Acts: God’s Call to the Lost

Well, good morning. It's good to be with you. If you have

your bibles, turned it with me to Acts chapter nine and let me see

them. If you have your bibles with me, I did this with you

last week. You got them, let's raise them up, raise them up.

You got a phone, that's okay to raise them up. Now.

It is not only important, as I said last week, a friend of

mine sets not only important for you to have your bibles, but it's important

for you to be in your bibles. I hope this week you've been in

your Bibles and reading them every day this week. I don't know about you.

The time of my sermon, get sermon this morning is God's call to

the loss. Do you ever keep things in your life? Keep just different

say, things throughout your life, maybe things from a kid, something someone

gave you. But there's things that we keep, right, we hang on

too. But there's also things that we don't keep. We throw away.

We don't see any value in them, we toss them. I've brought a

few things this morning that are kind of significant ones an ashtray. Now don't

smoke, and you say, pastor, it's got a story about this.

You say, pastor, why do you have ashtray smoke, So why would

you keep this? Well, this ashtray was was my grandpa's. My grandpa

Barbie. He went in nineteen sixty five and he bought a night He bought

a nineteen sixty five Plymouth Fury, and at the dealership when he bought the

car, they gave him an ash tray. And so I when my dad

passed away, my dad left a car to me, and we still had

the ash tray. So I kept the ashtray, and so part of me

keeping this although I don't smoke, and it's really other than that. The

only reason I kept it is because it came from family, right, Well,

something else I have This morning this week we went to Disney with our

students and one of our students, I was going through the bus last night,

cleaning up after the bus, and I noticed that there was a student

who had gotten a map and he picked it up. But it's in German.

Well not about you, but I don't read German, I don't speak

German, and so I grabbed it. I grabbed it, saw it on

the seat, I grabbed it and immediately took it inside. It through within

attraction and I wouldn't keep this. I don't smoke, but I still keep

this because it came from family. Right. I don't read German, but

I'm not gonna keep this one because I don't really have sentimental value to this,

right, and so it's going to get toss later. I tell you

that because you know, in our life there are things that we deem as

valuable, and there's deems that we would things that we would save. Now,

I want you to think about something I said to you last week,

that God didn't save you, right, give you salvation for you to keep

it to yourself. God saved you that you might share it with someone else.

Right now, if you're going to share the gospel, and if you

could, we know, salvation is God's things, not man's things. But

if you could save someone, who would you save? I think immediately most

of you who, as you think through that process, your first instance are

probably people that you cherish. It's probably family members, the first people you

think about. Maybe branchall a little bit and not only be a family member

or a parent or a grandparent, or a cousin or a child. Then

you probably branch out from that and you say, well, then there's some

friends of mine. There's some maybe some friends I went to high school with.

There would be some friends that I went to college with, and maybe

some neighbors coworkers. But beyond that, who would you say that you would

want to share salvation with? This morning, as we come to this passage

of Scripture, I want you to see the heart of God. God calls

the lost, and God calls those who are near and those who are far

off, those are who are reached, and those who are not reached,

those who are accepted, and those who were rejected. God calls the loss

to salvation. Scripture tells a parable, and Jesus talks about this in Luke

fifteen. There's a parable of a shepherd. What man of you have in

one hundred sheep, if he had lost one of them, does not leave

the ninety nine in open country and go after one that's lost until he finds

it. And when he has found that he lays it on his shoulders,

rejoicing. And when he comes home he calls together his friends and his neighbors,

saying, rejoice with me. I have found my sheep that was lost.

