We're so thankful that you tuned in to Speaking the Gospel.
Minister Herbert Moore from the Church of Christ, Atlanta airport, 3300 Old Jonesboro
Road, Hapeville, Georgia, 30354.
We are "Speaking the Gospel" is the title of our program, because the Bible tells us
in First Peter chapter 4 verse number 11, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles
of God."
Let him speak as the very word of God.
And even given that, in Second Timothy 3 verse number 16, the Bible says that, "The Bible
is inspired by God."
God breathe His word in Second Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is given by the inspiration
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness.
That the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
And we're so thankful that you have tuned in and we hope, trust and pray as we, you
turn your Bibles to Acts chapter 10, that you will see what the Bible has to say on
the title, "Is Being Good, Good Enough?"
Is being good, good enough?
There's a lot of good people in the world.
And oft times even at funerals, they would say, "This person was a good person.
And we know they going to Heaven."
But I want you to know that as we look at God's Word; sometimes we can go on our own
feelings.
And we can't go on our own feelings, we must go on by the Word of God.
The Bible shows us that.
We serve the God of Heaven and not the god about feelings.
Here in Acts Chapter 10 we see a man that was very good.
Matter of fact as I read this area of scripture, he was probably better than most of us.
Notice how it reads in Acts chapter 10 verse number 1, "There was a certain man in Caesarea
called Cornelius, a centurion of the band call Italian band, a devout man, one that
feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God
always."
And then the Bible says in verse number 3, in Acts chapter 10 verse number 3, "He saw
in a vision evidently, in other words, clearly, about the ninth hour of the day."
About 3 P.M. of the day.
"An angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, what is it, Lord?
And he said unto him, thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God."
Now we have to note something here that we know that God hears the righteous cry.
He hears the person that is right with Him, according to James chapter 5 verse number
16 and 17, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
But at this point Cornelius in not a Christian.
And he of course is a good man because God held his prayers and all the good things he
did as a memorial and He remembered those things.
But at the same time he is not a Christian.
Notice the beauty of this story.
Cornelius was knocking on the door of righteousness.
There's so many people knocking on the door of righteousness.
They're good people; they have many good attributes; they were raised right; they were raised in
a home that according to Proverbs 22 verse number 6, we're to bring our children up in
the way that they should go, not that they want to go.
The way that they should go.
They will not depart from it.
I am sure he had a wonderful upbringing.
But a wonderful upbringing still will not save you.
You must go further, you must not just be a good person, but you must be a righteous
person.
And somewhere along the line once you learn better, you do better, you must switch the
gears from a good person to a righteous person.
And when you become a righteous person, the Bible says in First John chapter 1 verse number
7, "As we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Christ cleanses us from all our sin."
So Cornelius at this point is a good man; but he's not a righteous man.
And a righteous man of course, you must be righteous in order to enter into Heaven.
A righteous person, and we have mentioned in Acts chapter 2 in our lesson before this
lesson that they said, "Men and brethren what should we do?"
In Acts chapter 2 verse number 37 and following, "Peter tells them to repent and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ."
For what?
For the remission of sin, so your sins would be forgiven.
"Because all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
Romans 3:23.
"There none that are righteous, no, not one."
Romans chapter 3 verse number 10.
No one.
The only righteous person that has walked this earth, is Jesus, our Savior.
The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 4 verse number 14 through 15, "That He had no sin,
He was tempted in every point, yet without sin."
Oh, He was a righteous person.
It's one thing to be tempted, we all are tempted but oft times we give in, and when we do give
in, we have to go back to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
And the only way you can be cleanse by the blood of Jesus Christ is you going to have
initially obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You can be a good person, but good is not good enough.
The Bible says this man was so good, in verse number 2, "He was a devout man, and one that
feared God with all his house."
The Bible tells us in the book of Psalms, Psalms 111 verses 8 and following that, "The
fear of God is the beginning of wisdom."
This man feared God.
And I hope, trust and pray that you have that godly respect, that godly fear.
Because if you have that godly respect and godly fear, you will obey the gospel.
You have that godly respect, and godly fear, you will stay faithful.
Because you love the Lord.
You do not want to disappoint God.
You see the problem with sin, is when we sin, we don't just sin against ourselves and our
friends; but we sin also against God.
How do we know that?
We see the picture in Genesis chapter 6 and verse number 5 and following, when the imagination
of man's mind was evil continuously.
