Acts chapter nine. We're gonna be ambitious tonight, but we're gonna start with Acts chapter nine. And I think, knowing the time that we have, yeah, there should be some other. We'll be at Acts nine and verse 32 this evening. Acts 9.32, but we ended, just to show you where we ended in Acts 31, as where it said the church was at rest. Paul had been traveled, been sent home to Tarsus for a little R&R. He's getting a little rest and relaxation after this big whirlwind where he had changed from being the Darth Vader against the church, you know, persecuting the church and being this juggernaut to come against them and to try to put them in jail and bind them to being a believer. And we saw that it ended with him preaching. You know, he has some time where he's studied and the Holy, well, we'll learn later, the Lord teaches him on the backside of the desert, instructs him, scripture makes sense to him. He goes out and he preaches and proclaims. He's met the disciples and they've given him the right hand of fellowship. And now that he's gone home to rest just for a little bit, as in, He took a rest, a vacation in that way. And then we also mentioned that some other things that happened during that time, that Caligula Caesar had died, and the pressure that he was putting on to get his image in the temple had let off, and so they're in a little bit of a respite, which is great. And so the focus is gonna shift from Jerusalem to outside now. It's gonna keep going further and further out as we go. So we're in verse 32, and it's gonna jump to Peter. Verse 32 of Acts chapter 9. And it came to pass as Peter passed throughout all the quarters, or all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt in Lydia. And so it jumps to him, he's Lydia, which is north of Jerusalem. And so like I said, we're leaving the center focus. You know, Acts had so far been centered in Jerusalem, and now it's gone to Samaria and Judea, and now we've mentioned the Ethiopian eunuch. We're breaching out, and it's gonna keep going outward as the book continues on. Verse 33, and there he found a certain man named Anais, Anais, that's it, sorry, which had kept his bed eight years and was sick of the palsy. So he's been sick eight years, people know it, they know it's been a long time. He's got the palsy, which means, the palsy means loose from side to side, so basically his legs can't hold him. They're loose, they have no strength. Verse 34, and Peter said unto him, Anais, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole, arise and make thy bed, and he arose immediately. You should kind of notice a pattern here that Peter had traveled with Jesus Christ, right, and he had watched him do this many times, and it seems like he follows that pattern. Take up your bed, arise and walk, and so he does, and so he does this. He's the messenger. He does as Jesus did, and he's in this northernmost region, And so now he is there taking the good news of the gospel, so they need to know, can we trust Peter? Is this God's man? So God gives him miracles to be able to perform so that people would trust him, that this is a man that God has put his trust in to make sure that they can trust the message that he is proclaiming. So that leads us to a curious question. Are the gifts gone today? Because in the book of Acts, we're gonna see some fantastic sign gifts that are throughout here. There's quite the debate, and I wanted to take a little sideline to at least look at it a little bit, so you know at least the argument that is used. I was pretty much brought up in a pretty, where the mindset was called cessationalism, that the sign gifts had ceased. And the verse they use is 1 Corinthians 13, if you wanna turn there, 1 Corinthians 13. was the one, and any book that I have on it, and I have had books, and at college when they talked about it, they would use this verse. But I, yeah, I don't, we'll see. So 1 Corinthians 13, verse 10 says, 1 Corinthians 13, 10, but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. Now that kind of jumps us into the middle, but this is the love chapter. And if we back up to verse eight, it says, charity, which is love, never faileth. But whether there be prophecies, they shall fail, and whether there be tongues, they shall cease, and whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, in verse 10, but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. So he's talking about, prophesying, it's talking about tongues, it's talking about knowledge that they have, that those things are going to vanish away eventually. And he says, the thing that's going to make it vanish away is when that which is perfect will come. It's the way that I had always been taught and the way I'd always heard it preached, that that was the Bible. Once the Bible was complete, we no longer needed the sign gifts to verify the messenger. And so that's what the cessationist comes from. The sign gifts had ceased and they are gone away. But then there's another field that says, is the Bible complete? And that would be, look at Revelation 10. And I'm not saying that they're gonna write a new book of the Bible or a new chapter of the Bible, or they don't say that. They just think that the Holy Spirit includes everything that