The Gospel of Grace - Peter's Third Sermon - Acts 10:34-43

1:05But before we do, I want to say a few things. I don't know how to change a heart. As I look into not only this body, not only into my own heart, but in society at large, I don't know how to change the heart of man. Our hearts are a lot harder than we think. In fact, the scripture says our hearts are very deceitful. I don't think we realize just how hard our hearts are to God.

1:43And as a pastoral concern, I stand up here week in and week out, and I proclaim the word. First, I want to obey the word myself and truly be honest with myself and really be someone who truly obeys that which I teach. And my concern is that week in and week out, there may be those in here who may have grown up in the church who may think you're a believer, but your heart remains hard. You see, our heart can develop a very hard surface, if you will, a deadness to the things of God. And we may learn church talk. We may learn how to go through motions. And we may be very good at convincing ourselves and convincing others that we are soft and open to the Word of God. And at the bottom level, we can be hard as stone. You see, and I don't know how to change that. There can be a self-will that can take on religious dimensions, and still there can be this unwillingness to forgive. There can still be a delight in worldly entertainment.

3:00There can still be a hardness, a self-righteousness, a striving on our own. And let me tell you something. Death lurks in the wake of stubborn hearts. Death is there. There's only one remedy, and that is the gospel of grace. The gospel of grace. If God does not insert Himself and bring us face to face, toe to toe and heart to heart with His grace, nothing will change in the heart. So I want to look at this gospel of grace that Peter lays out for us in the third or in the 10th chapter of Acts. First, I want to look at the occasion for Peter's message on grace. There are two visions and then a divine summons, and we're just going to walk through this. Chapter one of verse 10, I want you to see the first vision, and this is the vision of a man named Cornelius. Just pick up and read it. There was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.

4:30About the ninth hour of the day, around three o'clock, he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, Cornelius, and fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he says, What is it, Lord? And he said to him, Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea. When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants. And after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. So Caesarea is just a little bit to the north on the Mediterranean Sea, Joppa just to the south. So first vision, that of Cornelius. Well, on the next day, there's a second vision that takes place. As these dispatched soldiers and servants are going to bring Peter to Joppa, to Cornelius's house, God prepares Peter for this encounter. Verse 9, on the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. That'd be about 12 noon.

5:49But he became hungry. Kind of what happens around that time of the day, right? He became hungry and was desiring to eat. But while they were making preparations, he fell into a Trance, and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground. And there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, Get up, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean. Implication: some of those creatures that were on that sheet were unclean, forbidden by the dietary restrictions placed in the Torah.

6:35I've never eaten anything unholy. Again, a voice came to him a second time. What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy. This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky. So there, Peter's sitting there thinking about this. Okay, vision one, vision two. And now comes the divine summons, a divine summons. Now, while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon's house, appeared at the gate. And calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three men are looking for you, but get up, go. Downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them myself. Notice it is the Spirit that says, I have sent them myself. Verse 21, Peter went down to the men and said, Behold, I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for which you have come? They said, Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you, to come to his house, and to hear a message from you. So he invited them and gave them lodging.

