a powerful thing when
we know
it's God speaking to us, and guiding us, and directing us, and saying,
“I have
a plan for you, and I'm going to share it with you, so that you don't
miss the
blessing, the benefit of what I have for you.” amen? And, so, I want to
spend a
little more time kind of plowing the field, here, before I get into the
text,
because I hope that, that someone today will be reminded afresh, “You
know, God
wants to speak to me, God wants to lead—” and, I'm not—you know what?
In all my
years in ministry, I've probably had a handful of dreams that I felt
God was
trying to share something with me. Anybody here ever had a dream and
you felt
like, “That was God telling me something. I think that was God
actually—” you
know, that's pretty powerful, isn't it? Most of my dreams have been
caused by pizza.
Or, just, you know, I had a goofy dream. But, every once in a while
I've had—I
had a dream once, and this is embarrassing to share this with you, but,
I had
been a Christian for a handful of years, and I had a situation where
someone
had treated me poorly, and I mean very, very, very big deal. It was
enormous.
It was. It was the kind of thing where, you know, I felt like I had a
right to
exact some punishment. Can anybody relate to what I'm saying? Did I
start by
saying this is embarrassing? Did I? Okay. And, I had a dream, and God
showed
me, that in this dream that I was on death row. And, in the dream, it
was time
for me to go before the judge and plead my case. I know that's
backwards.
Dreams aren't always perfect, right? And, I went to the judge, and I
have an
attorney there, a court-appointed attorney, and the judge was saying,
“How do
you plead?” and I kept screaming, “I'm guilty, your honor!” because I
had
killed this guy. I left that piece out. I had killed this guy, so now I
was
being tried for murder. And, I was pretty pleased about it. It's like,
that's
pretty embarrassing, isn't it? Visitors, I apologize. “So, who's this
guy you
invited to your pulpit?” And, in this dream, the attorney kept saying,
“Stop,
stop, stop. Not guilty, your honor.” And, I'm screaming, “Guilty,” and
my
attorney’s screaming, “Not guilty.” And, I get sentenced to death. And,
then I
wake up. And, God said, “If you don't learn to forgive, if you don't
get a
right attitude and this, it's going to kill you. It's going to kill
you. It's
going to destroy you.” and I felt, absolutely—I felt then, and I still
feel,
now, all these years later, and I was able to get it right, and I was
able to
learn that, you know what? It wasn't about justice from my earthly
perspective,
it was about saying, “God, what do You want me to do, here? How do you
want me
to handle this situation?” And, then, I got to realizing, you know,
really, the
wrong that had been done to me was like that, compared to what have
been the
wrong that had been done to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And, in
the
parable that Jesus teaches on forgiveness, what I was being asked to
forgive
was like that compared to what I've been forgiven of. That's pretty
big, isn't
it? And, I felt that was God speaking to me, but you know what I think,
in
spite of my wrong attitude in that space in my life, I really, really,
really
believe did the reason that God—I'm setting up for the text here, and
then I'm
going to be able to preach pretty quickly—I really believe that the
reason God
was able to speak to me, is because I was praying, I was seeking, I was
living
a life that was yielded to God, but I had this problem in my life. So,
those
two things can exist simultaneously. I believe that. But, it couldn't
exist
forever simultaneously. Amen? And, God was telling me, “You've got to
get this
out of your life or it will destroy you.” Amen? I want to talk to you, today about two guys that really
loved God. One
is a Jew; one is a Gentile. They both love God. They were both seeking
God.
They were both asking God to show them what they should embrace, and
what they
should let go of. They were both asking God for direction. They were
both very
sincere in their prayers. These two men that we're going to look at
today in
the Scriptures, were not just the kind of guys that prayed before they
ate.
These are the kind of guys that—they didn't, in fact, we're going to
specifically see that they didn't just pray in the morning and in the
evening,
they took time in the middle of their day to dedicate themselves to
prayer.
They took time to say, “I'm going to divorce myself from every other
activity in
this moment, and I'm going to commune directly with God, and see if I
can't be
closer to my God.” And this Jew, who was an apostle, who had walked
with
Christ, loved God with all his heart. And, yet, he knew that he didn't
have
everything he was supposed to have. There was more of a relationship
that he
was supposed to have with God. I wasn't talking about, “Well, you know
me, you
know who I am? Ha-ha. I've walked with Jesus, I'm an apostle. Capital
A.” And,
the Gentile we're going to talk about, today, was a warrior. He was a
soldier.
