Good morning. Let's begin with prayer this morning. Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning, and there is no better place we could be. You are our great and sovereign Lord, and we confess that we are easily distracted, that we are unworthy to be called your saints, but I thank you that you have granted us salvation, eternal life, and that you are continually sanctifying us. Thank you for your grace and your mercy on this nation this past week. Lord, we are undeserving of your goodness. I pray that you would meet with us here this morning. I pray that we would feel your presence, that the Spirit of God would move among us, that we would be fed, and challenged, and convicted. In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, Nick has finished his lesson, his study on Romans 1 through 8. That was really what he wanted to focus on for the last two years. He wanted to stop at after the end of Romans 8. So Nick will be taking the next two months off to prepare for his next unit of study. I believe he's doing the Genesis flood. I will be teaching in the month of November and Dennis will be teaching on the Advent starting next month. So we are in... I've been teaching the teens in the book of Acts and what I'm just going to do is just continue my studies in Acts. We are in Acts chapter 10 today. We're going to consider all of chapter 10. And there, hopefully everyone has a handout or a handout to share. We'll be in Acts chapter 10. Let's begin with Acts chapter 10, verses 1 through 8. In context, Acts chapter 9, tells us about the conversion of a Pharisee named Saul, who was the greatest persecutor of the Christian church up to that point. As a matter of fact, as we know, he was on his way to carry out orders to arrest Christians in Damascus and to bring them back to Jerusalem to stand trial and probably execution. The Lord appeared to Saul on that road and blinded him and immediately he turned to the Lord. This was a sovereign act of the Lord in bringing salvation to Saul. Immediately Saul was equipped to preach. It's a miracle. Saul, of course, Saul was a Pharisee. He had trained under Gamaliel. He knew what the scripture said. But other than that, he had no training in the way of Christ. Whereas the apostles, the other apostles, had served with Jesus for a few years. Saul was immediately equipped to preach the gospel. And he did that in the synagogues. He had threats on his life. He was lowered down. In one town he was lowered down in a basket over the wall. And he went to Jerusalem and again escaped death. Then we read about Peter who healed a man named Aeneas. Aeneas had been a paralytic for a number of years. And Peter healed him. When it was found out that Peter had healed Aeneas, There was a woman named Dorcas in Joppa, in a neighboring town, and she had passed away. She was very gentle and caring and compassionate, and she made gifts for the widows, and she passed away. And when it was found out that what Peter had done, instead of burying Dorcas, took her to an upper room, and laid her there. They sent word for Peter, and Peter came, and he raised Dorcas, or Tabitha, as another name, raised her up to life. And we read in verse 42 of chapter 9 that many believed in the Lord. So where we find Peter is he's staying in Joppa at the home of a man named Simon who is a tanner. Tanners were considered unclean because they dealt with dead carcasses. They worked with leather. They made leather for sandals and straps and saddles and all the things that they would use in the ancient Near East. Simon was considered unclean And so, right off the bat here, we see that the Lord is starting to change Peter's mind about ritual cleanness and uncleanness. He's not completely there yet. He's got a long way to go. And really, throughout his whole life, Peter struggled with this. But we pick up here in chapter 10, and we'll start with verses one through eight. At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort. A devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About 3 p.m. he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, Cornelius. And he stared at him in terror and said, what is it Lord? And he said to him, your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner whose house is by the sea. When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him. And having related everything to him, he sent them to Joppa. Inter Cornelius, a Gentile, a Roman centurion. This is the first mention of Cornelius, and he's only mentioned in chapter 10. Who was he? He was a Roman centurion, which means he had command of approximately 100 men. There's where we get that word century. and he was of a specific cohort of soldiers. As a Roman centurion, Cornelius would have had considerable social status and considerable wealth. He was a Gentile. He was not a Jew. However, we read that he was a Gentile who worshipped God. We read that he feared God with all his household. So not only was Cornelius himself a God-fearing Gentile, but his whole household worshipped God. They worshipped God according to what they knew, which was the God of the prophets and the writers of the Old Testament, which was the God that we serve, of course. In other words, he knew nothing of Jesus. We also know that because it says that he was a God-fearing Gentile, that he was uncircumcised. So there was only a certain, he had certain access, but not complete access to the rites of Jewish worship. Some other things about Cornelius. He was generous. He was devout, he feared God, and he gave alms generously to the people. This is unusual. or a Gentile, to be generous. Generosity is a characteristic of Judeo-Christianity. Now, people in other nations can do generous things, but back in this day and age, you had to fend for yourself. If you had no family to take care of you, you were a slave or you were a beggar. If you had no income, you pretty much died. But we read about this man named Cornelius. So not only was this unusual for a Gentile, but he was a