Acts 10, pick up at verse 34. We're going to go to the end this morning. That's Acts 10, verse 34. Then Peter opened his mouth and said of the truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The Word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all." What an incredible statement in verse 36 that it's in parentheses, if you have a Thompson chain Bible, I believe. Verse 37, "'That Word,' I say, ye know which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power. who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of 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 slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify, that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead. To him give all the prophets witness, and through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word. And they of the circumcisions which believed were astonished. As many as came with Peter, because they were among the Gentiles, also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. I think that's very interesting at the end of the passage, they begged him to stay. They wanted him to stay. They didn't throw him out. You remember in the beginning of Jesus's ministry, he went back to his own hometown. What happened to him? Anybody? Anybody remember what happened to him in Nazareth when he talked about two Gentiles? That incredible... I'm sorry? They wanted him to leave. They wanted him to leave so much, they grabbed him and they wanted to throw him over a cliff headfirst. Here, the Gentiles tell Peter, We want you to stay. Terry here. Will you dine with us? Will you eat with us? Will you hang out with us? We like these words. We enjoy them. Peter and Cornelius, then Peter and Cornelius had a talk. The first time Cornelius ever sees Peter, what happened? Remember? Excellent. Right? Thank you, Charlie, Dave. He bowed down to him. We kind of touched on this lightly. Thinking about the story, why do you think that he bowed down? Why do you think Cornelius bowed down to Peter? Right. Amen. Right. Exactly. He was awestruck in a sense. Who's this Peter? That's incredible. Dave. Right. And you know, that's the normal response because people today treat angels and spiritual things like they're just funny things. They're no big deal. They make fun of ghosts. They make fun of angels. And people treat it so base and so lax. But you have to admit, if Peter came walking through this door today and he was resurrected from the dead somehow, we would have a little bit of a different reaction to him than we would most people. I don't know that we would bow down to him, but there would be, this is the man that walked with Jesus. I think that's what Cornelius was thinking. Is this the man that walked with Jesus Christ? Cornelius knows he's ascended. Wow, what would it be like to talk with Peter, and is he an intercessor to Jesus Christ? So why not bow down? He might have been afraid that if he didn't bow down to him, there would be great repercussions. He didn't know he needed preaching. And you know what? I love that because he was a new, kind of a new, maybe not a brand new, but a very, maybe, just novice, if you want to call it, kind of Christian right now that didn't understand what was going on here. And so Peter turns around, and he does not change his consistency, and I really love that, because it's very important that what Peter does next is important. Let's look really hard, I want to look at the words that Peter opens up with, The very first opening in verse 34 says, then Peter opened his mouth. If you think of that, what does that mean? Right. Amen. Excellent. He opened his mouth. How many people today that are put in a position to give the gospel of Christ keep their mouth closed? They're afraid. It's very easy to be afraid. It's very easy to turn the other way, the other cheek. You open his mouth. Amen. And you know what I love about that? I think it's a very good lesson for us all. If you're a Christian, you love the Lord. Whether you think about it or not, or whether it's impulsive, when someone comes to you and you need to give some kind of an overview of the Bible, or some kind of an answer that's within you, no matter whether you're considering it or not, the Holy Spirit will speak through you. Whether you're thinking about it, whether you're prepared or not, the Lord said, do not worry, the Holy Spirit will speak through your mouth. And Peter opened his mouth. What's the next thing that comes out of it? And so we see here, Peter comes back and now he begins to preach and he begins to teach Cornelius. And this is the beginning of the teaching and the preaching to the Gentiles, which were considered base people that had no right being any part of the Talmud, the Torah, the Jewish ceremonial law, the Babylonian, the Palestinian, the Bethlehem Torah or the Talmud. None of those pharisaical Jewish counts wanted anything to do with Gentiles. They wanted to stay segregated. Talk about all the stuff about segregation today. They wanted to be