So I tell you there we will be more joy in heaven over one

sinner or repents than over the ninety nine righteous people need no repentance. God

is a God who seeks after the lost, those who are close and those

who are far away. And this morning's passage we want to see together God's

call to the loss those who are far off. You know, as we

come to Acts Acts, chapter ten, it's really one of the most publical

chapters in the entire Book of Acts up and as the Book of Acts begins,

it really sets off on a mission, a command by God commanded by

Jesus. On what is the mission with the church. It's the mission for

the early Church. It's still in for us today. And it's Acts one

eight. I've read it to you a lot. I'll just share with you

with you again, he says. In Acts one eight, he says the

disciple, it's just for he sends into heaven. But you will see power

when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in

Jerusalem and Judea and Samria and to the ends of the earth. That was

God's command to those disciples. It was God's command to the Early Church that

you will be my witnesses. I saved you that you might share that you'll

be my witness I saved you that you might be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

to the Jews, to the Samaritans in Samaria, and to the ends of

the earth. And as we have unpacked the Book of Acts, we've seen

this mission unfold. We've seen the Church fulfilled God's Jesus' command to be the

witnesses. It started with the Jews at Pentecosts. Jesus the Holy Spirit came

and thousands upon thousands of Jews got saved at Pentecosts. Then as we saw

the church grow, we saw it a one who was selected named Stephen,

who was full of the Holy Spirit, and he preached, you remember,

to the hellness Jews. And he was killed. And upon his death,

and he had been executed, there was a man also named Philip. And

what he do. He took the Gospel just as the mission said. He

fulfilled Jesus' command. He took the Gospel to the Samaritans. You remember Samaritans.

Samaritans were half Jews and half Gentiles, so they were treated as a

haph breed. They were not accepted by the Jews. But Philip took the

Gospel to the Samaritans. You remember the Jews. You had to understand their

whole life that had been taught that salvation was only for the Jews, it

was only for Israel. Israel was called God's son, it was only for

family. Salvation was only for family, God's family. The Jews, they

didn't think the Gospel would go to Samaritans or to the Gentiles. And so

when the word came about from Philip that there was Samaritans who came to know

the Lord, what did the early church do? They actually sent a delegate

two people, Peter and John, to the Samaritans to see if the Samaritans

had truly been saved. And Scripture told us showed us that in an ate,

here comes Peter and John into the to where the Samaritans were. And

when they heard the testimony, and they laid their hands and prayed, what

happened The Samaritans received the Holy Spirit to confirm that salvation had come to the

Samaritans. Now today, as we come to this passage of Scripture for Luke,

Luke wants you and Obsy, he wants the readers of his Book of

Acts to see now the Church is fulfilling its mission to take the Gospel not

only to the Jews, not only to the Samaritans, but also to the

Gentiles. And in this how the key for Luke and this passage, this

is very very important, the key for Luke in this passage that it wasn't

man who took the Gospel to the Gentiles. It was God calling the lost

to himself from those who were far off. God called God. Listen,

God shared salvation to the Gentiles. It God calling the loss. Let's look

together, and let's see how God calls the loss. Will you stand with

me. Let's read scripture together, starting in chapter nine, starting of verse

forty two, and it says, and it became known throughout all the Japa,

and many believed in the Lord. And he stayed in Japa for many

days with one Simon a tanner. And that Cus area there was a man

named Corneas, a centurion of what was known the Italian Court, a devout

man who feared God with all his household, and he gave as generously to

people who prayed continually to God. And about the ninth hour day he saw

clearly in a vision an angel of God came in and said to him,

Corneas, and he stared at him in terror and said, what is it?

Lord? And he says, your prayers and your alms have descended as

a memorial before God. Now send men to Jopp and bring one Simon,

who is called Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner whose house

is by the sea. And when the angel who spoke to him had the

party, he called two of his servants, a devout soldier from among those

who attended, and having related everything to him, he sent them to Joppa.

Let's pray together, Father, We thank you Lord for this morning.

God. We know that you call us, You save us, that we

might share the good news with others. And today as we look at your

heart God, and who you seek to save, God, who you called

a salvation God, may we look too, Lord about your heart for the

lost. And God, may your heart be our heart that, just as

you, God, have a heart for the rejected, heart for the unreached,

the heart for the unrighteous. God, may you give us a heart

for the lost around us. Lord, or use this message in us.