it includes for a reason to make sure that things don't get, doctrines don't get built as they shouldn't be. So Revelation 10. We're in the midst of the tribulation. We have judgments, and we have these things that are pouring out. In Revelation 10, 1, it says, and I saw a mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and with a rainbow was upon his head. And his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as a pillar of fire. And he had in his hand a little book open, and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth. And he cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth. And when he had cried, seven thunders ordered their voices. This was a pretty... epic scene right you got a guy with a foot in the land a foot in the sea he roars like a lion have you ever been in the zoo and heard a lion i don't care where you are in the zoo you know when that lion roars you feel it in your chest it almost has that uh infrasound that resonates within you to freeze you it's just you know as it goes forth and he has this kind of voice and when he sounds it causes these thunders to open up their voice and to say something verse four and when the seven thunders had uttered their voices so seven thunders had seven things to say i'm assuming And I was about to write, and so he's recording it like everything else he's had in the Bible so far, because he was told to observe these things, write them down, and put in a book, which we have. And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered and write them not. And there are books written about what they did not utter. And I think that's pretty foolish, because we don't know. He didn't record it. He didn't put it down. So why did he tell us that they said something that he was going to write it down, but he didn't tell them? And some people think it's so it would stop people from saying that the Bible is a complete word of God, that these words aren't concluded yet because it finishes with verse five. And an angel, which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven. and he swore by him that liveth forever and ever that created heaven and the things that are therein and the earth and the things that are therein are and the sea and the things which therein and there should be no time no longer and in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound the mystery of God should be finished as he declared to his servants the prophets and so the mysteries finally wrapped up which It's pretty good timing. We just talked about the mystery in Ephesians 3 verse 4, the mystery that the Gentiles should be adopted in and that Jews and Gentiles are the same. We are grafted into one people that we become the body of Christ, that Gentiles would be able to take the word of God and have salvation, the Holy Spirit dwells within. We're getting to that in the book of Acts that is showing that they can be grafted in. And so we understand a lot about the mystery, but it says it's fully solved here once all this is uttered and once it is all done. And they think that the Holy Spirit put in there just to say that. It's not talking about the Bible, because those things aren't written yet, and that mystery's not solved yet. But the perfect that it's talking about in 1 Corinthians 13 is not the Bible at all. It's talking about Jesus Christ, that when Jesus Christ comes, he's the perfect one. And when he comes at the second coming and he begins the millennial reign of Christ, the church is there with power and position that he's promised us to be kings and priests and to rule and reign with him. but we no longer need sign gifts. It'll be written upon us that we are the children of God and that we are from the new Jerusalem and we'll go forth and we'll do those things and so we don't need anything to verify that we are his messengers and to do that because the king is here. If you have any doubts, point to the king. If you don't know who or why, how or who's in charge, look to the king, we point to him. We don't need the sign gifts anymore so when the perfect has come, Jesus Christ, we have it. And so, I don't think, that the things that I were taught about that were necessarily right. I think that there are still gifts. Now, are they normal? No, I don't think so, and I don't think it's a man, I don't think that you start a TV channel because you got the gift. You know, and you're gonna have it out there and you're gonna do it. It would not be done that way. It's to give God glory, it's to open up for the proclamation of the gospel. Matter of fact, if you, don't turn, but I'm just gonna, I'm trying to find Acts again, I lost my marker. Which is a McDonald's arch card, so, yeah. It's highly biblical, but that's, I can see it. In John chapter 14 through John chapter 17, when Jesus Christ is going to prepare a place for us, you know, before the night, before the crucifixion, he starts talking about everything that's going to come, and he's leading, and he's getting the disciples prepared for, after the resurrection, that there'll be a church, and that the church is gonna function differently, that there are gonna be people, they're gonna be here, and he goes, I'm gonna endow you with gifts, and you'll be able to do the things