We are excited to be here this morning to celebrate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I must tell you that I am excited! I thank you all for the opportunity and the privilege to greet you and at least share my convictions of the Gospel and prayerfully, we will grow together. Amen.

Now, I must say before I begin, I thought that Pastor Ritch was my friend. He assigned me perhaps one of the more difficult passages in Acts, during one of the most difficult times in our country. Amen. So yeah, I can’t wait to talk to him. (Laughter!) But our passage comes from Acts chapter 10. It’s actually verses 1-34. I’m not going to read all of it, but I do want to exposit from it and see what the Lord has for us today. Is that alright? I will read one verse. Let’s read verse 34. I’ll read verse 34 of Acts 10. And remember, my friend assigned me this text, okay? (Laughter!) Amen.

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,

Amen!

I really want to do more and be more in the work of God. I really want to be everything He expects of me, everything He has designed me to be. No, I’m not talking about being famous. I’m not even looking for prestige. I just want to make God happy. That is one of the newer goals in my life. It’s to make God happy, to please God. I want God to say about me, and I’m not saying this arrogantly. It may come across that way. But I want Him to say about me what He said to Jesus as Jesus was being baptized: “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.” I really want that. I really want to make God happy.

There are a few things I’ve learned about this yearning that I have, this yearning that I desire. There are a few things. One is that I learned that I must be willing to leave my comfort zone. I discovered that I cannot move without subjecting myself to the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, I learned that I must always give God the glory. This passage today in Acts 10 powerfully exemplifies how all of us can operate under the authority of the Holy Spirit. It shows how all of us can operate under its auspices and please God. I discovered that there are about three ways that we could subject to the Holy Spirit’s authority in our own lives to do God’s will and to please God. The first of which I have discovered is that

1. We Must Obey the Commands of the Holy Spirit.

Our text today gives us two guys, Cornelius and Peter. These men, both Cornelius and Peter loved God. They were both men of prayer. They both desired to please God. But they were different in a few ways, though. Cornelius is a Roman citizen. Not only is he a Roman citizen, but he is a centurion, meaning that he’s a leader of a regiment in the Roman army. He is a devout man, of course. The text tells us that in the first eight verses of Acts 10. You discover his biography is there. He was a great guy. He’s a Roman citizen in a Roman army. He loves God. He fears God. He wants to know more about God. An angel approaches him and tells him to send for Peter to preach the Gospel. Peter however, is a Jewish disciple. He’s a Jewish guy. He’s not Roman. He’s a Jewish guy. He’s a disciple of Christ. He’s a preacher. He loves God. He wants to do God’s will. He preaches the Gospel every chance and every opportunity he gets.

However, you have to understand something about Roman and Jewish relationships during the ancient of days. The Jewish nation was oppressed by the Roman Empire. So they didn’t get along so well. But there is even something else underlying, some other differences that are there. The Jewish nation, those Hebrews didn’t associate with anybody who was not a Jew. I came here today to help us to understand that they were both commanded to do something more for the kingdom. They are two different guys who loved God, who are on two different sides—excuse the expression—of the tracks. They lived on two different sides of the community. As a matter of fact, Peter was in Joppa and Cornelius is in Caesarea. This is about 30 miles apart.

The Holy Spirit addresses both of these guys. They are two different guys! Did I say different guys? (Laughter!) They were from different backgrounds and were approached by the same Holy Spirit, to meet up. I like to say, and as a matter of fact, I stole this from my daddy. I like to say they were on a rendezvous to destiny. They were both socially and racially connected to their communities. Cornelius and Peter were both chosen though, to bridge relationships. They didn’t know it, but God did. God does know this. What I discovered is that God has a knack for using people from different places in life to do great things together.

Now, what if Cornelius had just ignored God? What if Peter had continued to resist what God said? Think of the lives that would have been affected adversely had either of these men failed to obey the Holy Spirit. They are both commanded. Cornelius is commanded

5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter.

Peter is commanded to eat some food that he said, “Hey, no! I can’t do that.” They’re both under command of the Holy Spirit to meet up so that the kingdom of God can be expanded. We must, in the same way, obey the commands of the Holy Spirit. When I served in the military, I learned the importance of obedience. We were taught that our willingness to follow commands not only would save our lives, but could also save the lives of our fellow soldiers. That really stuck with me. I believe it is sort of the same thing with the kingdom of God. When we obey the commands of the Holy Spirit we are empowered to do more for the kingdom. I ask you to go back and read this text. You will discover that there is this great biography of Cornelius. He was

2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.