And I pray today if there's those who are watching, those who are listening,

those are in this service today, who are lost, who are not

saved who are unbelievers today. I pray that they would hear Lord your call,

just as Cornelius did. Lord, I pray you know the things that

I prepared. You know, Lord, how you've led us, led me

through the preparation of this message. And I pray you give me clarity speech

and clarity of thought. Or I pray that you would feel every aspect of

this message, or that people would hear Lord, not my words, but

yours and your name. We pray you may be see that God's call to

the lost. I want you to see first, God calls the rejectant.

God calls the rejected. As you come to verse forty two, I think

it's very important. As we looked at last week. Here Simon is and

he's visiting all the different churches in Judea, and he goes Tolida, and

from there he heals him in Aneas, and there are people in jop of

her. There was a lady named Tabitha who had died, and she was

a believer, and she had I've done a lot of great things in that

town and cared for people, and the people loved her, and they heard

about what happened and Lida so they sent to people to where Peter was in

Lida, and they brought him to Joppa. And in Joppa there he raised

Tabitha right from the dead, just like Jesus did. And scripture says,

at i've very end of that in verse forty two, that it became known

throughout all Joppa and many believed in the Lord. In verse forty three,

it says, and he stayed in Jappa for many days with one Simon a

Tanner. And you may saw that last week and said, well, passor

what does that mean? Why did you even mention this Simon a tanner?

And what is a tanner? A tanner was one who worked with skins.

It's a leather worker, and so it produced many different skins for many different

things. But in Jewish world, you did not associate with someone, you

did not stay with someone who dealt with carcasses or animals, their bodies,

of their skins. They would be considered unclean. So it's very significant for

Luke for you, for Luke, for you to see that Peter is staying

with someone who most Jews would seen as unclean. You see what's happening here.

Luke wants you to see that God's working on Peter. There'd be a

time where Peter would not associated with Samaritans, and he came to Samaritans.

And now God's working on Simon. He's staying with someone who the Jews would

see as unclean. And at the exact same time in Chapter ten in Cesarea.

Cesarea was a beautiful area. It was a Roman headquarters. Rome was

in power over Israel at the time, and their headquarters was in Israel.

Was in Cesarea as a primarily gentile area city. Again, it was a

capital or or headquarters for Rome. There was a great There was probably six

thousand Roman soldiers who lived in Rome at the time, and Scripture tells us

that verse one, at Cesarea there was a man named Corneas. He was

a centurion and he was known as Scripture says from the Italian cohort. Here

was this man named Corneas, and he's a gentile. And the Bible says

in verse two a devout man. And it says in verse three and about

the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly a vision of God come

in and say listen this Corneas. Here's a Roman who's stationed. Some believe

the term Italian cohort means that he was probably Italian. The station in Cesarea

sent from Rome to Cesarea. He's a centurion, meaning that he's a commander.

He's most likely there would be six hundred men and a cohort, and

there would be six kind of commanders, and each would be over one hundred

people. So he's a command and the Roman army. And the Bible says

there at that time, there's no Jews, there's no Christians in this area.

This passages it tell us any apostles, anyone there. God calls this

Roman gentile. This is huge. Was it someone bringing like we did and

Stephen brought salvation or brought the Gospel? No God sought this gentile. God

called the rejected. You see, for the Jews and the Gentile, there

was a great animosity between the two. Theyctually didn't like each other. The

Jews, according to their law, saw that gentiles were completely unclean, even

so much greater than Peter would see that Simon, or Jews would see that

Simon the Tanner was unclean, Gentiles were even worse. Actually, you've ever

heard of the terminology dush your feet off your shoes and keep going. Actually,

Jesus talks about that Jews believed that the dust from a gentile land was

unclean. So if you went and visited a gentile land and you walked in

their country and you came back to Israel, that if you brought that dust

from a gentile area into Israel, that dust would make would remain in Israel

and it would make the land unclean. So just before you left a gentile

area, you were to dust the dirt off your feet, so you would

not bring unclean dirt from the gentiles into Israel. Now, for a Jew,

you couldn't associate with a gentile. You would not ever stay with them.