that you've seen me do, which we see now the disciples are going to do. That there's gonna be power that's gonna come upon you. The Holy Spirit's gonna dwell upon you, and he'll help recall things in your mind, the things that I taught and the words that I've given you. He even goes through and says, I've given you all the words that the Father has given me to give you. I've given you the complete gospel in that sense. I'm gonna have all that. And so he talks about all these things that are coming, how it's all gonna be, and he doesn't say, until the day of the Bible's complete, and then it'll be ceased. He never mentions it being ceased at all. But I think it's as long as we need, and I think sometimes we need it. So why isn't it normal today? I think we lack faith. We lack faith. I think because we live in a day, in a place, in our country with modern science, modern medicine, and Pfizer, we depend upon a company. We don't immediately think, oh, I need the Lord to intercede. We're like, we need a pill, we need a shot, we need whatever. Is there a treatment for this? I think. I think it's great that we live in that time, you know, we live longer than most generations have because we do live in the day of the science, and I think it is a miracle and a benefit of God. Most hospitals were started out as Christian places. They were Baptist or Methodist or whatever, and most of them have been bought out by corporations now, and so it's lost a little bit of its oomph, but it started out because we were being Christlike in that way. But I think, and I've heard testimonies in some continents, in some places, where they don't have the benefit of all that. God's still on the throne. God verifies his messengers. There are things that happen because he's all they got. That it's dark, it's far, and a messenger comes and God verifies, this is my man, this is my word. Hear him. And they don't come back and start a big TV show and look at me, let me tell you about the things I have done. The receivers of miracles that have happened in the United States, and they have happened, and some are in this room. prayers that were answered, that the doctor said there's no hope. And I'm like, nah, we can't find it. It's not there anymore. We don't know what happened. We don't know why they're here. We've had Rachel with us the last few Sundays, right? Laman thought they were going to go tell her bye. And here she sits, coming, inviting people to church, looking forward to coming. And others. But I've heard of churches across the United States where legit miracles had happened to people verified by people who saw and knew and how they were. Like this man that had the palsy for eight years that are now walking in and sitting in the congregation. If they stood up and they testified of it, they were kicked out of their church. Kicked out of their church because God had miraculously healed them because we're cessationists. We don't believe in that. Get that malarkey out of here. Shame on us. Shame on us, shame on them, if that's how it is. God's still on the throne. God still has strength. Jesus is still able. He's able to do whatever it is that he discerns to do. I'm not putting him in a box. I'm not putting him in there. I wanna be believing. Here, Jesus Christ is gonna get the praise. He's gonna get the glory, the door is open for the gospel to go forth, verse 34, chapter nine. It says, and Peter said unto him, Ananias, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. Arise and make thy bed, and he rose immediately, verse 35. And all that dwelt in Lydia and Sharon saw him, and turned to the Lord. It was praising the glory to God, the gospel goes forth. The door was open, and so do I expect it to be normal here? Probably not. But should I not be believing more? And if God was going to use that, could he? Yeah, I think a lot of it's our lack of faith. And to give the God the glory. And we never know, we might be in a day and age where we're desperate for that again. They've moved troops out of North Korea into Russia. There's threats, viable threats we have of sleeper cells within our country from China. There's a lot of shenanigans. They're saying, hey, we don't want this election to go like we want. It wouldn't take much to mess up our power grid or take down our water supply or do those things. What if it got down to the point where the biggest hope you have in your area is your church? Might that things return? Maybe. I'm saying let's be prepared and be ready. Let's not be doubters, let's be believers. And let's see what God would have us do as we shine forth the good news of the gospel in this lost and dying world as we seek for a revival. So I'm open for God to do what, because God is God. We'll see what he does. Verse 36, it says, now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha. Now I want you to notice this, she's called a disciple. She's not one of the 12, but what we're gonna see within the context of these stories, they talk about the disciples. It's like you and me, people who believe and who are followers of Jesus Christ, who are teaching and being led by him, our rabbi. And so she's a disciple in this way, a disciple named Tabitha. which by interpretation is called Dorcas, put