And, he wasn't just a soldier, he was the soldier. He was a centurion;
he was highly
respected, and he took time in the middle of his day to stop all his
military
activities, all his other responsibilities, and say, “I'm alone with
God right
now. Don't bother me.” Both of these men also believed in fasting. They
spent a
lot of time fasting. They spent a lot of time denying their flesh, so
that they
could draw close to God. Someone asked me to explain fasting once, and
I think
it really just boils down to that simple statement that I shared. I
think
fasting is denying your flesh so you can draw close to God. I don't
think
fasting is about losing weight; that's called a diet. And, that's fine,
and you
might be looking at me and saying, “You might want to read up on that,
Pete.” By
the way, last year, you guys gave me a Fitbit, and I've lost weight,
and I'm
losing more. I know, when you're as big as I am, and you say, you know,
“I've lost
weight,” I know somebody wants to yell, “Don't stop!” and, I'm not, I'm
going
to keep going until I get down to my fighting weight. And, I'm excited
about
that, and I thank you. You know you're fat when the congregation gives
you a
Fitbit. Or a gym membership. Okay? I felt that it was given with love,
and I thank
you. And, for those of you who don't know, I had a pretty serious
health scare,
and this was a gift to say, you know, “We'd like you; come on back.”
And, I
said, “Thank you very much. I'm honored.” Okay, so, we've got these two
guys;
they love God, they're taking time in the morning, and in the evening,
and in
the middle of the day to pray. They both believe in fasting. Something
else
they also believe in, they believe in giving. They believe in giving.
They
believe in giving. And, by the way, this is not a message on giving
your money.
But, I heard something, years ago, that will help me put it in
perspective the
aspect of that that is I think part of this text, I heard someone say
that they
were raising money, they were raising money for their child's heart
transplant.
And, they were going everywhere, to business owners. They somehow found
out who
the wealthiest people in their community were, and they went to meet
them
personally. And, when they were—someone said, “You're real bold in your
request.” He said, “Yes, I'm bold in my request. Because I'm not asking
for me.
I'm asking for my daughter.” Amen? I get that. Do you get that? I mean
I'd walk
up to anybody and say, “Well, can you help me? I need this much money
for my
child to have this operation, which I think is her best chance of
having a
healthy life.” I'd ask anybody. I'd say, “You got ten bucks? How much
you got? How
much you got? How many—how much you got?” Right? Because that's a
different
kind of asking, isn't it? Isn't it? I mean, I'm asking for someone's
life!
Right? And, so, these guys were givers, and I share that with you
because when
I talk about giving, today, it's between you and God; it's not between
you and
the church. So, that's all I'm going to say about that in set up for
that, but
I want to highlight, again, that both of these guys really believed
that that
was part of their relationship with their God. And, you're going to see
that
they were not only praying, and they were fasting, but they were giving
alms.
This was a, this was a way of life for these two men to say, “In every
way, how
can I be closer to you, God?” Amen? So, is the setup sufficient enough?
No,
let's add a little more. My prayer is that you will hear something,
today,
maybe it'll be a word I speak, maybe it'll be from the text, a
Scripture, maybe
it'll be the Holy Spirit, that still small voice saying, “There it is.
There it
is. That's what you need. This is what you need to tweak. This what you
need to
adjust. This is what you need, that has allowed you to have—” Have you
ever
heard of people saying that they fell out of love? Debbie mentioned
earlier
that we've been married forty-three years. And, she also ratted me out.
She
said, “I married an older man.” That's true, she did. She did, she did.
But,
that's okay, it's working. And, where was I going with that? Oh, oh,
here it
is, so, in forty-three years, you ever think there's been a moment
where, like,
maybe she looked at me or I looked at her and thought, “What am I doing
in this
relationship?” Anybody? You know, I mean, we have a great marriage, we
do. But,
you know what? It takes work. Does that make sense? So does your
relationship
with God. So does your relationship—and, for those of you who are
young, and
single, don't take my comment that it takes work to have a great
relationship
as a negative comment. It's worth the work to have a great
relationship. I'm
going to do that again: “It's worth the work to have a great
relationship.” And,
if we can accept that in natural terms, you know, I said to my brother,
I was
home visiting, not too long ago, and I'm one of five boys, one of six
children,
five boys and a girl, and I said to one of my older brothers when I was
visiting him, not too long ago, and he was talking with one of his high
school
buddies on the phone, and he still lives in the town that we grew up
in. And,
he has relationships from high school. Several good friends that he
went to
school with. And, I said, “You really have great friendships,
long-standing
friendships, with guys you went to high school with.” And, he said,
“It's a lot
of work, but it's worth it, you know, to stay in touch.” And, that
stuck with
me. And, I use the marriage reference, and then my brother's reference
with his
friends, so that I hope you will put your personal scenario in there,
as you
listen to this. If you're with me, say Amen. So, I noticed I'm just
visiting
with you, I haven't preaching yet, and I don't want to lose you.
Because,
there's something here today for each and every one of us. I believe
that. I
believe that. And, so, I would say that your relationship with God is
worth the
effort it takes to have it. I'm going to say that again, your
relationship with
God is worth the effort it takes to have it. And, it does take some
effort. You
know, you can't just have a 98.6° temperature, and have a great
relationship
with God. So, let's jump into our text. It's in the Book of Acts, the
10th
chapter. Just curious, how many of you already knew that's where we
were going
today? A lot of you did, I'm sure. And, that sort of fun isn't it.? Acts 10:1
There was a
certain man in
Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian
band, A devout man. Listen to this description in verse two of
Acts ten.