soldier. He was battle-hardened. The Roman Empire was the empire of the world. This was the world power. And Roman centurions would have been the most trained, the most hardened. They would have been like our Navy SEALs. They had seen a lot. They were willing to kill at any time and any place and they were trained to do so in a variety of ways. They had seen torture. Cornelius, no doubt, had killed people before in war. But he was generous. He was a generous Gentile soldier. Something else about Cornelius in verse two at the end, he prayed continually to God. Not only was Cornelius generous, but he prayed often and continually to God. Do you understand how difficult this would have been for Cornelius to be a Christian in the army of the Romans? The Romans believed that Caesar was God. He was a type of God and you had to worship him and honor him as God. Not only that, but the Roman soldiers and Romans in general had many other gods. They had household gods. They had idols. And they would pray to the gods before they went to war. Cornelius did none of this. And I think it really says a lot about the character of Cornelius that perhaps the Romans were willing to overlook the fact that he did not pray to these gods because maybe he was a really good soldier. Maybe he was really good at leading men. And I think that we could assume that, that God blessed Cornelius with extraordinary leadership skills, extraordinary Skill in battle. Extraordinary character that the Romans were willing to overlook the fact that Cornelius did not bow to these household gods and he did not submit to Caesar as a god because of how skilled Cornelius was in leading men and in battle strategy and in his character. Other Roman soldiers may have been, or probably, men of poor character qualities that were willing to do anything to gain an advantage even over their own fellow soldiers for prominence and for position. Cornelius may have been and probably was most likely very different. And the Lord blessed Cornelius for the sacrifice that he made. We've all made sacrifices for the Lord in our jobs We've stood our ground in various ways. No, we are not going to do this. This is against what we believe, and I'm willing to lose my job for this. We've all done that in some form or fashion. Cornelius trusted the Lord, and the Lord blessed him. The text leads us to believe that he was praying when he received this vision. It doesn't say specifically, But it does say at 3 p.m. he saw a vision. So what did he see? He saw an angel of God in a vision from God. What was the response of Cornelius? Verse 4, it terrified him. It terrified him. Let's go back to the man Cornelius. The battle-hardened Roman centurion. The leader of men. He's seen executions. He has no doubt killed people himself, many. He has perhaps attended the games where slaughtering took place. This is a man who probably was not very fearful in his life, but yet what he saw in this vision from God produced terror. Our text says terror. He was terrified. And he asks, what is it, Lord? He automatically recognizes that what he is seeing here is from God. Now, He heard a voice. He saw an angel. What happened next? The angel gave him assurance. God had heard his prayers. Maybe Cornelius had been praying. We don't know what Cornelius's prayers consisted of. Probably much of what our prayers consist of. Health, providence. As a soldier, he probably would have prayed for protection. Perhaps Cornelius also saw the increasing wickedness around him as we see increasing wickedness around us. And perhaps he prayed that the Lord would turn hearts to him. And maybe he had prayed for a long time without and specific answers to his prayers that he thought of. But the angel assures him that God has heard his prayers. That gives us confidence that we can pray for years and years and years without much movement in those requests. But be assured, brethren, that God hears our prayers. This should give us confidence to keep praying. You know that one that you pray for all the time continually rejects the word. Keep praying for that person until the day that you die or the day that they die. You know those requests you have for God's providence. It doesn't seem like God's moving in that direction. Keep praying for that request. God does hear our prayers. He doesn't always answer in the way that we ask for at times. God listens to the prayers of his people. Caesar is not a god. Caesar did not listen to his subjects. A Roman citizen couldn't just go to Caesar and ask Caesar for this and that. They could appeal to Caesar in certain cases, as Paul did. But every day, every morning, go to Caesar and ask Caesar for this and that? Those false gods that the Romans prayed for, prayed to, they had no power. The angel assured him that God had heard his prayers. But not only that, he said also your alms. We read that he gave alms to the people. The angel said, those alms that you're giving to the people, you're really giving those as a tithe to God. Those alms that you're giving to the people, the poor in your community at Caesarea, You're doing that for God. God recognizes that. Now he gives Cornelius a command. There's a man named Peter living in Joppa. Send for him. Bring him to you. There's no rhyme or reason. There's a man named Peter. You need to go send for him. Bring him to you. So, Something else very interesting about this text, that after the vision, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from those that were with him. So he had some household servants. He also had a brother in Christ, or a God-fearing, not a brother in Christ yet, but a God-fearing soldier. Maybe he led this man to the Lord. Maybe he showed this man that the God of the Jews is the way to salvation. This was his trusted brother. Not only in battle, there's a brotherhood in battle, but there's more of a brotherhood in faith. And here's this man that he trusted to go get Peter. bring him to him. Now we turn to Peter. Before we turn to Peter, any comments about