that in your baby book, next daughter's name is called Dorcas. It says this woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did. And so Joppa's about nine miles away, so it is pretty close, nine miles from Lydia where Peter just is. It's controlled by the Hutts, they take slaves, no wait a minute, that's not Joppa, that's Jabba, that's Star Wars, and so just getting things confused. But that's Tabitha, and Tabitha's a cool name. That one, you do hear girls name that one, and it means female gazelle. Gazelle, I say it funny. It's female gazelle. I wrote it with a schwa, no. But then there's Dorcus. We don't hear that one so much. I do know a Dorcus. One of my friends in school, his mom's name was Dorcus, and it made us all laugh every time we said it. But it, you know what it means? Gazelle, no surprise, it's a translation, right? So it means gazelle too, which is a nice name, but you just don't see that in too many baby books. And it says that she was doing almsgiving, which we don't really call that, we call it charity, you know, just their giving, helping, she's helping her community. We're gonna find that she's a seamstress, she's one who uses her talents and the gifts that God had given her to help her people around her. Verse 37, and it came to pass in those days that she was sick and died. Wait a minute, are we gonna get crazy? Are we gonna have a resurrection by one of the disciples? Not one you always think about very often, is it? And it came to pass in those days that when she was sick and died, whom when they had washed, they laid her in the upper chamber. So they're preparing her for burial. And for as much as Lydia was nigh unto Joppa, like I said, about eight, nine miles, and the disciples, which are the other believers in that area, not Peter, James, and John, and they heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. So they're like, hey, one of Jesus' disciples, one of the original 12 is there, and so go get Peter. So verse 39, then Peter rose and went with them, and when he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber, And all the widows stood by him, weeping, and showing the coats and the garments which Dorcas made while she was with him. So she's departed, she's gone. They're using her in the past tense. But an impromptu fashion show breaks out. These aren't feed sacks. These aren't like the scraps she has laying around. Apparently, these are beautiful works of love that these people are still wearing, saying, when I am wrapped in this, I am wrapped in the love of Dorcas, of Tabitha. She made this for me. She knew where I was. She knew I was. probably the best and finest garments that they have. They're tailor fit to them. They probably show their personality. And she's like, I knew you liked these flowers. And she'd make it with that print or however that fold would be in the cut of that robe. They were proud of them. And they were wearing them saying, she made this for me. She did this for me. This is what she did. She gave them what she had, used her time, her talents, her treasure to reach out to us and to care for us. And so they put on this impromptu fashion show. They're showing him who she was by the works of love that they are wearing. That would look good on us too, wouldn't it? The works of love that we put forth, that would shine forth in our testimony when we die as well. Verse 40, but Peter put them all forth, or basically sent them out, and he kneeled down and he prayed, and turning him to the body, said, Tabitha, arise. And when she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. This kind of parallels to me, like when Jesus would invite Peter, James, and John to go with him, and send everybody else out, and the maiden's not dead, she's asleep. Maiden, arise, to Jairus' daughter. Or maybe he's even going all the way back to when they visited his house and his mother-in-law had died, and Jesus resurrected her. She says, arise, she rises. Verse 41, so here, a resurrection from the dead by one of the disciples. Verse 41, and he gave her his hand, and he lifted her up, and when she had called the saints and the widows, and he presented her alive, and man, what a happy presentation that was. Like, hey, surprise, look who's here. And he's able to show them, man, what kind of celebration was that? You know? Verse 42, and it was known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Again, who gets the glory? The Lord. Who knows the power was? It was the Lord. And when we think about these resurrection, we still think about being him to the point where when I was coming back to this, I'm like, I don't remember the disciples raising the dead, other than when the guy falls out the window. Just a few different times. And so, yeah, they raised the dead. And it came to pass, verse 43, that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner. And so there's a guy who's a tanner, which is a big deal for Peter because the Jews weren't to associate with him because it was dealing with dead carcasses and touching him in that way. They're pretty funny about that, but we'll talk about this a little bit more later in the next one. The camera fades out there if we're shooting this TV show or this is the movie. The camera fades