Listen to this description of this soldier. Acts 10:2
A devout man, and one that feared God with all
his house, [all is a big little word, isn't it? He feared god with
what? He
feared God with all his house.] which
gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. So, we know that he was devout, he feared God with all his
house, and
he gave much alms to the people, and he prayed to God always. That's a
pretty
power definition, isn't it? That's a pretty powerful description of
this
centurion, of this soldier, of this warrior. He really knew that his
relationship
with God mattered. Do you know that your relationship with God matters?
Do you
know how important your relationship with God is? Do you want it to be
better? How
many of you really would like to improve your relationship with God?
You'd like
to have a better, tighter, more meaningful, closer relationship with
Him, even if
that means, sometimes, that God’s saying, “Nope. Not that way, this
way.” Right?
Or, do you want to say, “God, I'll do it my way, and we can talk about
it in Heaven.”
No, I want God to be with me every day. I want God to be with me along
the
journey. Could you say amen? So I was in the United States Navy, it was 1972, I was in
San Diego,
California. And, they had mail call. I don't know exactly how that do
mail call
now, but I know, back then, usually, the chief, or whoever was in
charge of
that group of people, would stand in front of that group of people, and
he
would call out your name and hand you your envelopes. Is it still
pretty
similar to that, or is it—do you have your own mailboxes, now? But,
anyway,
mail call was an event. And, you know, you always hoped that when there
was
mail call that your name would be called, because it's always great to
get
something from home, right? And, so, I was in San Diego California, and
he says,
“Paine,” and he threw out, because there was sort of a group of us, and
he’d
throw it out to us. And, so, it was a thick envelope, too. You know,
this is
cool. I got something from my dad, and it's thick, and I'm thinking,
“This is—I
wonder what he sent me? I can't wait to see it!” and I opened it up,
and it
wasn't just a small envelope, it was an eight and a half by eleven
envelope,
you know, and, it was stuffed. And, I thought, “Wow, it's probably
money!” You
know? And I opened it up, and there were six envelopes, and they were
all
stamped. And, there were about twenty sheets of blank paper. And, there
were
five freshly sharpened pencils. No note. I think he was saying, “I'd
like to
hear from you, son.” Maybe—and I knew my dad pretty well, I can just
imagine
him saying, “Well, Pete probably doesn't have any paper, or envelopes,
or
stamps out there in San Diego where he's stationed. That’s probably the
problem. I know he wants to write me; he just doesn't have any tools.
I'll send
him the tools.” So, no note—and, I opened it up in front of my friends
and they
all laughed out loud, of course. But, God wants to hear from you, too.
God
wants you to write Him a letter. I mean, I don't mean that literally,
obviously, on paper. But, I mean, God wants you to share your heart to
Him. It
takes a little time to write a letter, doesn't it? It takes a little
time to
write a letter, doesn't it? God wants you to write Him a letter. God
wants you
to spend some time on your knees, and say, “Dear God, I was thinking
about you
today. I just wanted to say I love you. I just wanted to tell you how
thankful
I am for salvation. Just wanted to ask You, Lord, if you're pleased
with my
life, and, is there any area in my life that You would like me to
tweak,
adjust, change?” Hello? Anybody with me? Anybody with me? Anybody think
that,
you know what? Anybody already in this message. I just need to know
where we're
at, so I know how long to take on this point. The more hands I see, the
faster
I can preach this. Anybody thinking, “You know, I need to get better at
communicating
with God?” Well, I can do it faster. Okay, here we go. Anybody—are you
with me,
Saints? I can do better. And, so, here was the centurion, he's a devout
man.
We're in verse three: Acts 10:3
He saw in a
vision evidently
about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and
saying
unto him… By the way, if I had time I would go back into the history
of it; it
would not have been a normal practice for a centurion to be praying at
the
ninth hour of the day. I wish I had a little more time to develop that
point,
but this was a unique practice. This wasn't what every centurion was
doing in
the ninth hour of the day. But, he was, and: Acts 10:3-4
He saw in a
vision evidently
about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and
saying
unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, [I
love this. What was his reaction? He was afraid, Now, we read earlier
that he
feared God, didn't he? And the Bible says, in Proverbs, that fear of
the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). And, the root word for this
word,
“fear,” is respect. Okay? And, he was afraid because he knew whose
presence he
was in. He had awe and respect of the awesome power of the presence,
what was
happening. And, when he looked on him, we're in verse four], he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? [He
knew who was speaking, he knew where the voice came from, because he
was ready.
Hello? He didn't say, “Who is it?” He said, “It's the Lord. This is the
one
I've been seeking. This is the one who I have a relationship with. I
know who
it is. I know who it is.” Hello? I’m that close, when he speaks, I know
His
voice. Amen?] And when he looked on him,
he was afraid, and said, What is it Lord? And he said unto him, Thy
prayers and
thine alms [two separate things, but they both came up to God,
didn't they?