segregated. And if you were to come in, you would have anything to do with them, you better have status, you better have money, and you're not going to get a front seat in the temple unless you know somebody. It was just as political today as the General Assembly here in Maryland. And it was a very, very difficult way to be. We see here that Peter opened his mouth. He opened it. He began to preach. How shall they hear without a preacher? And so today, people don't hear because they don't have a preacher. And they go to these churches that it's nothing but everything but preaching. And people don't know what to do. They don't understand how to handle what's going on in our political arenas today. Why is it important to have a Chief Justice on the Supreme Court, a ninth seat now, that is against abortion? Why is it important to have a president that is pro-life? and that is very adept to a business model that brings our country up, not to bring it down to a socialized nation. There's so many reasons why we need to be taught from the Bible which direction to go in our lives, and that's not my opinion. It's the way it's been in this country since it started. And it was because of solid preaching that we're sitting here today and we're not being martyred right now. Solid preaching in this country. There's a lot of names. We should know those names. Very important names from the preachers that were of the Great Awakening like George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards and Samuel Davies. Men like that. The good news. Verse 34 to verse 48. What is Peter preaching? What is it? Very simple. Perfect. The Evangelion. The Charisma. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see here that today we have a lot of different ideas what good news is. What are some of the good news commercials today that you guys might remember? Anybody? What's good news today in the news? Media. What's good? What are some of the general things? There's a lot of them up there. I can help you kind of get started. What do you think? Good news. There's one. Right. The polls. Numbers. That's one. What's that, Dave? That's actually good news. Ford made a new Mustang. Lisa. The stock market. Oh, that's a good one. Wall Street Journal. You know what? I will say, I will admit that since the coronavirus hit and the stock market plummeted, it plummeted. They say it plummeted. You know, all the stuff about how bad our president is. It plummeted. What did it plummet to when Barack Obama became president in 2008? I'm going to go off the beaten path here, remember? Well, people were just hyperventilating. It went down to 8,000 points. I think it went down less than that at one point. When the coronavirus hit and all the whole financial thing is Donald Trump's fault, It went down to 18,000. Our country hadn't seen 18,000 in the stock market in decades. It never saw it. And so all of a sudden, it goes down to 18,000, and he's supposed to ruin the economy. And in three weeks, it went back up to 25,000 to 28,000 points. With Barack Obama, it took like two years just to get up to 11,000. And my point is, this good news, is it good? I've got some good news for you. I saved $140 on my car insurance by switching to Geico. Is that good news? Actually, it's not, because when Jacob got on my thing, they raised it $7,000 a year. I had to go to Allstate. So that's good news. That's what they say, good news. That's exactly right. That's it. Here's another good news. How about the Yankees won the World Series, or the Orioles won the World Series, or the Colts won the Super Bowl many, many centuries ago. Sports, that's good news. Good news is a brand new chicken sandwich is coming out the Chick-fil-A, right? I mean, you can go on to anybody else. It's not good news for us today. But that's good news. It's going to be sunny the rest of the week. That's always good news. Now, Peter here was given the good news. Now, what was that good news? New Testament categories, the gospel is given in definite content. It's in detail, and it's in extremely, extremely good detail. It's good news. It's not about me. The gospel's not about you. It's what Jesus has done, now and then. Here, Paul makes a brilliant confirmation of where we stand with Christ regarding our stature where it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Could I ask this morning, could I ask maybe, Teresa, could you read, look up 2 Corinthians 10, verses 12 and 13? Okay. While you're looking there, let me go over this real quick. But our ministry and our whole being for life is from the good news of Jesus Christ. It's the gospel. It's a wonderful gospel and it's a wonderful blessing. Let's see where my book go here. I'm going to read this. Go ahead when you're ready, Teresa. That's quite a measure, isn't it? What are we to measure our standard by? Are we to measure our standard by the amendments in the Constitution of the United States, the Maryland bylaws that have been greatly, completely cut up and torn apart? Are we supposed to