8:06So there they are. He comes. And then the next day, we'll pick it up. Cornelius and Peter meet. And on the next day, he got up and went away with them. And some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him. So he came down from Joppa to Caesarea. On the following day, he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet and began to worship him. But Peter raised up, saying, Stand up, I too am just a man. As he talked with him, he entered and found many people assembled. And he said to them, You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him. And yet God has shown me that I should not call any. Man, unholy or unclean. Referring back to this vision. That is why I came without even raising an objection when I was sent for. So I ask, for what reason have you sent for me? So the Cornelius sent for them. Peter said, I know I am supposed to come here. What is it that you want me here for? Cornelius said, four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments. And he said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Therefore, send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is called Peter, to come to you. He is staying at the house of Simon the Tanner. Now, I want to also add something else the angel said that isn't recorded right here, but it is recorded, turn over to 11 and verse 14. As Peter is relaying this later, after all the events that took place, let me just pick it up in verse 13. And he, Cornelius, reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in the house and saying, send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here, and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household. So the message that God is saying that Peter is going to bring is a message that will. Bring salvation. Words to you by which you will be saved, you and your household. The words of salvation. This is what Peter is going to bring. So turn back to chapter 10, verse 32, 33. So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord. What a setting. God set this whole thing up. And it's in this context that Peter proclaims the gospel of grace, the words by which a person is saved. And Peter is going to spend the rest of his life defending this, proclaiming it, and defending it. In fact, that's what 1 and 2 Peter are really about. You remember 1 Peter, there's this great persecution. Peter's whole purpose for writing the book was so that they would stand firm in true grace. The threat of persecution. And 2 Peter is the threat of false teachers that would pervert true grace. But what happens here really settles something forever in Peter's mind. And I want you to see three aspects of the gospel of grace so that you will treasure it. Not only so that you will just know it, not only so that you will just respond to it, not only so that you will not be misled by another gospel. Not only that you will be just like Peter and proclaim it and defend it, but most of all, that you will believe it and treasure it. Because this truly is the heritage that we have in Christ. So, three aspects of the gospel of grace. Three aspects. First aspect I want you to see is the impartiality of grace. The impartiality of God's grace. Look at verse 34. We're just going to march through this sermon. Opening his mouth, Peter said, I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation, the man who fears him and does what is right is welcome to him. Peter says, I most certainly understand now. It's like he's saying, I get it. I finally get it. I understand it. What I knew, you know, and he had already said that, he had already proclaimed Genesis 22, 18, where God said, in your seed, Abraham, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Peter had spoken that, understood that there was an implication to the world, to outside of the Jews, or the world outside of the Jews. He understood that. He had even taught on it. But here it really sinks in. I most certainly understand. I get it. God is not one to show partiality.

13:32And we see this in the Bible. Already, we see the intimations of this with Rahab. You remember the Canaanite prostitute pagan who became the model of faith in Israel? You remember Ruth, the Moabite foreigner, pagan, who became the model of womanly beauty and virtue in Israel? Gentiles. God, every nation, the man who fears him and does what is. Notice the two universal conditions: the condition of acceptance. That is welcome. That's the word. What is the condition of acceptance to God? The man who fears. Literally, the one who is fearing. It's the idea of the verb. What is fearing?

14:18A holy respect. The one who has a holy respect for God. That is one who defers to God, one who listens to God, one who has a holy respect, who is currently having a holy respect. This one is one condition of being welcomed. And there's a second one. You see this? And, circle that, it's conjunction. And does what is right. Literally, the one currently doing righteousness. And what is righteousness? Righteousness is turning away from evil. Turning away from evil. In fact, in verse 43, if you look down, you kind of pick. It up. He puts it here that of all the prophets, bear witness that through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sin, righteousness, believing in him, having a change of mind towards him, believing. In fact, Job 1:1, who is the upright man? Who is the blameless one? The one who is fearing God and turning away from evil. In fact, in Job 1:8, God's so impressed with Job, he says this to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man. And what does he do? He's blameless. He's upright. What does he do? He fears God and he turns away from evil. He has a holy respect, and he is turning away from unrighteousness. That is righteousness. That is an upright person. Same thing here. In every nation, doesn't matter who, the man who fears God and does what is right, the one who respects him and is turning away from sin and turning to him is welcome to him. And this is, well, Peter, I get it. God's grace is for all people in all nations of the earth, all who fear him and all who are doing what is right. The impartiality of God's grace. Second thing I want you to see as we go through this, the Jesus-centeredness of grace. The Jesus-centeredness of God's grace. Just read through verse 36 through 38. The word which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. You yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. So Peter starts out with, You've heard about him. You've heard about God's activity. You have. You've heard a lot about it. In fact, they knew the where of God's activity. Look back at verse 36. The word which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. And by the way, literally, there's an emphasis there. I like how it says it in the Greek. This one, he is of everyone and everything, Lord.