Thy prayers and thine alms. Alms is a form of worship. I said it
before, I'm
going to say it again: I'm not asking for your money, I'm asking you to
prayer
fully include that in your relationship with God. Does that make
sense?] are come up for a memorial before God. His prayers and his alms. The way he communicated with God,
and the way
he communicated to others with their needs. That's the alms. The way he
communicated to others with their needs. Amen? That's their alms. And,
are come
up before Me as a memorial before God. Is that powerful? Spend a moment
on that
word, memorial. Hello? There's a monument. There's a monument, because
of his
prayers and the way he lived, and the way he gave, and the way he
sacrificed,
and the way he set aside the things of the world, so that he can have a
place
with God. There's a monument, I memorial. I don't mean a physical
monument. But,
can you picture how big that is? I know Who you are. Woo. Does God know
who you
are? Of course he knows who you are, but, would you like him to know
you
better? Would you like him to know you better? Amen. Listen to this,
verse five: Acts 10:5-7
And now send
men to Joppa, and
call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: He lodgeth with one Simon a
tanner,
whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest
to do.
And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called
two of
his household servants… When did he call the servants? As soon as the angel
departed. He was
still in his prayer room. Amen? He was still in his prayer room, and he
heard
from an angel of the Lord, God had spoken to him through an angel. And,
how
long did it take him to take action? Immediately. Acts 10:7-8
And when the
angel which spake
unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants,
and a devout
soldier of them that waited on him continually; And when he had
declared all
these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. This is a powerful point, and I only have a few moments to
really
develop it. But, he declared everything that was said to him. “I want
everyone
to know what the Lord said. I'm not going to keep this to myself.”
Plus, think
about this, what if he had a little bit of it wrong? Which, he knew he
didn't,
because he knew his relationship, but how bold are we to speak, “This
is what
God told me, and this is how we're going to do it. This is what God
told me and
this is how we're going to do it.” It's all on the line. He's a
centurion! He's
these guys’ leader. He’d better have it right. Amen? And, he called
these guys,
and when he had declared all these things under him he sent them to
Joppa. Now something's
happening, about a day's journey away. Verse nine: Acts 10:9
On the morrow,
as they went on
their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the
housetop to
pray about the sixth hour: So, now Peter’s praying, the sixth hour, but I love the way
God set
this up. Cornelius’ men are already on their way. Cornelius didn't send
a
runner to say, “If we come, will you receive us?” He heard from God and
he took
action. Is that exciting? So, now, the next day, while Cornelius’ men
are on
route to Joppa, Peter's praying, and something's about to happen. So,
they drew
nigh into the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the
sixth
hour, verse ten: Acts 10:10-11 And he became very hungry, and
would have eaten: [do you see what kind of
prayer he's
in? The kind that follows fasting. He's hungry, he's praying, he's not
stopping
to eat] but while they made ready, he
fell into a trance, And saw heaven
opened, and a certain … Now work with me on verse eleven. Who's this praying? And
he's a Jew,
right? And, he understands Jewish customs. He honors the Jewish
customs. He's a
devout man. He loves God, God loves him. Peter has never seen an
uncircumcised Gentile
accepted by Jesus Christ. Only the Jews. Now, we know that God has made
His Word
clear. In Acts, 2, and 38, which precedes this and He’s given the… Acts 2:38
Then Peter said
unto them,
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And, what does it say in verse thirty-nine? Acts 2:39
For the promise
is unto you,
and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the
Lord
our God shall call. Right? Okay? And, so, but, Peter’s never seen a Gentile
saved, and,
where are we at? Verse eleven: Acts 10:11-12 And saw heaven opened, and a
certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit
at the
four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of
fourfooted
beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of
the
air. Now, if you're familiar with Jewish Law and customs, you
realized it
what's going on here. Peter seeing something that was very different. Acts 10:13
And there came
a voice to him,
Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. Acts 10:14
But Peter said,
Not so, Lord… Now this wasn't disrespectful. it was Peter making sure he
was
understanding what he was being told. And, I want to say to you, it's
okay for
you to say, “God, help me understand this. This is not what I've been
taught.”
Hello? I'm going to share just a brief snippet of my testimony. I was
raised—my
mother was devout Catholic; my father was devout country club. My mom
got sick
when I was 10, and she went to a nursing home. And, my dad said to the
six
children, “You guys want to keep going to church? Or, we can sleep in
and I'll
make pancakes when you get up.” So, I was devout pancake. And, okay?