You would never have them over to your house. No, their land

was unclean, but they were unclean. They you wouldn't eat with them.

Even if a Gentile prepared a bread or some type of food, a Jew

can never eat that food. It was unclean. If a gentile had a

cow and the gentile, you know, harvest the milk from the cow,

you could not eat that milk. It was unclean. If a gentile had

cooking oftensils a fork and they sold it in the market, if you,

a Jew, bought that fork from the market, when you took it home,

you must purify it with fire and water before you used it. For

if any article, if they had some type of tool or a hammer,

and they brought it into your house and it was made out of wood,

and that wooden't handle on that wood was made and was harvested from wood from

a gentile area, you would have to burn it with fire. It was

unclean, you see. For the Jews, gentiles were unclean and they were

not accepted. Yet here in this passage of scripture, the gospel goes to

the rejected, to the unclean, you know, as a story and you're

heard of interest in Tom Sawyer in the in the book of Huck Finn.

And Tom had just informed Huck Finn that he had a gang. It's called

Tom's Gang. Well, Huck wanted to join the gang, and he said,

well, Tom, you know, you've always been real friendly to me.

But but Huck says to Tom, he says, you've always been really

friendly with it. Would you wouldn't keep me out of your gang, would

you? And he says, Huck, you know, I wouldn't want to,

and I don't want to, But but what would people say? What

would they say if about old Tom's Sawyer's gang. They allow pretty low characters

in that gang, he said. And you know what they'd mean, Huck,

They'd be talking about you. So I can't let you in my game.

People. People wouldn't like that. Well, I tell you that because

in our role at times we have this in our circles. We have different

people. We only allow certain people in our circles, We have different in

our lives, and sometimes when we're really honest, sometimes we treat that same

attitude in the church. There's only certain people we allow in the church.

Some people they're just different, and yeah, and there's other places for them,

but but but not here. A church and Brandy's hometown, green Sea

Baptist Church. The pastor there one time, his name was Kevin Childs.

He was wanting to do something and something special in their community. There was

a church down the road, I think it was Mitchell c. Baptist Church

and it was African American church and he wanted to exchange pulpits with the I

mean they were just around the block and the two blocks away from green Sea,

and he thought it would be really neat for the community, the churches

to come together, and so he taught with the pastor and they were going

to do a Sunday where that pastor would come and preach at green Sea and

then he would go preach it that church. So it was exciting thing bring

some bring the churches together. And can I tell you there's some deacons in

that church would've become church that Sunday, that African American church pastor preached in

the church. You know, through our history at times there are people we've

said, you know, I just a little different than us. I tell

you, for me just to be honest, after nine to eleven, there

was a lot of hatred to those of Islam. I mean, that's our

world has just talked about just the hatred and what Islam did to a nine

to eleven to our country. And I remember just having just in my mind

thoughts about what an islam person was like. When I went to Russia in

twenty nineteen, all the people we went to reach were all Muslim. The

country was ninety nine point nine Muslim. Every person I encountered was Muslim.

I stayed. I went into on my birthday on September twelfth, I ate

supper at a Muslim's house and he went to Mecca six times. He prayed

every day. He was very, very devout, and it gave me eyes

to see someone differently that I thought was an enemy. Can I tell you

there's times where I mean, what would happen if a transgender came in our

church? Would we treat them the same as we treat someone else in this

room? If someone was homosexual, or someone who was an alcoholic, or

someone who's dealing with drugs. I have seen that. I've seen church people

at times we had. At one time, I was at a church,

I was pastoring a church. I was thirty one, and there was this

guy knocked on my door. I've been praying for souls and praying that God

would change people's lives. And one day someone knocked on my door and I

opened the door and there was this man and he was drunk. His eyes

were beat red. He's just reaped of alcohol. And his name was Sherwood.