this particular part of the text? Right. That's right. So we turn to Peter. Peter also experiences a vision, verses 9 through 16. The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about noon to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat. But while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice came to him a second time, What God has made clean, do not call common. This happened three times. And the thing was taken up at once to heaven. Peter, where was he? He went up at noon to pray. Noon, or the sixth hour as the text says, it's 12 o'clock, was not one of the times for prayer. But as was the practice of the disciples to continually be in prayer, Peter went up on this flat rooftop. This isn't like our rooftop, which is at an incline. This is a flat, the rooftops back then were flat, and they were used sometimes to store things, to do different things on, and Peter would go up there to pray. And as he prayed, he became hungry, and those in the house were preparing the food, and he fell into, we read a trance, or he had a vision. This isn't, when we see that word trance in our day and age, we typically think of maybe something drug-induced, something demonic. This wasn't that type of thing. This was more of a, It was controlled by God. He wasn't under the influence of any type of substance. It was a spiritual influence of God that gave him this vision. Now what did he see? The text tells us that he saw something like a great sheet descending, and in it were all kinds of animals. That word for sheet could mean, basically it's a linen cloth. So it could be like a bed sheet. It could also be like the sail of a ship. But it's something like a square fabric, large square fabric. It's an interesting illustration. I don't know if I would have these things in a bed sheet. But it's a square, but the Lord did it. It's a square fabric and in it were animals of all kinds. When we read reptiles and birds and land animals, every animal that you can think of, they were in this sheet. And there were both clean and unclean animals in the sheet. We know in the Old Testament that God designated certain animals as clean and certain animals as unclean, and you can read all about that in the book of Leviticus. We don't know why God designated certain animals to be clean and certain animals to be unclean. There is no scientific reason that we can come up with that God designated certain animals clean and certain animals unclean. We do know, however, that God calls his people to be set apart. God calls his people to be different. God calls his people to be specific. to be known by things that they do and things that they don't do. So by not eating certain animals, the Jews were set apart from the Gentiles around them. God told them, don't eat of these animals. To eat of those animals would be a sin because God said not to do it. It would be sheer and utter disobedience. And John MacArthur writes, to keep the Israelites separate from their idolatrous neighbors, God set specific dietary restrictions regarding the consumption of such animals. Something also interesting is at the end of verse 16, we read that this happened three times. We know that we have an objection from Peter in verse 14, by no means I've never eaten anything unclean or common. Maybe Peter rejected or made an objection three times. No, I've never done this. Lord, why are you asking me to do this? I've never done this. You know this is against the Levitical, the laws of the Old Testament. I've never done this. What did he hear? A voice. presumably a voice of God, tells him, rise, kill, and eat. It could also be translated, rise, sacrifice, and eat. Peter, of course, objected. He didn't want to violate the Old Testament law, but the voice gave Peter some assurance. Just as the voice, the angel of the Lord gave Cornelius assurance that his prayers were heard, the voice also, there's a lot of similarities here, and the author of Acts, Luke, does this often throughout his historical narrative. Acts is a historical book. Luke gives a lot of parallels. Whereas one text will say something, the next text will also do the same parallel. And the voice assured him that God has repealed the laws against ritual uncleanness. John MacArthur said, with the coming of the new covenant and the calling of the church, God ended the dietary restrictions. But there's more to the story than just clean and unclean animals. What you saw, of course, were animals. It wasn't the animals, per se, that was the point of this story. The animals were and are an illustration of humanity. God makes no distinctions on the basis of ethnicity when it comes to his kingdom, when it comes to salvation. We read that in verse 28 later on. He said, Peter tells those gathered, you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. All people spiritually are unclean. We are all sinners, are we not? We are all spiritually unclean and unworthy to be touched by the hand of God. But yet God does, and he makes his elect clean through the saving work of Christ. However, when it comes to how we look, when it comes to the social distinctions that we often make, our gender, the way we look, the color of our skin, the money that we make, the employment that we have, the geographic location in which we live. God makes no distinction on those things. Those are all man-made distinctions. We are all of the human race. We need to appreciate the differences that God has made us. But we all have two ears. We all have a mouth. We all have a nose. We all look the same. We just have tiny differences. As sinful human beings, we choose to highlight those things. not going to associate with this person because of this or that. Or this person is lesser of a human because of this or that. We know the left does this a lot, but we also have to be very careful because it's in our hearts. We make these distinctions a lot and we have to be very, very careful. We need to be in prayer about these things because we're sinful. We're still sinful. We