He was just a great guy. He loved everybody. He loved the Lord. He wanted his whole household to love God. I mean, he was a great guy. I want to remind us today that we may be doing all the right things where we are in life, but ask ourselves who is God calling us to connect with? Who is God calling you to connect with so that you can do more for His kingdom? I knew you weren’t going to like that one, so let me move to the second point. Another thing we discover in this particular text is that

2. We Must Heed the Convictions of the Holy Spirit.

We discover, as a matter of fact, that Peter was like many of us. He really loved God and desires God to be pleased. He wanted God to be excited and happy about him doing His will. He wants to make God happy. But there was an area in Peter’s life that he failed to address appropriately. Peter had some social and religious biases. As a matter of fact, let me read that.

13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”

Peter went into this trance, the Scripture says, and he has this vision of all sorts of foods. Of course you understand that in the Jewish context, they didn’t eat everything. They couldn’t eat everything. They couldn’t eat like some of us eat. They wouldn’t eat pig feet and catfish. They wouldn’t. They had a different diet. Peter said, “No, no, no, no. Because of who I am as a Jew, I don’t subscribe to that.” The Scripture says that this has gone on three times. Peter says three times, “No, I don’t do that. I don’t eat anything that’s unclean.” He rejected the food in the vision and he bound himself to what was known as the Jewish law. He refused to associate himself with anyone who was not of the Jewish nation. The voice charges Peter, though.

15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”

I can just see Peter saying, “Whoa! What?! All this time, I’ve been living like this. You mean God has flipped the script on me?” Peter realized that God was calling him to change his heart regarding other people. He wanted Peter to come out of his comfort zone. When he arrives to Cornelius’ house to preach the Gospel, Peter says

28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation,

Here’s the part that really gets me. Peter said

but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

Peter has been converted, y’all! Here is this guy who is preaching the Gospel, who is doing God’s will, who has a heart for God, who loves God. There’s no doubt that Peter loves God. There’s no doubt that Peter wants to do God’s will. There’s no doubt at all. Peter’s not a bad guy. He just had some issues he had to fix. God was making a point. As a matter of fact, pretty much in the Jewish context during those particular times, there were those who were in the ancient church, this new church, this Christian church, who were still believing that if you’re going to be a Christian, you’re going to have to do some things. They were believing that you had to do a little more than believe in Jesus. They said stuff like, “Well, you’re going to have to get circumcised. You’re going to have to change your diet.” God wanted to make certain they understood, “No, you guys don’t get it.” These guys were making an issue over a little tissue. God wanted them to do more and do it differently. He wanted Peter to get his heart and his mind away from his social bias and his religious bias and be able to see that all are able to be a part of the Christian culture. But more importantly, have kingdom citizenship.

When I was growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana, I was in high school. This was in the mid-80’s. During this time, I went to my dad on one occasion and I said to my dad, “Dad, segregation still exists.” My dad said, “What? What are you talking about?” I said, “At school, every day there is a white side and there is a black side in the cafeteria.” This is the mid-80’s, y’all. “As a matter of fact, dad, there is a white line and a black line.” My dad looked at me and said, “Nope! That’s not segregation, son.” He said, “That’s voluntary separation. So here’s what you need to do, son. When you go to school tomorrow, instead of you sitting on that black side, go on over there on that white side and sit over there. Instead of you getting your lunch in the black line, get in the white line.” Have you ever seen one of those western movies where the bad guy walks in and all the music stops and everybody looks at him? (Laughter!) I just wanted you to know what happened when I decided to step out of my comfort zone.

Truth be told, many of us have been there. We’ve subjected ourselves to social norms. We’ve subjected ourselves to social biases. We’ve been in areas that were more comfortable for us. We were unwilling to extend ourselves beyond what was comfortable. But I want to tell you God wants a people who are willing to go beyond their comfort and engage for Him so that He gets glory. What is God convicting you about? It doesn’t have to be anything racial or whatever the case may be. But there must be something in your life that God is calling you. God was calling Peter to go against what was a social norm and come out of that comfort zone. You may be working in a ministry. You may be the best in your ministry. You may be a super Christian. But what social biases, what personal biases do you have that God wants you to overcome? What does God want us to change? Where does God want us to do some tweaking? What does God want us to improve in our lives? We must adhere to the convictions of the Holy Spirit. If we’re going to be subject, if we’re going to do what God wants us to do, if we’re going to be what God wants us to be, if we’re going to make God happy, obey His Spirit and heed to the convictions of His Spirit. Don’t ignore the convictions!