He was the man I've been praying for. And I got him in

church. And I can tell you what the church people, how they looked

at him, and how they treated him. Can I tell you, listen,

God calls the rejected. God loves the rejected. God loves those who

are far off, and God reaches out to them and listens. So should

we. So, no matter if they are a different color than we,

or have a different lifestyle than us, or are there from a different country

than us, or maybe even if they are a different religion. Do you

know, just down the road they're building a muscle mosque and many of us

look at that. It'll look with disdain. But maybe God's bringing them into

our community that we might reach them with the gospel God loves. He calls

the rejected. Listen. Not only does God call the reject that God calls

the unreached. Scripture says in this pastor of Scripture, not only is he

rejected by the Jews, but he's not rich. Again, was I mentioned

to you about his work. He's a rollman. He didn't have access to

the gospel. He's about thirty miles from Japa at this time. If you

ever had a time in your life where you've had to make a phone call

to a bank or something, or maybe a phone company, and you're trying

to get trying to get to a solution. Maybe it's a problem with your

account, may there's a problem with your phone account, back account, and

you get the first person you know, and they won't really help you.

And then all they do is transfer you to another person. Oh I can't

really help you. This person will help you, and then transfer you to

another person and then you tell them the problem. Oh I really can't help

you. They transfer you to another person. Right, Poor Kelly, our

secretary, it seems like this is her day most of the days of the

week, and you can just choose just on the phone for like forty five

minutes trying to get to people, trying to fix different things. And she

tell me times I talked to four different people. And finally you're get that

place where you're just getting bounce and bounce around and say, I just can

I just talk to the main person, the manager? Can I just talk

to the one in charge? But you've got to go through all these different

systems before you get talked to the main person. Right, if you've ever

been there, I felt like you just don't have access to the main person.

Now, let's just say the main manager's name's Tom. Right now,

you have to talk to Sarah, Bill and Janey before you ever talked to

Tom. But if you were Tom's child, right, you wouldn't have to

talk to all three of those people before you talk to Tom. You can

just call Tom directly right Why because you're a part of the family, you

have to understand. For Corneus and for the Gentiles, they didn't have access

to God. For them to know God, they had to go to someone

else. And who was that person? Who did they have to get They

had to go to the Jews. They had become a Jew. They had

to be a part of the Jews into Judaism, excepted into Judaism in order

to ever speak to God or talk to God. Actually, the temple was

even established like this. You ever seen the Russian dolls, you know what

I'm talking about. It's like a big doll, and then you open up

this little small dog, then you open up another small one. Then to

just get smaller, small and smaller. Well, that was like the temple.

The temple was. It was like that, but it was like squares

the outer square, and the closer you got in was close you were to

God. So the furthest part of the temple was guess what, the gentile

court. They were the furthest ones out. The next box in was actually

the court for the women. So where the women came into worship. You

could went inside that box, went in a little closer was where the men

were. Just a little closer was where the priests were. And then inside

where the priest was was the Holy of Holies. And only one person went

in there one time of year. So if you just take that imagery and

you think about a gentile getting to God, look what they had to do

to get to who God, to where God was. They were seen symbolically

of one on the outside. And in this passage of script sure, Jesus

calls the one listen. It didn't seem here's the very important Corneus didn't get

to God. God came to Corneas. God came to the rejected. God

came to one who did not have access to him. He was unreached.

I tell you today there are four billion people on this earth today who have

no access to the Gospel. What does that mean? That means Okay.

In this passage scripture, Corneus is incessarea and he's we're gonna talk about his

religious works, and a little bit he says Assyria and he hears God a

vision. Come to the Lord. Right, God speaks to him. Now,

imagine entreat is a country that we're praying for now, and that's kind

of near Sedan. I think it's in Africa, north East Africa. Okay.