measure our own standard by ourselves? Well, Paul says here we're to measure it by the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's a measure to reach even unto you. That it's not of you, it's not of me, it's what think ye of Christ. That's the gospel. Our ministry and our whole being for life is from the good news of Jesus Christ. You want to know what's so important about that? We need good news. We need good news that's real good news. Not good news that comes from a commercial that as long as we pay them, they smile because they're making money, and we try to pacify ourselves. And there's so many products out there that people try to order from QVC and all these, Amazon and all, to make themselves feel good. It's become an addiction. You know, spend as much money as you can a week and, you know, buy the newest shoes, the newest car, and all these things. You know, sometimes it's fun, but is it the real good news? I read this Wednesday night. For those of you who weren't here Wednesday night, I want to read this again. This is why we need good news. It's a new book that I got. And it's from Ray Comfort, How to Overcome Life's Endless Trials. And it's predicated on Joseph's trials. I'm reading this. It's a good book. Let me read the preface or the introduction to this. We need good news. And Peter was giving the best news that he could give Cornelius. And while I'm reading this, let's think about why did Cornelius need good news? And we'll talk about that. As I began writing this book on the amazing life of Joseph, I heard the phrase, trampled to death by ducks, from my pastor. It not only seems fitting for Joseph's many trials, but it so describes daily life, especially for the Christians. We enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations. While it's easy to imagine a quick demise by elephant, it's not so easy to imagine dying by duck. It would take a lot of ducks to kill us, probably by knocking us over and trampling us to death in a flurry of webbed feet and flapping wings. But that is life's experiences of most of us, one little hassle after another, suffocating us until we can hardly see the light of day. There are unexpected bills, car problems, strained relationships, misunderstandings, nightmares, insomnia, problems with relatives, aging parents, identity theft, stress at work, difficulties with kids, endless minor health issues, such as a stye in the eye, a pulled neck muscle, cold sore in the lip, canker sore in the mouth, sore throat, pounding, headache, earache, toothache, to major health problems. The dog threw up on the carpet. The sink is stopped up. The AC is out. The toast is burnt. And the cat brought a dead bird inside. You have cell phone problems, computer viruses, noisy neighbors, a leaky faucet, mold in the shower, rats chewing wire in the garage, biting fleas, moles on the lawn, termites eating your house, aphids eating the plants, spiders in the den, fly on the food, mosquito in the bedroom, cockroach in the pantry. And that's just by 9 AM, he says. Then things really get bad. Early in 2020, the unthinkable happened. The entire world was put on hold. A global pandemic put Hollywood, Wall Street, New York, and the rest of the world out of business. Like Joseph, our lives changed overnight, and it was as though we were suddenly living in some foreign land. Millions were forced to stay in their homes away from loved ones, and our freedoms were curtailed. There were mass deaths, financial collapse, food and supply shortages, and unprecedented unemployment. Just as we had hoped things were improving, then the racial tensions, riots, and looting began. Many became almost unbearable. It seems as though we make it through one trial and there are more ducks in a row waiting to suffocate us. The only way they can do that is if they can get us down. And they won't be able to do that if we take a few lessons from the life of Joseph, a leaf from the world's most beloved book. Through the scriptures, we have the consolation that the ducks of this life are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be ours. They work for us as far more exceeding an eternal weight of glory. I think it's a nice little introduction. And we see the life of Joseph and the trials he went through. Did he ever give up? I would have felt like giving up. being put in a hole, buried basically, almost alive, sold off into slavery, falsely accused. How sad that really is. But from what we've learned so far, anybody like to open up the floor again? Why did Cornelius? I mean, think of the current day and age that he lived in. Why did Cornelius need encouragement? What was he looking for, Lisa? Yeah, absolutely. Amen. I think we need it every week. I think we need it every day. And reconfirmed every day. Lisi. Right. And I think of the Apostle Paul when he said, you know, if this is all not true, then we and all people were most defeated. So, you know, to hear it right from somebody that was walking with Christ, it's just somehow that carries a