That’s what Peter tried to do. The text says three times it happened to him. He kept saying, “No, I don’t do that.” Perhaps you were like me at one point in my life, and maybe even now. There are moments when the Holy Spirit is convicting and then we may ask, “Well, Lord, are you sure? Maybe this is just in my mind.” No, baby! God is talking to you. What is it? Where is it? I’m really trying to move from here, but I feel like someone needs to hear that God’s conviction must be heeded to if we’re going to be what He desires, if we’re going to be where He wants us. If we’re going to live how He desires us to live, we must heed to His convictions. How is God convicting you now in your life? How is God convicting you now in your marriage? How is God convicting you in your relationships with others? How is God convicting you now? Here’s the last thing. I know y’all are glad now, right?

3. We Must Adhere to the Charge of the Holy Spirit.

Peter is charged to preach the Gospel to all. Peter is charged to preach to the Gentile and to the Jewish. God desires that all receive His Gospel. So what’s that charge? It’s to preach. It is to spread the Gospel. It is so that everyone would know who Jesus is. I submit to you today that we have that same charge, that same edict. If you can’t do anything else, you can definitely spread the Gospel. You may not be the best singer. You may not be the best reader, the best preacher. But you can definitely spread the Gospel. That’s our charge. Do you see what the text says in verse 34?

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,

God wants Peter to come to the conclusion and understanding that the Gospel was not just for the Jewish people, but also for the Gentile nation. It’s for everybody! It’s not just for some, but for all! Our responsibility is not just to congregate on Sundays. Sundays is when we’re supposed to come and worship and fellowship and share testimonies and sing to the glory of God. But guess what, y’all? We aint done! When we leave from shouting and raising our hands and giving God glory, we have to put that glory into effect. We have to share the Gospel. That’s the charge. Do you want to be everything God wants you to be? Do you really want God to be happy? Share His Gospel. Tell people about Jesus and do it without any fear. There may be some uncomfortable moments. Peter was uncomfortable. But he was convicted enough to do it. Our text shows us that he opened his mouth and began to preach the Gospel. And do you know what happened? The whole house of Cornelius was saved and was baptized! They were dipped into order! I’m sorry. I went back home just then. (Laughter!)

Being a good Christian is not just how good you do in the eyes of people. I discovered something. On jobs, they have what is called a probationary period. Generally, on a job, when you get to a new job or what have you, they give you like ninety days. Do you know what I discovered? I discovered anybody can be good for ninety days. It don’t take much. It’s that ninety-first day. Isn’t that right? Let’s think about that. How are we operating now in our life on the ninety-first day? When people see us do they see a person who is living for Christ and spreading the news of Christ?

What is that Gospel? It’s that Jesus died for all of our sins. Not some of them, but all of them! Isn’t that good news? But He didn’t just stay dead. Now, in my context, there are those, especially the old mothers in our church who would say, “Pastor White, you aint preached until you put Him on the cross and took Him off the cross, until you put Him in the grave and raised Him up on the third day.” Look, y’all. I have to do it, y’all. Somebody might be watching. But that’s what the Gospel is. We’ve not preached until we’ve told people that Jesus died for their sins. Whatever the sin is, there is still hope because of the blood of Jesus Christ. He didn’t just stayed dead, y’all. He got up early! Can I do it like I do it at home? He got up early on the third day morning with all power in His hands! There we go! Amen. I got one Baptist in here. (Laughter!) But, all power in His hands. The Gospel continues even now. He walks with us. He talks with us. Every day of our life, we have the presence of Jesus in our lives. I’m trying to let this go, but I done got happy, now!

Look, y’all. I’m not a perfect person. I’ve done some stuff in my life that I’m ashamed of. I’ve said some things that I am ashamed of. I’ve been some places that I am ashamed of. But thanks be to God. I don’t do those things, say those things, act that way. Thanks be to God that I have a God who has forgiven me, who has paid a price for me. There may be someone here right now. You’ve been beating yourself up for your past transgressions. You’ve been hurting yourself. Stop hurting yourself! Stop holding yourself under this guilt. God has forgiven you. Give your life to Jesus. That’s the Gospel! He died for your sins. (Crowd clapping!) He died for your sins. Does that mean y’all want me to stop? (Laughter!) He died for your sins. I don’t know who you are, but I want to encourage you today that there is no sin that the blood of Jesus cannot cover. There is no pain that Christ cannot heal. I want to encourage you today that you right now, right now, have victory in Jesus. That’s the Gospel. That’s what we are charged to tell people. We are charged to let folks know that we serve a God who loved us so much that He doesn’t want us to go to hell, that He doesn’t want us to live in misery.