And, when
I realized at age nineteen, when our founding Pastor shared this simple
Gospel
message with me, and he asked me if I had a personal relationship with
Jesus
Christ, I had never heard of a personal—I believed in God, I believed
in Jesus—but,
I'd never heard of anyone having a personal relationship. You mean, the
kind of
relationship where, what we're reading about now happens? Where God
speaks, and
you hear it? Hello? Sign me up! Amen? Acts 10:14-15
But Peter said,
Not so, Lord;
for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. [Verse fifteen] And the voice
spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call
not
thou common. Do you understand? Can I help us understand how big of a
deal this is?
This is like everything Peter’s ever known, God is saying, “It's not
that way
anymore.” Everything Peter’s ever known, God is saying, “It's not that
way
anymore. I changed it, Peter.” Now, Peter knows that Christ was
crucified, ascended,
came back, gave the Great Commission, he walked with Him, he talked
with Him,
they ate together. He knows everything is changed, but he didn't
understand
this piece of it like he does now. Acts 10:16
This was done
thrice: and the
vessel was received up again into heaven. Three times this happened, this sounds familiar with Peter.
Three times
this happened, hello? And, then, it goes up. Acts 10:17
Now while Peter
doubted in… God? Yeah, Peter didn't doubt God, but he doubted himself.
It's okay to
doubt yourself. It's okay to have questions. It's okay. But, know that
God is
true. Amen? If something comes from the Word of God, and you're like,
“That
doesn't make sense,” don't just say that isn't the way my grandpa
taught me, so
I'm going to do what Grandpa did. Right? No, doubt in yourself, and say
God,
help me understand it. God help me understand it.” I'm not finding
fault with
your grandpa, don't hear me wrong. Don't hear what I didn't say,
please. I’m
just saying, the Bible says let every man be a liar and the Word of God
be true
(Romans 3:4). Amen? Acts 10:17
Now while Peter
doubted in
himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men
which
were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood
before the
gate, I love this! Peter's doubt—you see how God it orchestrated
this. You
think God doesn't want to orchestrate the events in your life? I say He
does.
So, while Peter’s doubting himself, he's seen the vision three times,
right? He
saw it clearly, he heard, “Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.” Right? He said,
“Not so,
Lord; I've never done that.” And, now there's a knock at the door. A
knock at
the door—perfect timing. God's timing, amen? We serve an on time God,
don't we?
Acts 10:18-21
And called, and
asked whether Simon, which was surnamed
Peter, were lodged there. While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit
said
unto him, [Let's capture that: While Peter
thought—here's Peter, he just saw the vision, he's still seeking
understanding,
but what did the spirit do? It said:] Behold,
three men seek thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with
them,
doubting nothing: for I have sent them. Then Peter went down to the men
which
were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye
seek: what
is the cause wherefore ye are come? Do you see the immediacy of the response to God speaking to
him? First through
a vision, then through an angel? Is that powerful? Or through the
spirit? Is
that powerful? Do you want that relationship with God? Well, then, what
you're
going to have to do is what these men did. I'm not telling you what I
want you
to do, I'm telling you a prescription out of Scripture that both
Cornelius and
Peter were praying and seeking God. Not just saying grace before a
meal, and
saying, “God, thanks for this food. By the way, I need some money.” No,
those
aren't bad prayers, but that's not enough to build a relationship with.
Okay,
some of you aren't quite getting it. Okay, so, Debbie, would you come
stand
with me? This is my wife at forty-three years. Suppose this is the only
time I
ever talk to her. “Oh, this is a nice lunch.”” God, I thank you for
Debbie,
she's a beautiful wife.” “I sure do love you, Debbie.” And, then, I'll
talk to
her the next day, “Oh, what a nice meal. Hi. Thanks for this meal.” Oh,
what a
beautiful wife. “God, thank you for my beautiful wife.” And, then the
next day,
I'm out of town, so I don't say that to her, but, the day following, I
get
there, and she makes a nice meal, and I say, “Oh, hi.” “God, thanks for
the—”
How do you think our relationship’s going? Yeah. Thank you, Debbie.
But, but,
but, you know what? Sometimes we get so
busy, hello? Am I stepping on your toes sufficiently? Am I tromping on
them sufficiently?
You know I mean that in love, don't you? Okay? But, have we reduced our
prayer
life to that? Have we reduced our relationship-seeking with God to
that, you
know, quick prayer each day? You know, (yawn) set the alarm. “God,
thank you
for a wonderful day.” (Snore). I mean, that's better than nothing, but
barely.