out. Now we're gonna travel 30 miles, so about the distance from here to Indianapolis. We're gonna travel 30 miles. Before we zoom in to our next scene, as this book of Acts continues, Let's think about a question that most of us has had. If we haven't had it, we've had it brought up to us if you're a believer. What about those who don't live in a Christian nation? How do they believe? What happens to them? What if the gospel isn't available? What if you're in a Muslim nation? Can they come to Christ? What if you're in Russia or something like that, which Russia right now they've been, it's a little more open in some ways. But you think of a communist nation like China, where they're going through and they're actively trying to rid it and knock it all out. What about those? What about those who've just never heard? What about those who've never heard the gospel? Those tribes isolated, you know, that haven't had contact with any outside. What about them? Well, Roman 1 tells us that all have clearly seen and that all have understood and that all are without excuse to stand before God and say that I didn't know. God has written it upon creation that there is a God and you're accountable unto him. It says, and you clearly know it, you clearly understand it so that you are without excuse. So what might be known of God is out there, it is showed and understood. So I think if one sees that and knows that and is curious enough to say, well, who is this one? But our God's big enough to answer that prayer. If someone is seeking, because Jesus told us, right, if you ask, seek, and knock, it will be opened unto you. Is he lying? No, he's not lying. And so it's true. So if someone's curious and they are a true seeker, they would want to know. And so whenever you think of this question, I want you to think of Acts chapter 10. because we're gonna see it fleshed out from both sides. And it's pretty cool that we get to be like the outsider here who watches us go on there, we watch what's going on with Peter, and we see that God's intervening and he's making everything come together and coordinating at a perfect time. And you think of that the next time you share a gospel tract with somebody, they say, I was just thinking about that. God's been working on that side and he was working on your side to make these divine interactions as they happen. Like, oh, it just happened that we crossed our path. It just happened that you were my waitress. It just happened that I gave you this tract. No, no. We just need to be the one that's close. We need to be the one that he says you intercede within. He's gonna work some 30 miles away to say we need to get these two together. And if we're driving through Franklin, you think he couldn't use that? going up to Greenwood, Whiteland, shopping. He would enjoy it to that store, to that lane, to that whatever. Lord, especially if you're praying, Lord, use me, seek me. I'm armed with tracks, I'm ready, I have an answer. Help me, Lord, to be able to witness. I'm asking, I'm thinking about these things we were talking about Sunday. Use me. He'd do it. He'll do it. And you get to stand back and say, glory to God. Answered prayer, they're interceding in the lives of men. So chapter 10's gonna introduce us to this guy, Cornelius. Cornelius, he is something. Verse one. So we zoom out from Joppa, and we're gonna fly all the way over to Caesarea. It says, and there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian Band. And so basically, they're coming to your town, they're gonna help you party down, they are an Italian band. No, that's Grand Funk Railroad. It's an Italian band, that's Roman, we don't always think about that, but he's a centurion. That means he's a professional officer of the Roman Empire. Not necessarily one you would think of their faith, right? Not something that way. So he's a centurion, that is the smallest unit and the part of a bigger group in the Roman army called a legion. And the legion had about 6,000 soldiers in it, but Rome armies were very organized. And so within a legion, you had 10 cohorts, and a cohort was then headed up by a centurion. And so, I think a cohort was made up of six centura, they were called, and that was about 100 men. So 60 centurions in a legion, and the more I say that, it sounds like a story problem. How long would it take them to eat the apples on that bushel of buckwheat? But they're broken down into these quadrants. And that's what helped the Roman army. They were organized, they had a commander, they had a hierarchy. They were able to say, they were able to go. It wasn't like they showed up at a flood zone and were like, we don't know who's in charge. I don't know, are you gonna do this? I don't know, are you gonna do this? It's not that. These guys are practiced, they're rehearsed, they know who it is, they are disciplined to follow orders. And so the leader over all this legion would be the primus pilus, that is the highest ranking centurion, but they still hold the office of centurion. So the highest one over the legion could have still been a centurion. and it could be this guy, and I tend to think maybe it is. They got higher pay, they got greater spoils when a war was won. If you volunteered for this, which