little more weight with us. And the Lord doesn't despise us for that. He knows that we're nothing but dust, and we need to have what Jesus said, this constant encouragement. We really do, and that's why, you know, assembling with the body of Christ Right. Exactly. That's right. Mondays can be tough. We need a reconfirmation. And the problem is it's like sheep. Isaiah 53 says, I will be like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And when sheep are scattered without a shepherd, they just kind of wander off in their own little thing. And that's why we need to be reassured and encouraged. You can't just read the Bible once, say I'm a Christian, and go the rest of your life and say, all right, I mastered that. It's OK. It's over with and done with. I mean, we should love to be re-encouraged every day, especially every Lord's Day, and to be together and worship together. But why did Cornelius need the encouragement? He had other people that were following him. He had a house of people that were listening to him. He had a little church there. And actually, he had been told to stay back when some of his men were sent to go fetch Peter. And Peter comes back, Cornelius kneels down, and he worships Peter. Peter says, get up, I'm a man. And he does not take credit. You know, I think there's some pastors today that are out there that would have liked to have had people bow down to them. But there's one in particular that has 50,000 people coming into a basketball arena in Houston, Texas. And it's $10 a ticket. But if you miss it and you don't get it, this was before the virus, of course. But it's $100 a ticket on eBay if you want to go see him down there. And that's one of many. And there's a lot of self-glorification in the ministry today to have all eyes on your picture and your persona. Say to the Lord, let me see. That's for everybody, but I think specifically targeted toward, and it's understandable, because there's a lot of people that, they're pastor-proofies, you know? I've talked about this before, that the Methodist church, particularly, when they're on the circuit, they'll leave the Methodist, the one Methodist, just like the one across the street where we are, and they'll go to a different church, right? And that's like the bands today too. I see the bands leaving Mountain Christian out here, and I'm going to name them, that's absolutely no secret. And the bands have two big dually pickup trucks with these big enclosed trailers, and they have the name of their band on there. It's just like going to the bars on Friday night and Saturday night. They go there and then all day long they go to different churches and they set up. They already have stuff set up and they play. They go to different venues. They don't belong to the church. And people follow them like groupies. And they go to see the bands and hear the music. This is the latest band out. This is the latest worship music. And they feel so edified by it. And it's a very false edification. Very good answers. I mean, as soon as Peter implores Cornelius to get up off his feet, He doesn't go through his life experiences, Peter does, which is done today way too much in modern day teaching. So you see, with the gospel in the New Testament, it focuses on a definite content. Peter goes right in and he gives the gospel, the works and the persons of Jesus Christ, the benefits of the ministry of Christ, and the testimony that brings others to this wonderful salvation. And this is how we learn to approach a lost and dying world. From the Kerygma. The Kerygma is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ from the early Christian church. in the early profession from the Christian church is given from this apostolic preaching over and over and over again. John saw Christ, and remember he sang the Agnus Dei in the Latin. It means, Behold the Lamb of God. John the Baptist did not give himself credit. He saw Jesus Christ, and he said, I mean, he was pretty popular back in the day. He didn't want to be popular, but he was. He was very highly respected by the Jewish, the regulars in the council in the temple. He was a real priest of the line of the Levitical priesthood John the Baptist was. And he didn't take any credit for himself. He didn't like to go to the parties. He didn't like to go near wine. He didn't like to do anything. He stayed out in the wilderness. And he sees Jesus, and he goes, whoa, behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. whose shoes I'm not even worthy to unlatch. He must increase, I must decrease. And there's Peter, just like John the Baptist, and he comes back with the gospel. He hasn't put anything on himself. He comes right in and he gives the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think it's incredible the way he starts preaching. We see in verse 35, but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. Verse 36 in Acts 10, "...the word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ." And there you see in the Old