(Chuckle). This clown didn't come here today to tell me that I need to
pray
more, did he? Okay, yes I did. This guy didn't come here today to say I
need a
better relationship with God, did he? Oh, yes, I did. This guy didn't
come here
today to say that I need to prayerfully examine how I'm living and how
I'm
giving, did he? Oh, yes I did. Yes, I did. I came today to say you need
a
tune-up, a spiritual tune up. Maybe a whole new engine. (Chuckle). My high school car, I took it to a mechanic once, I finally
quit. I’d
done everything I knew how to do, I was, you know, a shade tree
mechanic and I
did everything I knew how to do. And, he said, “You're trying to fix
something
that doesn't deserve to be fixed, man.” And, he looked in the car and
everything, and he said, “Your radio is worth more than the rest of the
car.” I
would take the radio out and junk this thing.” So, I did. Okay? And,
then I did
something fun. And, so, my buddies and I got together oh, and we had
seen the movies
with the big car crashes, you know, where they go off the cliff in this
big
fiery—and, so, we took my car, after I took the radio out, and we went
down the
hill to a place where—I grew up in Western Pennsylvania, in the
mountains, and
there was a big drop off, and that's where people used to dump stuff
like old
refrigerators, water heaters, and stuff over the hill. People don't do
that
anymore, but anybody old enough to remember there used to be places
where you
could dump stuff like that? And it was called a dump. Fancy that. And,
so, we
thought, “We're going to take this car off to the dump and, man, fly it
off the
cliff in a big fiery—” and, so, we drew straws. There were four of us
my
brother, two buddies, and me, and I got the straw that said I'm the
driver.
And, so, I put the brick on the gas pedal, we're going down the field
to the—and
they're watching, and they've got the super-8 camera that was my dad's,
you
know, and they're filming it, and I put the brick on the gas pedal, and
I jump
out of the car, and I roll into the field and the car goes to the
cliff, it was
going about twenty miles an hour, and it went boom, boom, boom, boom.
No fiery
crash. No big bang. It barely left the ground. Some of you have a
prayer life
like my 1963 Corvair. It just barely… boom. I'm sorry. You were
wondering where
I was going with that, didn't you? I was wondering myself. I'm going to
read
verse twenty-one again: Acts 10:21-23
Then Peter went
down to the
men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he
whom ye
seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? And they said, Cornelius
the
centurion, [I imagine at this point Peter’s
probably already
saying to himself, “Cornelius? The centurion? What do I have to do with
him?” Right?
He didn't expect it someone would come and start talking about this
centurion.
That wasn't an existing relationship.] a
just man, and one [we’re in the middle of verse twenty-two] that feareth God, and of good report among
all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to
send for
thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. Then called he them in,
and
lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain
brethren
from Joppa accompanied him. Now, I've been making a point about the immediacy of this,
the fact
that he lodged them wasn't procrastination, it was just the right way
to
travel. They were traveling by foot, it was about a day's journey, and
starting
first thing in the morning would be the right way to go. And, so,
that's what
he did. He lodged them, he fed them, and the next morning they left. Acts 10:24
And the morrow
after they
entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and he had called
together
his kinsmen and near friends. And I like that. Cornelius is getting everybody he can.
“Hey, guys,
we're about to hear a special message from someone that God's sending
here. I
want everybody to hear it. I want everybody to hear it.” Don't be shy
with this
message. Amen? Share it with others. Saints, I know sometimes, I
preached more
evangelistic, and a little louder, and a little faster, but stay with
me on
this message., It because there's some gold here if you'll just harvest
it.
There's some gold here if you'll receive it. Could the Church say Amen? Acts 10:25
And as Peter
was coming in,
Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. And, I want to take just a minute moment to unpack this.
When Cornelius
worshipped Peter, it was because he thought maybe this was the Messiah.
I've
spent some time studying this passage, and he wasn't sure. And, then,
what
Peter does, is he confirms, “Oh, no, no, no, I'm just a man, I'm just a
messenger.” Hello? Sometimes we get that mixed up today, too. We think
somebody's bigger than they are. You know, we're just messengers. We're
just messengers.
We have a message from God. And, the message is God. But, we should
never think
of ourselves more highly then we all thought, because the reality is
that we’re
messengers. But, we carry a very valuable message. Amen? And, what
verse are we
in? Maybe twenty-six? Acts 10:26-28
But Peter took
him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am
a man. And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were
come
together. And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful
thing for a
man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; [so I'm breaking the law here] but
God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. He's got the vision now. He understands exactly what God was
showing
him in that vision. Right? If I have cleansed it, it's not common or
unclean. I
know the Law was, but now it is. I know what the law was, but now it
is. God is
showing him that he's going to be the forerunner of the change. And,
these
first Gentiles are going to be converted unto Christ. Is this awesome
what
happens, what’s happening here? And, sometimes, we'll say, “Oh, if I
lived back
then I would be a hero for the Gospel!” You could be a hero for the
Gospel,
today. You could be a hero for the Gospel, today. Amen? Amen? Acts 10:29
Therefore came
I unto you
without gainsaying, [which means he didn't
waste any
time] as soon as I was sent for: I ask
therefore for what intent ye have sent for me? Let's get down to business. We don't have time for
pleasantries. Acts 10:30-31 And Cornelius said, Four days
ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my
house,
and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, And said,
Cornelius, thy
prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of
God. Now, earlier, it said, as a memorial, now it's saying
remembrance. I
said a monument, I didn't mean to physical monument, but I meant that
he is
known. He's known. Acts 10:32
Send therefore
to Joppa, and
call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of
one
Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto
thee. When he cometh he shall speak to thee. Has anybody come
today, and
you've been saying, “God speak to me.” You know, you may get the answer
today,
or you may get the direction to the answer. The Bible says, one
plants—I'm
paraphrasing—one plants, one waters, but God gives the increase (1
Corinthians
3:6-7). But, keep seeking. Keep saying, “God, show me. Send me to the
messenger
that's got the message. Let me read it in your Word, Lord. Lord, let me
draw
closer to you. Let me learn how to pray more, seek more, serve more,
have a
better relationship with you.” amen? Acts 10:33
Immediately
therefore I sent
to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are
we all
here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of
God. They realize, “This is it, guys. We're about to get
direction, and it's
not a suggestion.” Hello? Can I say that again? We're about to get
direction
and it's not a suggestion. I'm not saying every day of your life, but
there are
defining moments—I'm going to say that again—there are defining moments
in your
life, when you get direction. “Let this go. Embrace this. Do that. Stop
that.” There
are defining moments—could you say amen? And, I will suggest you today
that you
could miss those defining moments if you don't have the right prayer
life. You
will miss those defining moments if you're not studying the Bible. Paul
said to
Timothy, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not
to be ashamed, but rightly dividing the Word of God.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Amen?