it was a volunteer to get these positions, or you might have worked your way up, but if you committed as a citizen to do this, and it says he's of the Italian band, so he's probably from Rome, and so you committed to 25 years. This was no small, like, ah, four years and I'm out. That's 25 years serving in the Roman army, And if you live through 25 years of Roman conquest and battle, you were rewarded pretty well with lands and you had power and position and respect from being someone who's a pretty bad dude who lives and survives from a trade where most people die young. People don't mess with you. And you garner a lot of respect. And so they were the backbone of the Roman army. They were the core and the discipline that made the army unit work and they were rewarded with property They were rewarded with loyalty from their troops and they were highly respected. The best one we would have would be from I'll give you this quote and you'll figure it out. My name is Marcus, or Maximus Adarius Maratus. I'm the commander of the armies of the north, the general of the Felix legions, faithful and loyal servant to the true emperor Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance in this life or the next. That's from Gladiator, right? I think most of us have probably seen that. He was a centurion, and if you think of the way he garnered the respect of those around him and how he could, Call out things to be able to fight and to be able to do it shows the respect that they would have in that way So he's a gladiator kind of guy, you know, for at least our perspective to get a grip head around it. So verse 2 He's a devout man, though, and one that feared God with all his house. Not only did he do it, but because he did, all those around him were like, if he's behind it, we're behind it. If he believes, we believe. He's one of the guys that's like, we're going to church. Everybody else is like, yes, sir. They're all going to church with him. All his house, which gave much alms to the people, and he prayed to God always. I think he's a curious man. He'd seen many things in the Roman army. Apparently he's got his land and he's retired here, so he'd spent his 25 years. He's drawn out of everything that he'd seen. He's drawn to the Jewish God. He's drawn to the Jewish form of worship. Yet he could not participate in it because he's a Gentile. The closest he could get was the court of the Gentile, but he doesn't live anywhere near that. He gave alms to the people around him, probably Jews and Gentiles alike. probably because he's the wealthiest guy around, being the landowner that was there. He prayed to the God of the Bible, because he'd heard the stories and he'd seen things, and where he is right now, maybe he'd even heard rumors of Jesus Christ, I don't know. Maybe. And so it makes you wonder, does God notice the prayers of the lost? Does God take respect to the things that they're doing? If they're truly seeking Him, what lengths would God go to to answer the prayer from the lost that want to know who He is and desire fellowship with Him? To a true searcher, someone who's really knocking and asking and seeking, would God answer their prayer even though they're in Cambodia or Lebanon or cowering in the basement of Gaza? Would God send them an answer? Would God send them someone to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Let's see. Verse three, and he saw in a vision, evidently about the ninth hour, that's around 3 p.m. of the day, an angel of God coming into him and saying unto him, Cornelius, which means horn, which horn in the Bible always means power, so maybe he is a powerful name. Verse four, and when he looked on him, he was afraid, a centurion afraid. That tells you what an angel looks like. It's not the little flowery drawings that we usually see, you know, some sissy looking guy standing there. It evokes terror, right? Usually they fall at their feet, I mean, so he is afraid. And he said, what is it, Lord? And he said unto him, thy prayers and thy alms have come up for a memorial before God. What? The prayers that you've been asking have been heard. The alms and the good deeds you're giving weren't to be seen of men, that we were to be seen of God. The charity that you have bestowed upon them were to be seen of God. God saw. They were memorial, or basically they were remembered by God, or they were seen and received by God, as this was something an offering to you, Lord. Even though I'm a Gentile, even though I'm a Roman, even though I'm a soldier, I'm a bloody man, I understand that you are the God of the universe, and I want to do this as an act of obedience unto you. And God took them as act of worship. Worship, verse five. And he says, now send men to Joppa and call for one Simon, whose name is Peter. And he lodges with one Simon the tanner, whose house is by the seaside, and he will tell thee what thou oughtest to do. And so, again, like I said, it's kind of a big deal that Peter is at Simon the tanner's house. Jews usually wouldn't do that. Tanning is something that is very odiferous. In other words, it stinks. I have very memories that can be evoked in this, because when I was five or six, seven, around in there, my dad had shot a deer, we named him