17:34You get the emphasis there. He is Lord of all, is how we would say it. The Greek is, this one, Jesus, he is of everything and everyone, Lord. That's the emphasis there. It says, you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all of Judea. The where of God's activity. They knew about it. Something happened in all of Judea. They. Had heard about that. But there is also the timetable. They knew the when of God's activity. Look at verse 37. Starting from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed. The where of God's activity? In Judea. The when? After John's baptism. They also had heard about the central person of God's activity, the who. They knew the where, the when, and the who. Look at verse 38. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. And they also knew the what of God's activity. Look at this. They knew the scope of God's activity through Jesus. Look at verse 38. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed, literally being oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. You've heard all this. This is what they knew. And they knew that God was with Jesus. So Peter didn't have to go into all the details about the life and times of Jesus because they had heard about him. Couldn't have been living there without hearing about it. However, they needed more information. They needed Peter to explain the significance of all these events. They needed some more information, but they needed particularly how to put all this together.

19:32Because all of these events pointed to something greater about Jesus. Jesus was no just simply a miracle worker. It's far more than that. So Peter goes on to speak. You've heard about him, but now you need to know some more about him. What you have heard, we have seen. And there's more to the story. So Peter goes on to speak about the cross, the resurrection, and those implications that those have on mankind. See, they knew of the who, the what, the where, the when, but they needed to know the why. Now look at Peter's testimony beginning in verse 39. We are all witnesses. We are witnesses of all the things he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. Notice Peter is saying, we need to talk about what happened in Jerusalem.

20:32Not just the land of the Jews, but what happened in Jerusalem. Verse 39, we are witnesses of all the things he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put him to death by hanging him on a cross. God was clearly with Jesus. Peter saying, we saw all this. He was alive and exerting great authority. We saw this. We saw him. Releasing those oppressed by the devil. Our eyes witnessed this. We saw his healing hand. We saw his great authority. We saw his power. But we also saw his death. And we know that God was doing something even greater in his death than in his life.

21:22God was just as much with Jesus in his death as he was in his life. And what kind of leader comes and dies? And Peter is telling them, God was with them. We are witnesses to this. His death was a purposeful act. Look at verse 40. God raised him up on the third day and granted that he become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God. That is to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. Saying, we witnessed his life. Peter is saying, you've heard about his life. We witnessed his life. We witnessed his death. We witnessed his resurrection. And listen, we ate with him.

22:11We know that he was raised from the dead. God raised him from the dead. He is alive. This we know. And what's more, we understand the implications of all this. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Accomplishing that reversal of the curse upon humankind, death. We understand what this means. These witnesses, I believe, in verse 41, chosen beforehand by God. I believe that God wanted only those who knew Jesus from the beginning to witness him because only they could make sense out of the total picture of his life and understand the implications of his death. They had to have the whole story. They had to understand him. They had to hear his teaching. They had to see his power and understand all that had happened and understand that his death was no fluke, but it was a purposeful act. And only those who knew this from the beginning could be adequate witnesses to the life and the death and the resurrection and the exaltation of Christ. You see, the reaction and the interpretation of Jesus' resurrection would have been understood very different by those in secular society or those in a paganistic society. They would have had very different explanations.

23:43But those who witnessed his life and death and resurrection and ascension, they understood that this pointed to a great reversal in human history, a reversal of those words, death. You remember in Genesis 2, 17, God said, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die. Well, you know, man ate from it, right? And he didn't physically drop dead, did he? But God said, You shall surely die. He died. In what way did he die? Spiritually. He died spiritually. A hardness came over his heart, a deadness.

24:38And spiritual death preceded bodily death. You see the pattern? Spiritual death. And then what happened? Death entered into the race, and soon physical death. And the graphic picture of a heart that is spiritually dead is running from God and hiding in the bushes. Sometimes those bushes are philosophy. Sometimes those bushes are religion. Sometimes those bushes are excuses. But that's the graphic picture. A hard heart runs and hides. That is the manifestation of spiritual death. Listen, if you have a reluctance, To come into the presence of God, there is something really wrong in your heart. If you are content with sin, if you are content in sinful forms of entertainment, there is something wrong in your heart that the Bible calls death.