Testament, the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's in the Old Testament. It's all throughout the Old Testament. There are so many that love to give their own testimonies today in teaching. Let us not confuse our personal testimonies with true evangelism. You can sit and you can hear sermons where pastors just talk about themselves, and they talk about their experiences, and they talk and they talk, but that's not evangelism. It's talking about Jesus. Teresa? Human nature, we think, we want to go to church, we want to be, you know, not, well, we fall into the trap of, well, I don't like it, that's boring, I want to be entertained, blah, blah, blah. But the fact is, we are, God is the audience. He's watching us, whereas, and they're watching bands and stuff like that. Right. That's right. Right. That's the Latin phrase Corum Deo. The words Corum Deo. We're before the face of God when we worship Him. And it's in our hearts. We better want to be before the face of God. Right. That's right. He has to open his mouth to a Roman guard. He wasn't a Roman guard, he was a Roman colonel. Peter could have been thinking, is this guy really what he's being... Right. Is this a trap? Think about that. I mean, there's all kind of possibilities here. A lot of drama going on here. What would have happened if a Roman soldier or a Roman colonel had captured him and then took him in and started trying to ask him, where are the rest of the disciples? We want them. Dave. Right. Yep. Right. And on top of that, we want you to invite him into the Christian church while you're at it, you know. Right. At this point, really, Peter is somewhat, that's a great point, he's in somewhat of a grip of ambivalence, like, you know, he's not questioning the character of God, but he is probably questioning the meaning of what's going on here. So what is the only way that he can come out of it? Sure, good. we're going to put something there where it's going to take an extra measure of faith to trust God with whatever that is. And the reward is great if you take that step. But Satan is going to do everything he can to tell us that we're going to be miserable if we do it. And that's where it's stagnating. And this was a huge turning point, I think, in his life right here. He was, yes, he was, you know, what he's saying is a good copy That's right. Right. If it's just something that we're doing because, well, I think this is probably wrong, or I know this person's not going to approve if I do this, so I'm not going to do it. That's not conviction. So we will continually be harassed and harangued by that particular temptation until we've taken that step and we realize, but Lord, there really is power in this. It's not figurative, it's literal. It's something that burns. It's basically like when you're called to do a service for the Lord, and there are so many ways Satan can say, why bother? Why bother? It's basically volunteer work or whatever, and then you think about not doing it, and the Lord burns it in your heart like, how could I not? How can I not do it for the Lord? Why? Because I love doing it in my heart. There are other things I could be doing. There's many other things. It comes to teaching. It comes to preparing something, maybe a meal. It comes from some little outreach or something. There's so many ways of making excuses to get out of it. You do it because the Lord has that conviction burned in your heart, I believe. I mean, I think that's right on target there. You know, Peter is saying here, and could I ask Nancy, could you look up 2 Corinthians 13, verse 1? And while you're looking that up, let's discuss this for a minute. We see here that Peter says, he opened his mouth. He says, of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. We're going to look at that in a minute. That's very important. But in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. But what he's saying in essence, you go down to verse 39 and then you back up, Peter says, we are witnesses of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine being able to talk to Peter? I witnessed the presence of Jesus Christ. I saw him in his glorified state. I saw him when he resurrected. Go ahead, Nancy. Isn't that beautiful? This is the third time Paul says, I'm coming to you with witnesses. And then Paul goes on to say there were 500 people that saw Jesus have He was resurrected. So the question here, what does Peter mean? And we're going to go back and forth through these next few verses, because there's a lot in the next few weeks. There's this incredible lot of things. But while you're there, Nancy, can you give me 1 Corinthians 15.6 also? That would be awesome. 