Imagine there's a people group, the Tigra in the In each tree there

are seven hundred, no, seven hundred, seven hundred thousand plus. Let's

just say that unreached Tigra in in treatue. Imagine if God spoke to one

of them and says hey and calls them by name, Bob, I don't

know. Okay, Bob, I want you to know me. Go find

someone with the gospel. Unreached means that they don't get up from their bed

and go find a Bible. There's no Bible. It means that they can't

go outside their community and go into town and find a church. There's no

church. Unreached means that they would have to travel for weeks or months until

they would find maybe one person who would know of Jesus. And there are

four billion people in this world who have no access to the gospel. Yet

God listen. God listen. In his heart seeks not only the rejecting,

but God is seeking the unreach that here we are the ones. I believe

we're close, right, why because we have churches, we have Bibles.

You even have family, some of you. If God gave you a dream

that it says, hey, I want you to come to me, it

would only take you a phone call before you could talk to someone who would

know Jesus right. It would take you just another phone, maybe a short

drive, to come here at church or come to talk one of the pastors.

We are those who are near and listen. God calls those who are

near, but God also calls those who are far off. Now here's the

thing. God didn't save you to keep you silent. God saved you that

might you might share, but God saves you. Know you share to the

rejected, But God saved you you might share to the unreached. Listen,

and I've got to be fast. Not only does God seek the unreached,

or God calls the unreached, but lastly God calls the unrighteous. This passage

is very powerful. It says in verse one that he was a verse two

he was a devout man, and scripture says he feared God and all of

householding the game's alms generously to the people what he prayed continually to God.

In verse three, it says about ninth that where he saw clearly a vision

of the Angel of God saying come in and say to him. Corneus.

Scripture says that he was a god fear for the Jews at the time,

and kind of historically there were kind of three different levels of gentiles. There

was just a normal unbelieving gentiles, someone who didn't really have anything to do

with God, just just very i'm believing gentile. The second level of a

gentile was what we saw as in Scripture as a god fear. This is

Corneas. A god fear means that someone had this individual had not converted to

Judaism. It's someone who was maybe devout, who believed in Israel's God but

never had converted to Judaism. And then lastly there was a proselyte. A

proselyte was one who had converted to Judaism and who had went so far as

even being circumcised, who's really surrendered and became a Jew. Here in this

pastor of Scripture, Corneas is seen as a god fear, and then this

pastor of Scripture it kind of gives his devotion. What were things that he

did? Scripture says he prayed, he prayed three times a day. In

this pastor of Scripture, he says that he's praying at the ninth hour of

day, and in the ninth hour as he's praying, so every Jew would

pray three times a day, he's doing that. He's actually faithful some of

the practice of the Jews, even though he's not a full convert. He

believes in Israel's God and he's praying to that God. Scripture says, he's

also faithful in giving and giving alms. Probably the second greatest priority for a

Jew was not only prayer, but the second greatest priority for Jew was giving.

And here he is giving. He's even giving money to the Jews at

this time. And Scripture says that the Angel Lord comes him in the ninth

hour. The ninth hour basically listen, this is pretty interesting. The ninth

hour for the Jews at that time was a tire time of sacrifices. It's

interesting at the same time he's praying and he's giving alms. Jews were in

the temple sacrificing, and Scripture says that the whole day may be giving.

God sees what Corneus is giving and the sacrifices that Corneus is making scripture,

says in this pastive scripture, he said to him, what is it?

Lord? And listen to what it says in verse four. Or your prayers

in your alms have ascended as them bemoy before God. God sees what Corneus

is doing. But can I tell you today? God calls the reject that

God calls the unreached, But God calls the unrighteous. Now you may say

to me, as you read this pastor's scripture, what pastor, I don't

really get that. How you can you say he's unrighteous? I mean,

this man's devout praise three times a day gives to Jews. He seems like

a pretty righteous man. You know, righteousness? What is righteousness? Righteousness

is when someone's right before God. Right Now, you may look at someone

and say, you know, that person seems to be a very spiritual person.

That person seems a pretty righteous person. But how do we base righteousness?

How do we judge righteousness? We judge righteousness on things that we do

right. They don't cuss or chew or hang out what those are doing.