Amen? Do you study to show yourself approved? I'm not trying to
criticize
today. I asked you earlier, “Have I sufficiently stepped on your toes?”
This is
a step on your toes kind of message. Maybe that's why I'm preaching it
so soft.
Because, I don't want you to think that it's me saying it. It's God
saying, “I want
to have a better relationship with you. I want to have a clearer
relationship
with you. I want you to know when I'm speaking to you.” Could you say
amen? Do
you want that relationship with God? You know what? In this day of
technology,
I was in a restaurant the other day, I saw what appeared to be a mother
and
father and two teenage children, all four of them on their devices.
None of
them talking to each other. I'm not criticizing them; I'm just saying
they were
missing something special. They were missing the opportunity to talk to
each
other. Hello? they were missing the opportunity to hear from each
other. Hello?
Have we gotten so busy that we're missing our opportunity to talk to
God? Have we
gotten so busy that we're missing our opportunity—Debbie, could you
come to the
keyboard, could you play and help me, as I try to wrap this up? Are you
too
busy to hear from God? Are you too busy to have God's say, “Stop. Stop,
I've
got a message for you.”? I'm going to share a little of my testimony. I
was nineteen
when I gave my heart and life to Christ. I was in the United States
Navy. I had
a very clear plan for my life. I was going to go back to Pittsburgh,
where I
grew up, and I was going to—I knew the building, my dad was going to be
a
silent partner with me, and we were going to open a restaurant. I know
it
sounds silly, but in high school, I used to write menus, and that was
my dream.
When I was a little boy I always wanted to own a restaurant. In fact, I
took a
food service class in high school. It was the first year they offered
it, and I
took it. And, then when I went to my recruiter in the Navy, I said,
“Could you—I
want to be a cook.” And he said, “You want
to be a cook?” And I said, “Yes, I want to be a cook. In fact, can you
guarantee me that I'll be a cook?” he said, “no one has ever asked me
that.” He
said, “Son, let me tell you something: you have pretty good marks on
your ASVAB,”
he said, “You have a lot of options.” And, I said, “I want to be a
cook.
Because I want to own a restaurant.” He said, “Okay.” And, I was a cook
and,
when I gave my heart and life to Christ, it wasn't very long after that
that
God said to me, “I've got a plan for you, son, and, it doesn't include
owning a
restaurant.” I'm not saying owning a restaurant is a bad thing. Do you
know
that that was not an easy pill for me to swallow? Until, until, until,
I said
what Jesus said in the garden, when he prayed, “Nevertheless not my
will, but
thy will be done.” (Luke 22:42) And, can I tell you how thankful I am
that I
didn't go build a restaurant? Because God has blessed me in my journey.
God has
blessed me. And, I don't have any regrets about the path that God has
chosen
for my life, and I'm so thankful that I had a prayer life where I could
hear
it. And, I'm here today rooting for you, that you'll say, “You know
what? I
want that.” I want to be able to read God's Word, and know when it’s
speaking
directly to me.” Hello? Let me share another story. I might be done
with my
text, now, I'm not sure. We'll see. So, I was—I hit a spot. This was about thirty years ago,
give or take.
And, my relationship with my God had grown cold. And, I was frustrated,
and I
was hurt, and I was tired. I was like the husband that would say to his
wife, “I
have fallen out of love with you. I need to seek someone else.” But, I
knew
that wasn't right, so I said, “God, show me. How did I get here? How
did I—” I
wasn't out living in sin. But, I had let my prayer life become routine.
Hello?