And what did God do?
God said, "It repented Him that He had made man."
But thank God for Noah, he found grace in the eyes of the Noah.
Grace in Noah.
Noah, one man, that's a model of the Old Testament and also the New.
Saved by one.
In the New Testament we are saved by one Jesus Christ.
In Romans chapter 5 verse number 1 and following, "While we were yet sinners," when we, we're
unlovable, were unlovable Christ died for us; "He died for the ungodly."
Oh how beautiful that is.
The Bible shows us that he was a devout man; one that feared God.
One that feared God.
Do you fear God?
Now that there was one of the attributes of Job, in Job chapter 1.
And Job was an upright man and he was one that fleed from evil; and he feared God, he
loved God.
Satan wanted to tell God you just put some stress on, you just put him through a few
situations and I show you he'll curse you to your face.
But, no Job didn't because Job sincerely loved God.
Those things that Job had been blessed with, Job sums it up in Job chapter 1 verse number
20 through 21, he said, "God giveth and God taketh away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord."
He was a devout man, the Centurion.
Oh, yes he was.
And God held his prayers up as a memorial.
I want you to notice verses 5 all the way down to verse number 7, verse number 8.
And the Bible says, "And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
who lodge with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what
thou ought to do."
You see God used earthen vessels.
He used earthen vessels in order to tell us what to do.
In Acts chapter 2 remember, "They asked Peter, what must we do to be saved?
He said repent, and be baptized every one of you."
See God did not, He does not use angels to tell us what to do; their messenger's but
He does not tell angels to tell us what to do; He uses earthen vessels to tell us what
to do.
That's why He uses me, He use you; God is an invisible God.
John chapter 4 verse number 24, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship
him in spirit and in truth."
So He used earthen beings and He uses us.
And oh how wonderful it is to be used by God.
The Bible says in verse number 6 in Acts chapter 10, "And he lodge with one Simon a tanner,
whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou ought to do."
And verse number 7, "And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called
two of his household servants and devout soldier, a devout soldier of them that waited on him
continuously; and when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa."
God has everything in motion.
God, the Lord has said in John chapter 10, "I have sheep not of this fold, of another
fold.
And this is exactly where we are now in Acts chapter 10.
It is the Gentiles now that's are going to come unto the gospel; it's those, that sheep,
that he's talking about.
Keep in mind that the church at this point was a Jewish church, from Acts chapter 2 verse
number 37 and following; because 3000 souls were saved and about 12 years passed by.
Because the gospel was to be to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
And now here is the Gentile world about to obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God does exactly what He says.
In Acts chapter 1 verse number 8, the gospel was to start in Jerusalem.
How do we know that then?
In Isaiah chapter 2 verse number 2 the Bible says, "It would start in Jerusalem, Zion is
where the gospel would start."
And that it did in A.D. 33.
The Bible says it was started in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 1 verse number 8, "And then
into Judea, Samaria, and then to uttermost part of the world."
And here in Acts chapter 8, it went to Samaria, and now unto uttermost parts of the world.
In Acts 10 as we see, the Gentile world, obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God is a wonderful God.
In this same passage, in this same chapter, I want you to notice what it says in verse
number 34, in Acts chapter 10.
The Bible says, "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is
no respecter of persons: but in every nation, verse number 35, he that feareth Him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."
See God is no respecter of persons, He loves all of us.
We're not saved by race but we're saved by grace.
Jesus did not die for our skin, but He did for our sin.
That's why we're precious in His sight.
No matter who we are we're precious in His sight.
We are so important that it's like the parable that is told when the one sheep gets lost
in Luke chapter 15, "The Lord leaves the 99 and looks for the one."
We're so important that the Bible says, "When one sinner repents, the angels in Heaven rejoice."
We're so important that the Bible says in Matthew chapter 10 verses 29 and following
that "God knows the hairs on our head, He knows how many hairs we have on our head."
Matter of fact He knows how many you left in your comb when you comb your hair.
That's how important you are.
We need to never forget that.
Often as I teach and preach, I often tell people, the first thing I tell them how important
you are to God, how much He loves you.
He loves you so much.
He loves each of us, separate and different.
"He has made us in His own image," Genesis chapter 1 verse number 26 and 27.
He loves us so much, He wants all of us to be saved.