1 Corinthians 15.6, while you're looking that up. Paul had also said, on top of being witnesses, Here's the confirmation of not just two or three, but look how many more. Go ahead when you're ready. Some are falling asleep. He says there are 500 and most of them are still alive. They're still breathing. Thank you, Nancy. I mean, they're here. Talk to them. Ask them. Isn't it wonderful to be able to hear somebody that's kind of far away? and say somebody, you have a friend of a friend of a friend or whatever, and they're far away, and they start talking to you about witnessing to somebody, you can tell them to give the same gospel? You can tell them, isn't it consistent in how wonderful it is? Gospel ministry of Jesus Christ is irrefutable. It's not a secret. It's not covert, like the Mormons lie about in their cult, that you have to be in secret with the cult leaders like Joseph Smith. It's not something that's hidden behind some smoke and mirrors like the Wizard of Oz, where there's some little man behind some great big smoke screen. You know? See, in evangelical churches, you know, you can get pastors that only teach from their own interpretation. And it's the gospel of Jesus Christ that is to be the central focus here. Peter said not only did they see Him, but they were directed by Him to preach the gospel. Always preaching the gospel. And here He's giving it to Cornelius' family. Peter opened his mouth. He preached. He opened with exhortations. This would be a testimony to testify and to exhort to this purport. Like in 2 Corinthians 6-11 where Paul said, O you Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you. Our heart is enlarged. Isn't that incredible? Here Peter seizes the opportunity, he opens his mouth, and then he makes a stunning statement from the beginning that God is no respecter of persons. I mean, especially with the day and age, what we're living with right now, that is important as Christians, where here Peter says, God is no respecter of persons. What does he mean by that? That's been taken way out of context. Let me get through this real quick. He opens his mouth. What stops someone to speak or give out literature for Christ or excuses? Failed responses, a lack of faith, apathy for sure. But what is really going on? Is it a human conscious decision when someone does not want to speak and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ? See, when people don't want to do that, they say that, well, I'm picking up the mantle. I don't feel like doing it. It's my decision. Oh, no. It's the Lord closing your mouth, and it's the Lord putting a veil over your heart when you're not faithful. Lisa? Apollo, yeah, I remember. He was from Apollo. Right. Another notch for the tracks. Love the tracks. And there was a guy that was sitting outside of the doorway there, and he was in a wheelchair, very, very, very low. He probably just kind of died. He just can't get out of his own way. So he wasn't there when I came out, but as I came to my car, I look and he's down at the end of the parking lot. So I found some kind of place. It was called The Wall, the track called The Wall. So I drove down there, and I got out of the car, and I was kind of like very hesitant. I thought, you know, I don't know what's going on. I'm just going to leave. I'm going to get out of the wheelchair. And I thought, OK, well, I'm going to get up and do something. So anyway, I said, sir, I'm trying to give this to you. And he took it for a second, and then he said, no, thank you. And he said something else, but I didn't quite catch it. So that's why we can't buy your purse. That's very sad. That happens. Yeah, people see anything with having to do with the Lord. They don't want to touch it. They don't want to go anywhere near it. That's incredible because that happens and it's sad and it breaks our heart as Christians where someone wouldn't even want to get a free gift and just see what's inside of it. It's obviously he had an idea on what the direction or the tenor of what the track, Pastor Coleman. What does that mean later on in his life? I recall when we were married, he lived out in the state of Washington, and there's a evangelical church, it's at the end of the trailer park, and guys came around to our house, and very friendly and kind, and wanted to talk with us, and I was afraid of listening to it, and I had excuses, and he begged off. It wasn't the time. What's timing is God's timing. Amen. Right. unknowing how the Holy Spirit will work at what day and at what time in the life. If I did it, and I give a tract, or I stop somebody and talk to them about the Lord, that means, oh, I saved this person. No. Right. Some sows the seed, some the water, but God gives the increase. Amen. The increase is given at His time. All of these events with Peter, Cornelius, and all these, that was the exact time. Peter could have gone to Cornelius at another day. Yeah. But God is working a means to us, outside of this chapter, God is working Cornelius' heart to make that heart ready to receive the Word as it came. And that's where some people, we know of people who come to church here, and others, they say, but why is he accepting the Lord at that time? We just see this moment, see this moment, see this moment, and that's the right time. Amen. He connects those dots on his calendar, in a sense. Lisey. Right. Mm-hmm. Right, right. Right, right. Amen. That's