25:56There's cause to be concerned. But spiritual life is the great reversal. Spiritual life precedes bodily resurrection. You get the pattern? Spiritual death, then came physical death. Spiritual life precedes bodily resurrection. You see that? The awakening. And spiritual life precedes the bodily resurrection. And spiritual life is manifested by running to God and confessing sin, not running away from God and excusing sin or justifying your sin or figuring out ways to go do what your heart wants to do. That's not the pattern of spiritual life. That's the pattern of spiritual death.

26:43Spiritual life runs to God. It comes into his presence. It wants to bring the sin out on the table. It wants to reconcile with other people. It wants to do right to brothers and sisters. It weeps and it mourns over sin. Than personal sin, and it seeks to make it right. A heart that runs to God runs to make restitution when they have wronged others. That's what spiritual life does, it runs to God. Spiritual death runs away from God.

27:17And only those who were chosen beforehand and witnessed his life and power and authority and his willingness to go to the cross could put all this together. Only those who knew of him could testify to his power, his teaching, and to why he died, and the mind-numbing implications of his resurrection. He is far more than a miracle worker, he is far more than a teacher, he is far more than just one who has been resurrected from the dead. He is Lord of all, this one. He is of all things Lord. That is the implication. And only those who witnessed it could testify to that.

28:04There is a Jesus-centeredness of God's grace. Listen, that is where the Bible takes us. Any grace that takes you to another Jesus or to another place is not the grace mentioned in the Bible. And it will not take you to the heaven mentioned in the Bible because it comes from a God who is not the God of the Bible. So there's a Jesus-centeredness. Third, I want you to see the message of grace, the message of grace.

28:40This is Peter's marching orders. We can call that, look at verse 42 and verse 43. Let me just read them. And he ordered us to preach to the people and to solemnly testify that this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Of him all the prophets bear witness that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. So here's what Jesus ordered his followers to do. Peter had witnessed all this power. He had seen all this. He had seen his authority. He saw his resurrection. Peter saw his own heart crumble before the pressure. Peter was broken. He met Christ.

29:26Christ restores him and gives him these marching orders. And let me tell you something. Peter's rest of his life is: I want to be exactly faithful to this. And he ordered us. He gave us marching orders to preach and to solemnly testify, literally to warn. That is what he told me to do, says Peter. He told us as disciples, this is what he gave us marching orders that we are to preach. We are to proclaim these things, and we are to solemnly testify and warn people. What is he to warn? That this one, Jesus, who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead, the content of the preaching, the content of the solemn testimony is this: Jesus is judge.

30:27This one, he has been past him appointed as judge. All of us and each of us will be judged by him. Everybody is going to be judged by him. That is what Peter is saying. This is what he told me to tell everybody and to do it solemnly, to proclaim it, to publish it, that all of you will meet him in all of his glory. Every single one of you, this is where you are going to stand one day. And he has a perfect record of your life. Not only does he have a perfect record of your life, but he has a perfect record of the motives behind your life. He knows you thoroughly. There is no hiding from him.

31:16And what's more, he is perfectly holy. This, Peter is saying, we must solemnly testify. This is a truth more sure than the Law of gravity. You are subject to it. The whole world is subject to it. Even if they don't fully understand it, they are subject to it. And that is why we are here to proclaim it to you, Cornelius. That's what Peter is saying. But then there's a second content that Jesus grants forgiveness. Look at verse 43. Yes, he has a perfect record of your life, and he is perfectly holy.

32:01And in 43, of him all the prophets bear witness that through his name, see that emphasis on the name again, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sin. Literally, the one who is believing, the one who is exercising faith, the one who is trusting in him. This one receives, that is a gift, a grant from him, forgiveness of sins. That is the sending away, the pardoning of your sins. It's the word we get divorced from, sending away. That's what happens to your sins. Sent away. You are forever divorced from the penalty and power of your sins. That's the idea.