I mean that's a righteous person, right. No, So many times we

may someone say someone's righteous, but it's based upon what we see on the

outside, righteousness before God. Now listen to this righteousness before God is God

from heaven looking down at the heart of man, and God declaring someone righteous,

not based upon their works, but based upon will listen what's in their

heart. Scripture says, God sees Corneus, he sees his works, but

listen, his heart was not right with God. How do you know that,

pastor, because the Bible says, he tells him to go get Peter

right, who's staying at Simon's house and bringing back. And Scripture says,

when Peter comes back, he says, and when we're going to look at

this in the weeks to come, he says, go ahead and share with

me. And what does Peter tell me. You got to understand he's never

heard of Jesus at this point, how can you be saved without Christ?

Right? No one comes. I'm the way truth in life. No one

comes with Father. What but by me? If if Corneus was right,

then he saved on works, not saved through Christ. You see that he

never heard of Jesus. So although he was he had done a lot of

grid works, he was not saved. It's unrighteous can I tell you God

calls the reject that God calls the unreached, but also God calls the unrighteous.

There's thousands upon thousands, and even at the Tigra they are seven hundred

and fifty thousand of them in Tregut in their ninety nine point nine Muslim there

are no mads. They travel up and down the area, staying in one

part in the mountains in certain times of the seasons, another part in another

place in the country. And they're ninety nine. I promise you they're probably

praying more than most of us in this room. They're living more moral lives

than probably most of those in America. And although they may be religious,

their hearts are far from God. And listen, God calls the unrighteous.

I want you to hear this this morning. God only calls the righteous from

those who are in the fartherest parts of the world, but also God calls

it in righteous right here. The reality is today, I've said it a

numbrous times over the last few months. Billy Graham says, of fifty percent

of the churches, those fifty of those in the church are lost. Outwardly,

do they look righteous? Probably to me and to you, yes,

be inwardly. Their hearts are far from God. And can I tell you

God's calls you today if that's you. One of the greatest example of that

is Brandy's dad. Let's see, I'll know Peeps as we call him,

or Mars Valor my father in law. I remember when I met Brandy,

I just knew as a man who I thought loved the Lord, served the

church, was always at church, and he was. He was teaching Sunday

school, he was a deacon in the church, faithful there at time,

was at the church more than at times at the church. He was at

the church one times when he needed to be at home. You hear me,

he's one of those who give more too much time to the church than

not enough time at home. Early on, but he was lost. I'll

never forget. We were married and he called us one night after a revival

service and says, I just want you to know I received Jesus Christ and

me and Brandy said, what are you confused? Now? I know you

were a deacon, you were a Sunday school teacher, you served in the

church, You went on this, and you did that, You did all

these things. There's no way and he says, listen, I can tell

you I was a good person. I was a doubt man, a devout

man, but in my heart I did not know the Lord. I was

devout, but I didn't have a relationship. And can I tell you God

called him that night? Can I tell you there today? There's here today?

And you've had a lot of religion in your life. You may have

been very devout to church at times, but you've never had a relationship with

Jesus. And can I tell you that God calls you today to salvation?

How did I want to just finish by showing you how do we respond to

God's call? How did he respond to God's call? Just two things this

morning? First respond by faith and repentance in verse four and for the second

time. I don't have time to go through it all. But in verse

four he tells him to go to Japa and find Peter. He actually tells

him to find Simon. Then there's two Simon's one, Simon's Peter and then

Simon the Tanner. Why I tell you why, I think that's important because

you and I we know who Peter is. Immediately he did not. That

shows you he didn't know who Peter was, and Peter was the apostle of

the church. He didn't know Peter was the leader of the church in Jerusalem.

Didn't probably even know about Jesus at all. He has no idea.

We hear this and we know old when Peter come, he's gonna preachate Sience,

I mean Corneas did not know that. He had no idea what God

was telling to do or who this person he was telling him to go get.

He tells him to come and go get him. He even tells him.

I don't know about you, but if God called you and said,

hey, there's a man in Joppa, and you go get him. He's

got a message room you sent by me. I don't know about you,

but I don't think I'm sending two men you hear me. I think if

God calls me, I don't want some other messenger. I want to go

to Joppa. I want to get to him as fast as I can.