I was doing all the right things, but I had lost the passion. Hello? I
remember
where I was sitting, and I was reading, and I said, “God, I'm not going
to
sleep until I get an answer. I need to hear from you, God.” and I
started
reading. Could you turn to James, one, and eight for me, Malcolm? I
think
that's the verse, I have to double-check. And, I said, “God, I need—”
And, I
read the verse. And, it was, not physically like a light shined on the
page,
but emotionally, like, “That's it. Stay there. There's your answer.”
Does that
make any sense? Okay. And, what does that say, Brother Malcolm? James 1:8
A double minded
man is
unstable in all his ways. That's it. That's the verse. And, it was like it was
emotionally
highlighted. I don't mean it was like it was physically, like I saw a
highlighter on the page, that's not what I'm saying. But, emotionally,
Hello?
Hello? Hello? And He said, “That's your problem. You've become
double-minded.
You've got all these activities going on in the world.” None of them,
they
weren't sinful activities, but, I was working a lot of overtime, and I
was, you
know, I was trying to provide for my wife and children, and I've got
busy being
busy. Hello? Anybody ever got busy being busy? And I sort of let my
relationship with God just be something—that's how identified myself,
“I'm a
Christian,” but I wasn't spending time with Him. Hello? Somebody knows
what I'm
talking about. And, he said, “Read it again.” “A double-minded man is
unstable
in all his ways.” I had lost my single-mindedness of God being first in
my
life. I had a wife; a man doesn't provide for his wife, then he's worse
than an
infidel (1 Timothy 5:8). I can quote you that, God. You want me
providing,
don't you? You don't want my wife starving, or our kids naked. Right?
Of course
I'm supposed to provide. But, not at the expense of my relationship
with God.
Hello? Somebody came to hear this today. Somebody came to hear this
today. Get
back with God. Renew your relationship with your God. Start studying
His Word
with passion. Expect, expect a blessing. Don't just eat because you
need
nourishment, eat because you're hungry. Eat because you want to taste
it. Get
alone with God. When the Holy Spirit speaks to you, when you start
watching—I'm
not against watching TV, in proper proportion, but, maybe you're like
me. I've
sometimes wasted a whole evening watching TV, when it's time to turn it
off and
go to bed, I couldn't tell you what I watched. I watched NCIS. What was
it
about? I don't know. It was probably a bad guy and a good guy, and the
bad guy
get caught by the good guy. Hello? Hello? And, I love that other show
about the
cops who catch the bad guy and lock him up. Boy, that'll improve your
relationship with God. How about when the Holy Ghost says to you, “You
want to
spend some time with me?” You pick up the remote, you turn it off, you
open the
Bible, or you just get on your knees. I know this is a simple message
today,
it's not feel logically deep, but it'll work for you, if you work it.
Hello?
It'll work for you, if you work it. Let's stand together. Singers,
could you
come and get ready to sing, “For He Is Lord?” God, Almighty, we love you. I thank you for the privilege to
be here
today. I thank You for Your reminder that, we have time to renew our
relationship with You. We have time to hear You say, “Yes.” we have
time to
hear You say, “No.” we have time to hear You say, “Stop,” and we have
time to
hear You say, “Go.” But, to do that, we need to be close to You so we
know it's
You. So, let us get better at studying Your Word. Let us get better at
our
prayer time. Let us get better at being quiet, and seeking that still,
small
voice. Help us have a better relationship with You, God, so that we can
be
better as husbands, and wives, and sons, and daughters, and parents,
and
children. Help us, Lord, to have a memorial in Heaven because of how we
live on
Earth in our relationship with You. Lord, I love my brothers and
sisters and I
don't know where everybody's at on their journey today, but You do.
Maybe
there's one here today who needs to say yes to You, and say, “I accept
You as
my Lord and Savior.” Let this be their day. Whether it’s coming to this
altar
during the song, whether it's speaking with someone after the service,
and
saying, “Show me the Scriptures.” Maybe there's someone here today, and
they
know You, and they love You, but they've never been, as You said in
Romans six,
“Buried with You in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life.”
(Romans 6:4) Let
this be that day for them, Lord, to say, “You know what? I need to take
that
step of faith and follow that commandment that You give in Your
Scripture.” Maybe
there's someone here today, Lord, and they've grown cold in their
relationship
with You, and, today's the day they can warm it up. Heap coals of fire
on it,
and bring the passion back. Maybe there's someone here today and
they've never
had it, and they think it's just something other people get. Tell them
that You
want that relationship with them, that You shed Your blood on the cross
at
Calvary for their sins, and, You want that relationship with them.
Lord, we've
heard testimonies today of loud people and quiet people, but You love
them all
the same. Thanks for loving me. Thanks for loving each of us and all of
us. We
thank You, in Jesus name. We thank You in Jesus name. I'm going to stand in this altar if anybody wants to pray. I
know that
you have people that you assigned to pray in the altar; if they would
like to
come and join me, please do. I know I’m just doing this sort of
spur-of-the-moment, but we want to be here to pray with you as we sing
together. I'd like to invite everybody to sing.
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