Monroe, because that's who we are in our family, we name our deer, and then he did taxidermy on himself, and so he stuffed the deer's head, and so that mean we tanned it in our house, and so I remember what it smelt like, I remember opening the tub, and the hide was in there, it was like, whoa, that smelt worse than my brother Brett's bed after a wet night, and it was just like, he wasn't here, so I could say that, but you know. But, and so, I remember he'd had things packed in salt forever. I remember messing with it, watching dad mess with it, and keeping a vibe on it, so it didn't smell good, let alone if you got a whole house. Usually most rules, it had to be outside of the city by so far. They all needed leather, they all wore leather, they all had to have it, but you didn't like the tanner guy, because he stunk, and his house stunk, and so you put it outside the town. He's used that to his advantage. He put his by the seashore. He's got a nice breeze coming in. His is probably the best smelling tanner house there is. But I think it also shows a little bit about Peter in that he's being more accepting out of his Jewish ways that he would go to this man and offer him a house, a place to stay, a time to rest by the seashore. Oh yeah, I'm a tanner. But Peter takes him up on it. So it says a lot about how Peter's growth. And so, The angel begins to give Cornelius directions, and he doesn't have to take notes. He's been trained his whole life how to take orders, how to follow directions, to listen to the details, to make sure he executes them perfectly. And so the angel gives them to him like that. It's going to be Simon. He's at a tanner's house. His name's Simon. He's also called Peter. You have to make sure you don't get confused. So he tells him all these things, where you're going to find him, verse 7. It says, and when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he immediately calls twos of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually. Oh, wait a minute, so not only does he have servants, but people that served with him in the military have followed him wherever he has gone, and they are devoted to him to make sure that he is taken care of. That tells you what kind of leader this man was. They're like, wherever you go, sir, I'll follow you to the end, sir. And they have him around him in that way. So that tells you the kind of respect that this man has garnered. And they followed him voluntarily. Verse eight. And when they had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. Basically, yes sir, they take off. 30 some miles, didn't take them too long. Meanwhile, verse nine. On the morrow, as they went on their journey, he drew nigh unto the city. Peter went up on a housetop to pray about the sixth hour. You get these guys, it ends with them walking on the road, heading over towards Joppa, and then we zoom in on Peter, and he's, oh, it's about lunchtime. So he's, sixth hour, it's around noon, and so he's getting hungry, verse 10. And he became very hungry. Yeah, it's lunch. And he would have eaten. But while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and he saw heaven open, and a certain vessel descending unto him, and it had a great sheet knit with the four corners that led down to the earth, wherein all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creepy things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, says, Rise, Peter, kill, and eat. I don't know about you, but I have vivid memories of this in my illustrated Bible. And when that sheet, it had things like alligators, and lizards, and flamingos, and all kinds of weird things that you don't eat. Not normal food, especially things that the Jews were not to eat that were in there. You know, there's pigs, you know, things with split hooves, and the way, you know, because the Old Testament has all kinds of rules of what you can eat, and how they chew, and how it's gonna be. And he says, rise up, kill, and eat. And Peter's like, nice try, nice try, you're not gonna get me. I'm a devout Jew, right? So verse 14, but Peter said, oh, not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time and said, which God, or what God hath cleansed, call thou not common. This was done three times thrice, and the vessel was received up into heaven again. Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent for Cimeneius had made the inquire at Simon's house and stood before the gate. So the vision is over and God's like, lest you think too long about this. Is Simon here? Yeah, he's on the roof getting ready for lunch. And he's like, rise up, what I have called common, don't call unclean. He doesn't let Peter dwell on this too long. Verse 18, and he called and he asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there. When Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. So God starts telling them, there's three men downstairs. Verse 20, Arise therefore, get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing for I have sent them. Then Peter went down to the men which were sent him from Cornelius, and he said, Behold, I am him whom you seek. What is the cause whereof you have come? And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and one of good report among the nation