But now no matter how good you are at this lesson, this is what this lesson is all about,
and keep in mind Cornelius was a good man, no matter how good you are, good is not good
enough.
We must cross over to righteousness.
And the only way we are going to do that is to be baptized in the name of the Father,
Son and the Holy Spirit.
Notice as we look, continue to read Acts chapter 10 verse number 9, the Bible says, "And the
morrow, the next day, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter
went up upon the housetop to pray about the about the sixth hour."
He's so good to pray, he is.
Praying about noontime the next day.
"And he became very hungry and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell
into a trace, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it
had been a great sheet knit at the four corners and let down to the earth: Wherein" in verse
number 12, look at verse number 12 in Acts chapter 10, "Wherein were all manner of four
footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things and fowls of the air.
And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean."
Back then the Jews were not to eat any thing that were common and unclean.
"And a voice spake unto him again the second time, what God hath cleansed, thou call not
common or unclean.
This was done thrice, three times: and the vessel was received up again into Heaven.
Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold,
the men which were sent from Cornelius had come enquiring at Simon's house, and stood
before the gate."
God had putting everything in motion; God is working it out.
You see God has a plan for all of us.
And that plan is for all men to be saved.
First Peter chapter 4, chapter 3 rather, the Bible says, "God is not slack concerning His
promises but is longsuffering to us ward.
Not willing that any should perish."
Did you hear that?
Not willing that any should perish.
God wishs that all men be saved.
First Timothy chapter 2 verses 1 through 5.
He doesn't wish that any should perish, but noticed that, that all should come to repentance.
That's why it is my job, and your job to tell people about the Lord.
It's my job, and your job, once we're saved to tell others.
To this point, Cornelius is a good man but he's not saved yet.
He's a good man but he's not righteous at this point.
Notice what the Bible says, "Now while Peter doubted in himself in the vision."
And noticed what the Bible says in verse number 18 in Acts chapter 10, "And called, and asked
whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there.
And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea.
And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends."
See Cornelius was concerned about those that were close to him.
Concerned, he was concerned about those that he loved, his loved ones.
We need to be concerned about our loved ones.
Because they may be good people but yet they must be saved by the grace of God, by being
baptized in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
But notice as we continue reading in Acts chapter 10 verse number 24, the Bible says
in verse number 25, "And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his
feet, and worshipped him.
But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man."
I myself also am a man.
Women noticed when I said earlier, I said God used earthen vessels.
We're all earthen vessels.
We're a fragile vessel, our vessels are fragile but we are what God use to spread His Word.
Peter wanted Cornelius to know that he was a man just like him.
This is important to know here, because in James chapter 5 verses number 16 and following,
remember we mentioned that God hears the righteous cry.
And then mentioned the point of Elijah was a man of like passion, an ordinary man and
God heard his prayer, and it did not rain for over 3 and half years.
And then he prayed again and it rained again.
And the Bible points out, James points out, and God wants us to know that, God use ordinary
people to do extraordinary things.
And here Peter wanted Cornelius to know in verse number 26, that he was just a man, he
was just an ordinary man, carrying the message of Jesus Christ.
Notice what the Bible says in verse number 27 in Acts chapter 10, "And as he talked with
him, he went in, and found many that were come together."
At this point Cornelius is saying that "we're here; we're here to hear the word of God."
Now that's how faith comes, "Faith comes by hearing", Romans 10:17, "and hearing by the
word of God."
Let's keep reading, let's keep reading, let's go to Acts chapter 10, Acts chapter 10 verse
number 42, in Acts 10 verse number 42.
Let's see what Cornelius had to do in order to become righteous.
Keep in mind now he is a good man, but he's not a righteous man.
And what the gospel does for all of us it takes us from being good, ordinary people
to extraordinary people that are righteous.
Even when we sin, yeah, even when we sin the Bible shows us that the Corinthians was still
called saint; in spite of what they were doing.
They had many problems in the Corinthian church.
But they continued to do the will of God.
And God called them saints.
Why?
Because once they repented they were right with Him again.
Because in Isaiah 59 verse 1 and 2, "Your sins have separated you from God."
And this is why Cornelius is not a member of the church at this point.
This is why Cornelius is not a righteous man at this point.
Because he has not connected to God through baptism.
He has not become a child of God.
Then some may say, "Well, a person's a child of God no matter what, because they are made
in His image."