You hear me. Wouldn't you be the same? But God doesn't tell him

that. God tells him you send two men to him, and you have

them bring him back. Right? Why do you think God did that?

Because listen, it required faith. It required faith for him to trust what

God's words say, and that also required obedience that he would obey God's command.

So how did we respond to God's call? Faith got to trust what

God's word says. We had to trust what God's calling us to do.

Sometimes that means may mean I need to go talk to someone about the doubts

I have about my salvation. That's gonna be scary, that's gonnaybe be uncomfortable.

But God may be calling you to do that. God may be calling

you to speak to that person, and that's going to be uncomfortable. But

God's calling you to take a step of faith. God's calling you then to

also be obedient. And that's the second part. He was obedient. God

told him to send these two men, Scripture says, and when the angel

spoke to him, he spoke to him, had departed. He called two

of his servants and about soldier among those who was sending and have related everything

to them. He sent them to Jappa. Listen, he responded in faith,

and he responded in obedience. Listen, God's calling some of you today,

how should you respond faith and what God is telling you in obedience?

You know, it was a movie that came out a few years ago called

hats All Ridge if you ever heard of it. It's based upon a man

name Desmond Dross. Desmond was a seven day Adventist and he went into service,

and he went in but he said he would never carry a gun.

He was going to be a medic. Fuse to carry a gun, refused

to do many of the other things. In Japan and Okinawa, there was

a big battle there. It's what the movie is based upon. And the

army has records of what happened that day, and then the army records it

says that there at that time there was a battalion that was coming against and

there were in a area that's about four hundred feet high. There's heavy concentration

of fighting, a battle that was going on, shooting, there was artilleries

coming in, mortar machine guns were firing upon. There were seventy five men

who were casualties. Dross was in that area when the fight happened. He

was on that area was about four hundred and fifty feet high, and he

made a commitment at that moment to save as many people as he could,

so one by one and that on that area he went one by one and

grabbed people that he could that were injured, and he would carry them down

to an area. He would put them on a rope and he would lower

them down. He saved that man that day, without a gun, without

a weapon, he saved seventy five men. One by one. He went

and rescued them from in the midst of the gunfire, in the midst of

the mortars, amidst of the machine guns. One by one, he went

to them, He got them, He carried them to the rope, lowered

them to safety. Seventy five men. You know what dross Words says.

The records tell us time after time, throughout all the bullets, through all

the morturals, I mean the mortars that was being shot in that area.

He continued to say, Lord, please help me get one more. Oh

if we had faith like dressmen, Oh, would we want to share like

dressmen? They said, God, help me in this life. Save one

more, one more that's unreached. God help me save them. God,

one more that's rejected. Lord help me save them, Lord, one more,

this unrighteous. Lord, use me to save them. I believe today.

Listen, God's calling those who are unreached. God's calling those who are

rejected and God are calling those are unrighteous. Maybe that's you today. Would

you respond in faith and obedience, or maybe you are saved and maybe God's

calling you to go go to rejected, to the unreached, go to the

unrighteous. Let's save one more. Let's pray. Lord. We thank you

that. Lord. We know that God, what you've done in us,

and God, how you've brought You've called us each one by one, and

God, how you've called us as a church should go to Jerusalem, to

Judea, to the ends of the earth. So Lord, we see your

heart for the lost. Here, your heart for the unreached, the rejected,

the unrighteous. God, give us a heart for souls like you God,

to save that which is lost. Lord, we know salvation is only

by you God. But God, you send us as your messengers. So

God, give us a heart for the individual. Will give us a heart

for the lost. Or I pray for the lost here today that maybe you're

watching on TV or in this room. I pray that they would be Lord,

they would hear your call today, and Lord, I pray they were

responding faith in the beauty. It's today. We love you. We thank

you Lord for this day. Lead us in this time invitation. We praymen

Jesus pain and all to him.