still sin. And so we're still prone to judgments on these matters. The gospel is for all. And I'd like to go real quick to Romans 10. Paul writes this later on. Romans 10, 11 through 13. Romans 10, 11 through 13. For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. There is no distinction. between Jew and Greek, that text is specifically talking about ethnicity. No matter what ethnicity you are, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And Matthew Henry writes, this great vessel, he's talking about the sheet, might signify the Christian church and it reminds us what a varied company are collected into the church of God and secured by the covenant of grace as this vessel was knit together. We are varied when it comes to the way we look, the skills that we have, the attributes we've been created. In the kingdom of God and even currently with him are residing a variety of different ethnicities. I'm reminded of that old song recorded in 1936, The Great Speckled Bird, by Roy Acuff. About a great speckled bird, and really the lyrics are based on Jeremiah 12.9. It says, this great speckled bird is the church of God, and it's hated by those around it. John MacArthur says, God made unity possible in the church through the comprehensive sacrificial death of Christ. Caesar tried to bring unity, but he brought unity through secular power and compulsion, submit to him or die. Caesar tried to be fair, he allowed the Jews to worship God, he didn't allow any other nation to do that. If you were conquered by the Romans, you had to submit to Caesar as God and worship no one else. You could worship the Roman gods. Caesar was God, but God was gracious. Even during that time, Caesar allowed the Jews to continue worshiping at the temple as a show of generosity to the Jewish people. He thought that by allowing them to do this, he could have some sort of favor with them. And this is why the Pharisees and the Sadducees did not want to disturb this so-called unity that they had with the Romans. This is why they wanted Jesus killed, because they thought he was going to have an uprising to overthrow the peace that they thought they were experiencing. And there were men like the zealots, which was essentially a terrorist group, that would do things to poke at the empire. They would assassinate centurions and Roman soldiers and they would cause sinful acts of terror. They were what we would consider a far alt-right group. But the Pharisees and Sadducees thought, you know, we've really got a good thing going. We really need to look at the nations around us. And Caesar's kind of doing us a favor here. We don't want to disrupt this peace. And here's this Jesus saying he's going to overthrow this temple. He's going to destroy this temple. Well, the Romans are going to... He's claiming to be a king of the Jews. And Caesar might hear about this and say, you know what, you're not gonna have these rights anymore and we're just gonna destroy you all. We gotta get rid of this Jesus. This is why he was so expedient that they did that. But Caesar couldn't give unity. It was Christ and His death that brings people together. Just look at us around here. We have different ethnicities in this room. We have different social classes in this room. Of course, we have different genders and biological sex in this room. The Lord has done this. The Lord has brought us all together. We may never be friends if we weren't believers. You're not going to find a more varied group of people in the world than when you enter a church building that preaches the gospel. You're not going to find this anywhere else, but you find it in the Church of God. God changed Peter's heart and attitude toward the Gentiles. He was already working on him. He was already staying with Simon the Tanner. Peter came to understand this liberating principle, but he practiced it with hypocrisy. And Paul scolds Peter. in Galatians 2. Galatians 2, 11 through 14, the word here for Peter is Cephas, that was another name for him. Peter writes to the Galatians, when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with them, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, if you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" Paul says, Peter, when he was with the Gentiles, treated them like individuals and ate with them and stayed with them. But then when some Jews came, he withdrew. He was a hypocrite. He had the fear of man. What are these Jews gonna say? God was still working on Peter's heart. But let's turn back to this text. We have about 10 minutes left, and I'd like to read the rest of the text, verses 17 through 48 of Acts chapter 10. Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry of Simon's house, stood at the gate, and called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them. And Peter went down to the men and said, I am the one you were looking for. What is the reason for your coming? And they said, Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say. So he invited them in to be his guests. Wow. He's inviting Gentiles into his home. We'll talk more about that. The next day he rose and went away with them and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, now he's entering the home of a Gentile. Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, Stand up! I too am a man. And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 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. But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. So when I went was sent for, I came without objection. I asked then, why you sent for me? And Cornelius said, four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at 3 p.m. And, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms have been remembered before God. Send, therefore, to Joppa, and ask for Simon, who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon a tanner by the sea. So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now, therefore, we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord." I want to stop there. you may not find a more willing audience for the gospel than what we find here. Of course, they were all assembled by the Lord himself. Could you imagine being called by God to go to a certain place? You have no idea what you're gonna find there. You go there, and there's a big group of people there gathering, and they say, we've come to hear you tell us about the Lord. That's incredible. That's a pastor's Dream! Let's keep reading. So Peter opened his mouth and said, Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that He sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all, you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are all witnesses We are witnesses of all that he did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people, but to us, who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him, all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word, and the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain with them for some days. With a few minutes left, Peter went to the home of this Gentile Cornelius. And probably for the first time in his life, he entered the home of a Gentile. God had changed his heart and his attitude and his behavior toward the Gentiles. And the stage was set for him. There was a home full of friends and family of Cornelius. He had already gathered these people and they were just waiting for Peter to arrive. And Cornelius rehearsed what had happened to him with the vision, and said, now we're waiting for you to hear what you have to say. So, Peter preached the gospel. He preached, he told them about Christ. What was the result? It was real revival. This wasn't a planned revival. Peter didn't post a sign on the door and say, hey, we're going to have revival meetings at six o'clock every night this week. This wasn't something that he had planned. But he was prepared and he was ready. And the Lord, through the Spirit, gave him the words to say. And real and lasting revival was produced. There are four prerequisites for real revival. Excuse me, five. Five prerequisites for real revival. First, you have to have a spirit-filled and led preacher. He's not playing on emotions. He's filled with the spirit. And he's led by the spirit. And he preaches what the spirit leads him to preach. Of course he's prepared. It's not just something that he comes up and just starts talking. He has a prepared and planned message, but yet the Spirit moves and guides his thoughts and his words. This is what we need to pray for every Sunday for Dennis as he preaches. We know that Dennis prepares and plans as any preacher does. but we need to pray that the Spirit would move and guide his words and his thoughts, and would guide and move our own hearts as well. Secondly, he preached the word of God. He didn't tell them cute little stories. This wasn't a comedy show or entertainment. He preached to them the word of God. And that's what we should see in true revival, the preaching of the Word of God. Again, not playing on people's emotions, not playing the same hymn over and over and over and over and over and over again until everybody in the whole congregation comes forward. He just preaches the Word of God and the Spirit moves in words. Third, there's an emphasis on the mercy and grace of Christ alone. Essentially, a pastor says, this is what Christ has done, take it or leave it. Christ is the compelling one, not the speaker. Fourth, there's a recognition of hopelessness. We have to call people to their hopeless situation. We have to call people to recognize and be reminded that they are hopeless, as we all are, apart from Christ, and we're destined for hell unless we trust in Christ. There is no salvation apart from Christ. And fifth, really most important, is the sovereign work of God. It's God that's sovereign over these things. It's God that plans and determines who will believe and who will have faith and who will reject. As teachers of the word and as preachers of the word, our role and responsibility is to preach the word of God. We pray for the spirit to move. But God sovereignly works in the hearts of His elect to produce true revival. This is what was experienced here at this home in Caesarea. True revival. The Holy Spirit fell on the hearers. He came with visible and unmistakable signs. They began speaking in tongues. Not gibberish. They weren't barking like dogs or rolling around on the floor. They were speaking a language unlike their own. He came as a confirmation of the veracity of Peter's message. This is how we know that Peter's message was true, is because the Holy Spirit was working and moving through visible and unmistakable signs. And third, he came spontaneously in response to their faith in Jesus. They didn't get the Holy Spirit and then they believed. They were believing as Peter was preaching. They hung on every word that he said. And the Spirit came as a response of their faith. And then finally, they were baptized. What an incredible work we read here. And I want to close with this quote from Matthew Henry, which applies to all of us. Surely we sinners of the Gentiles should read this chapter with peculiar gratitude and admiring praise. The Lord has chosen to save not just Jews but Gentiles as well. We are the recipients of his divine grace and we should be thankful and joyful. These things are praiseworthy. Any closing comments or questions? All right, let's close with prayer. Heavenly Father, I do thank you that you have chosen to bestow the Spirit of God upon me. Though I'm a sinner and unworthy of any grace, that's what grace is. given to those who are unworthy. Lord, I thank you for that blessing. Thank you for those gathered here whom you have chosen to save. If there are any in this room who don't know you, Lord, bring them to you. And this morning as we hear the word, maybe we respond in faith, May the Spirit convict and challenge. May the Spirit move in the words of Dennis. May we be offered up as a pleasing sacrifice to you. In Jesus' name.