When you are made in His image you are a human being, yes you are.
But you must be born again.
In John chapter 3 verse number 1 through 6, "Of the water and the spirit."
Must be born again in order to be a child of God.
In Galatian's chapter 3 verses 26 through 27, the Bible says, notice this now, we all
the children of God through what?
"Through faith in Christ Jesus."
As many of us have been, what?
"Baptized into Christ, have put on Christ."
Have been clothed in Christ.
And that's why one must be baptized.
And notice this, go back to Acts chapter 10 verse 42 through 48 and the lesson will be
yours.
The Bible says, "And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is
he which was ordained of God be the Judge of the quick and the dead."
Verse number 43, the Bible says, "To him give all the prophets' witness, that through His
name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sin."
Did you hear that?
Whosoever believe in Him shall receive remission of sin.
Now some preachers stop right there.
All you have to do is believe in Him.
Well, if you go to James chapter 2 verses 22 and following, the Bible says, "The devil
believes and trembles."
The devil believes but the devil does not do what God requires of him to do.
There's a lot of people that believe but you must go further than that.
Some say just accept Christ in your heart and pray the sinner's prayer.
We don't see that in the Bible!
Where you accept Christ in your heart and pray the sinner's prayer.
I want you to notice, we going to be closing as we read these next 4 verses.
Look at Acts chapter 10 verse number 44 all the way down to verse number 48.
"While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter,
because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Just like there was the day of Pentecost.
The gift of the Holy Ghost was poured out on the Jews, and then poured out upon the
Gentiles because they're sheep of another fold; and God has planned it this way.
Look at verse number 46, "For they heard them speak."
Did you get that?
Faith come by how?
By hearing; hearing by the word of God.
They heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.
Then answered Peter."
Here we go in verse number 47 and 48, "Can any man forbid water?"
That, noticed now, he says "water", cause you must be baptized in water.
In Acts chapter 8 verse number 37 and following, the Bible says, "Phillip and the eunuch, they
went, both went down in the water."
Baptism is a burial.
As we said in Romans chapter 6 verse number 3 and following, "That you were buried with
Him in baptism."
Notice what it goes on to say.
Bible says in verse number 47, "Can any man forbid water, that these shall not be baptized,
which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
And he commanded them."
See baptism is a commandment, we're commanded to be baptized.
"He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.
Then prayed they him to tarry certain days."
They were baptized in the name of the Lord.
Now the church becomes a church with Jew and Gentile.
Now the sheet that Jesus spoke about in John 10, of another fold is now in the one fold.
Glory hallelujah.
Remember there's one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.
Notice what happens in Acts chapter 11 verse number 26, the Bible says in Acts 11:26, "And
the disciples, the latter part, were called Christians first in Antioch."
They were called Christians.
They were not called Baptists; they were not called Methodists; they were not called Catholics;
they were not called Episcopalians; they were not called Muslims.
But Acts chapter 11 verse number 26, "They were first called Christians at Antioch."
Why?
Because now the whole group, the Jew and Gentile now are in the one fold of God.
And now the church is moving forward like never before.
And then as you see the church in the book of Acts, the church continued to grow and
they were teaching the word of God.
How does the church grow?
By planting the seed, planting the seed the word of God.
And this is the answer to the question that we had in the beginning of this lesson whether
or not a good person, being good is good enough, being good is good enough.
No it's not; that's the answer.
The answer is being good is not good enough; you're gonna have to be converted.
You're gonna have to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost for the
remission of sin.
You become a new creature: your name is written in Heaven; you become a member of the Lord's
church, the local church.
And one day Heaven will be your home.
Matter of fact there will be no more crying, no more pain, no more sorrow.
So if you're good enough, if you're a good person thank God for that.
For God wants you to be righteous.
Only the righteous will make it in, only the righteous
will see God.
For more infomation >> Where Do We Go
For more infomation >> Sanremo, Al Bano Carrisi e la frecciatina sul Festival: 'Mi hanno maltrattato' | K.N.B.T - Duration: 4:01. 
For more infomation >> Mercedes-Benz E-Klasse E 200 Limousine Automaat Avantgarde | Widescreen | LED | COMAND - Duration: 1:01. 
For more infomation >> 러시아가 드디어 Iskander-E,S-400의 해외 수출준비를 시작했습니다. - 성 스캔들 - Duration: 7:24. 