of the Jews, was warned by God by a holy angel to send for thee into his house and to hear words of thee. "'Then called he them in, and he lodged them. "'And on the morrow, Peter went away with them "'and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.'" So he's like, I'm taking him in, he takes them in, which they weren't supposed to be dealing, spending the night with the Gentiles over the same roof, but he's learning, right? He's had this vision of the sheep, what God has called, comma, don't you call, God's perfect timing. So ding-dong, there they are, here he comes in. And so now they head off. Verse 24, on the morrow, after they entered into Caesarea, and Cornelius waited on them, and he called together his kinsmen and near friends. So Cornelius is like, man, God has sent me an angel. He's told me someone's gonna give me the answers. He calls everybody around, get over to my house. We're gonna have an answer from God. The messenger's gonna explain things for us. And so they went, they went. And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter took him up saying, stand up, I'm also am a man. He's like, I'm just one following orders too. Go ahead and stand up and I'll give you the answer. Verse 27, as he talked with him, he went in and he found many that were come together. This guy has influence. Verse 28, and he said unto them, you know how that is unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or for some, or come into one of another nation. But God has showed me that I should not call anything common or unclean. Peter's changing. God has worked on his heart here, and he is showing him the way of the future. Verse 29, therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as I was sent for, and I asked therefore for what intent you have sent me. And Cornelius said, four days ago I was fasting until this hour. In the ninth hour I prayed in mine house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms and thy remembrance in the sight of God. Well, send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose name is Peter. He is lodged in the house of one, the Simon, the tanner, by the seaside, who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee. And immediately therefore I sent to thee, and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here, present before the Lord, to hear things that are commanded thee of God. Tell us God's word, give it to us. Verse 34. Then Peter opened his mouth, and he said of a truth, Perceive that God is no respecter of persons. It's made sense to him. Verse 35. But in every nation he might feareth him, and worketh righteousness is accepted with God. The work which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word, I say, ye know, which was made 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 the power he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all these things which did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, which 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, which 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 prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. It was in Jesus' name, if you repent, your sins shall be forgiven. He is offering it to the Gentiles here. Verse 44, while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word. I love that, it's subtle, but Peter is preaching, repent on the name of Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And as they sit in there, that congregation began to say, I believe, I repent, Jesus Christ save me. And the Holy Spirit comes upon them and fills them. I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it now. Verse 45, and they have the circumcision, that means the Jews which believed were astonished as many as came with Peter because of that Gentiles were poured out of 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 receive the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. And they prayed with him to tarry certain days. So he's like, they believe the Spirit is upon them. They want to be identified with Jesus Christ. Let's baptize them into the fellowship. And so they believe and they trust him and they are saved. And so wow, I think it's, Paul is called to be the disciple to the, or the apostle to the Gentiles. but I think it had to be Peter for the continuation and the verification that yes, this is true. That he sees the Holy Spirit come upon them. He has certain witnesses with him. Gentiles can be saved because it changes this from here on forward. This is where it goes outward, away from Jerusalem. And so, I think it's pretty cool. I think it's pretty cool to present the gospel that a man's out there knocking, seeking. He says, I'll send someone to tell you the name of Jesus. And the minute they hear it, they're all so ripe for the things that they had been doing that now we know who it is. And they repent and trust in him. And then the Holy Spirit's instantly indwelling them while they're doing it. the name of Jesus Christ, men shall be saved. Any other name can men be saved? No. There's one name that's saved, the name Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah, Jesus Christ, our Messiah, the one who's died and buried and rose again for us. Appreciate you