a great point, Lisa. Right. But I think you just have to be willing to see an opportunity and try. And it wasn't easy to get the chocolate exit. It wasn't a whirlwind either. I don't know. In this day and age, this environment, if you were 10, 15 years ago, you probably could have attracted somebody to their problem, and they would have accepted it. Right. Exactly. And it's the Holy Spirit that guides your heart to want to, you know, I remember Pastor Olson was preaching, he goes, how come there's some people that you remember to pray for and other times when you don't have like a prayer list or something in front of you, you don't pray for them. That's of the Lord. And that's the day that the Lord laid it on your heart to give it to that man because you went to the car. and because you didn't have one on you and you pursued it out and went and made sure you got one. And the Lord does that and he leads us to different areas. And sometimes somebody, I mean some of the most interesting times that you talk to, somebody comes out of nowhere and they might have a real problem or a real trial in their life and all of a sudden you just kind of ease into maybe some scripture, you ease into some kind of good examples in the Bible, and you just never know, but to have your heart prepared for that is what we're asking the Lord for. Brother Jim, can I ask you to look up John 6, verse 65 and 66, while I try to explain through this for just a minute? That's John, chapter 6, verses 65 and 66. And we see here that, you know, do we have it on our heart to want to give the gospel? Or do we have apathy? Where are we at? Where does Christ stand in our lives? And with surely the effects of making these decisions, it has consequences, as Christ sees sometimes, Christ can see the lack of willingness and desire. And I think these are some of the saddest verses in Scripture here, in John 65 and 66, where all of a sudden there were all these disciples when the ministry of Jesus was really stoked and the flames were really going, and there was a lot of fire there. Then all of a sudden, tribulation comes, and go ahead, Jim, and we'll see what happens here. Can you imagine that? They were there with Jesus. And as Pastor Coleman said, even if these people were there and they saw Jesus Christ, then it wasn't their time. Some of them may not have gotten saved for 30 or 40 more years after that. But can you imagine them looking back and saying, I saw him. I could have easily have asked him some pretty interesting questions. He was healing loved ones. I didn't bring my loved one to him. Or something like that. You know, can you imagine? But still, look at Paul the Apostle. He was alive at that point. When Jesus was right here at this point, and John with Jim Redd, he was there somewhere, but it's just not our timing. Here, Peter makes a stunning proclamation. And he says God is an irrespective of persons. We'll look at that a lot more next week because we're running out of time here. But basically, he says that the gospel of Jesus Christ is open to everyone, and it's not a segregated club. It's not a lion's club. It's not a Freemasonry party. It's not some kind of a cult. It's open to everyone. First Peter 3.9 says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. Some men count slackness, but it's long-suffering to us. We're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And I'll leave you with that. Next week, we're going to be talking about the difference between two applications about the Lord not being a respecter of persons. Lisa. Right. Right. Right. Right. He speaks of his blood. He speaks of his flesh. And he said that he that will not drink my blood or eat of my flesh is not one with me. And then they're all of a sudden wondering, what is he talking about? And it becomes a hard saying, a problem to them. But it takes the Lord Jesus Christ to open up the eyes and to understand definitely what these words really mean. And it is His timing, because none of us, I don't know too many Christians that can really, some people can go back and say, I know exactly the time and the second that I was saved. I know I can't. It was when I was a lot younger, but I can't really say the time and the place, Lisa. But it's, right. It's just, it's hard to remember. But it is of the Lord. And basically, when we see the difference, the differentiation between what Peter is talking about, God's no respecter of persons, he goes into the respecter of persons, how does God judge? How, through his sovereignty, does he reward? Is it predicated on a class system? Is it based on man's appearances or his money? Lisa? Go ahead. If they don't have a joint venture with what Christ did, then it doesn't work. It's not worth anything. They don't have a connection to it. They have to have a stake or like a part of stock in it. And it's not the way, that's not the way of the Lord. That's nothing we can do. We'll look at that too next week. Nothing we can do can gain pleasure from God.