For more infomation >> Oroscopo oggi 15 gennaio 2018: inizio settimana complicato per l'Acquario, e gli altri segni? - Duration: 10:34. 
For more infomation >> 日産 新型 ジューク e-POWER フルモデルチェンジ 2代目 レンジエクステンダーEV 「Pure Drive e-Power」採用 2018年4月発売 - Duration: 17:48. 
For more infomation >> Vincenza da C'è Posta per Te a Uomini e Donne: la proposta a Maria De Filippi - Duration: 2:43. 
For more infomation >> Mercedes-Benz E-Klasse E 200 Limousine Automaat Avantgarde | Widescreen | COMAND | LED - Duration: 1:01. 
For more infomation >> Mercedes-Benz E-Klasse E 200 Limousine Automaat Avantgarde | COMAND | Widescreen | LED - Duration: 0:54. 
For more infomation >> Mercedes-Benz E-Klasse E 220 d Limousine Automaat Avantgarde | Camera | Navi | LED - Duration: 0:58. 
For more infomation >> Peugeot 208 1.4 e-HDi Active-Navigatiesysteem-Airco Automaat-Parkeer sensor - Duration: 0:57. 
For more infomation >> Audi Q7 3.0 TDI E-TRON QUATTRO PREMIUM - Duration: 0:43. 
For more infomation >> Eliminare umidità e muffa in casa con prodotti naturali - Duration: 10:20. 
For more infomation >> Mercedes-Benz E-Klasse 200 CDI Elegance Select Full options! Youngtimer - Duration: 0:51. 
For more infomation >> Spremuta d'arancia per dimagrire e mantenersi in salute - Salute 24h - Duration: 6:46. 
For more infomation >> Anticipzioni L'Isola dei famosi 2018: orario daytime e diretta 24 ore in chiaro? |Hot News 24h - Duration: 4:38. 
For more infomation >> Uomini e Donne gossip: Giorgia Caldarulo beccata con Cameron Dallas| STARS NEWS - Duration: 4:09. 
For more infomation >> BEBIDA DETOX ➜ Ela EMAGRECEU 4 KG em UMA SEMANA Sem Dieta e Sem Academia - Duration: 2:51. 
For more infomation >> C'è Posta per Te: Vincenza idolo del web, approderà a Uomini e Donne? | Wind Zuiden - Duration: 3:57. 
For more infomation >> Renault Kadjar 1.2 TCE INTENS 19 INCH EASYPARK ECC PDC R-LINK ENZ - Duration: 0:43. 
For more infomation >> Ford Transit Custom 290 2.0 TDCI 130PK L2H1 Limited Navi/schuifdeur l+r (nr.4657) - Duration: 1:01. 
For more infomation >> Ford Transit Custom Dubb-Cab 290L 2.0 TDCI 170pk L2H1 Limited nav/leer.Schuifdeur L+R DEMO - Duration: 1:00. 
For more infomation >> unlimited free doge coin this trick 100% working - Duration: 5:24. 
For more infomation >> Paolo Fox, oroscopo 15 gennaio: le previsioni di oggi a I Fatti Vostri | M.C.G.S - Duration: 2:55. 
For more infomation >> Volkswagen California 4 T - Duration: 0:53. 
For more infomation >> Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 T-JET SPORT 5 deurs, Cruise control, Climate control, lichtmetalen velgen 17" - Duration: 0:59. 
For more infomation >> Kia cee'd 1.0 T-GDi 100PK Navigator met velgen en 7jr. Garantie!! - Duration: 0:58. 
For more infomation >> Nissan Pulsar 1.2 DIG-T VISIA *Fabrieksgarantie 07-05-2019* - Duration: 1:03. 
For more infomation >> Fiat Tipo 1.4 T-JET 16V 120pk BUSINESS LUSSO - Duration: 0:54. 
For more infomation >> Opel Astra Sports Tourer T 105pk Navi Ecc Lmv Led Online Edition - Duration: 0:52. 
For more infomation >> Can't Sleep? Right Down Your To-Do List Before Bed - Duration: 2:39. 
For more infomation >> We Know Who Caused Hawaiian Missile Panic, You Won't Believe What's Happened To Them - Duration: 4:22. 
For more infomation >> this video will be deleted in 1 hour - Duration: 10:53. 
No comments:
Post a Comment