32:48Forever, forever separated from the penalty and the guilt of your sin. And so he's preaching this. It comes to the end. But he's not over. He's in mid-sentence. And then his sermon gets interrupted. Let's look at this interruption. So he's in the middle of his sentence. He's preaching. Verse 44: While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit, just as we did, can he? And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus. And then they asked him to stay on for a few days. The question is: what happened? What happened to Cornelius and those gathered with him? What happened to them? Big important question, right? He didn't even finish his sermon while he was speaking. Well, let's just walk through this and so we can use the language from the scripture as to what happened to them. From verse 44, look at the immediate context. What happened? Well, the Holy Spirit fell upon those listening. Look at verse 44. Holy Spirit fell upon them. Look at verse 45. The gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on them. The Gentiles. You see that? Poured out on them. Remember? Hopefully, your mind goes back to Acts chapter 2 and Joel chapter 2, this pouring out of the Spirit. And here is Peter saying, it's poured out on them also, just like poured out on us. Verse 47 says, They received the Holy Spirit. And Peter, just as we did, they have received that which we have received.

34:49Then looking back, more language of what's taken, but what happened there? Well, the Holy Spirit fell, the gift was given, they received the Holy Spirit. Look in verse 43. From the preceding context, we can safely assume they believed the message. They believed the message. And looking back in verse 10:15, where God said, and a voice came to him a second time, what God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy. So they have been cleansed. Language. And I'm just trying to stick with language that's used right here in this context, near and immediate context. But then look at the context that immediately follows. Chapter 11, 1 through 18. You see, Peter did something. He baptized Gentiles. Not only did he eat with Gentiles, but he baptized them into the body of Christ. And now there's some explaining to do. Okay? Look at what happens. Chapter 11. Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him, saying, You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with. Explain yourself. What's this? You broke a law. And he starts, or a tradition.

36:07And so he goes through and he explains. He goes to this and he explains to them what took place. So he has to defend this grace. But from that language, look at 11:1. If we just piece together, they had received the word of God. That's what the apostles had heard. The Gentiles had received the word of God. So what happened that day? Well, certainly they believed. Certainly the Holy Spirit fell upon them. Gift was given to them. They received the word. Again, in verse 15, in verse 16, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. In verse 16, language is used. And I remembered, said Peter, the word of the Lord, how he used to say, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So what happened to these guys? They were baptized in the Holy Spirit, washed, cleansed. That's the idea. The gift of the Holy Spirit was given to them after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 17. And Peter is saying, that's why I baptized them. They had already been washed. They had already been cleansed just as we had. And who was I to withhold water from them? God has done something among the Gentiles.

37:27Verse 18, look at their response. Well then. They heard this. When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, Well, then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the what? The repentance that leads to life. You see, a pattern that's taken place. God has, we can safely assume they repented, but we can also safely assume what? God did what? Granted them repentance. That's the language used here. God granted them repentance. You remember in chapter 3 and verse 25, you remember when he gets to the end of this sermon that was at the beautiful gate, or over the healing at the beautiful gate. And he comes to the end and he says, Look, in your seed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

38:38Who is the seed? Christ is a seed. In what way does he bless the nations, the families? He explains in 26, for to you first God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways. The blessing of the ages is this turning from sin to God. And that the way Christ blesses is by turning our hearts to God. That is the blessed path. And then, remember when he's standing in chapter 5, after going through and standing before the Sanhedrin and the council, then he goes on to say in verse 30: the God of our fathers, chapter 5 and verse 30, he says to them, The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to his right hand as prince and savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Repentance is no more of a human work than belief is a human work. It is a grant. And the language is clear in Acts. You must be repenting. You must repent. That is your responsibility. You must repent. But guess what? It has to be granted.

40:01Don't presuppose that you can come to Christ at any time. You can only come when he draws you. And that is why the scripture is very clear. If you hear his voice today, do not harden your heart, but soften your heart. Receive the word. Be repenting. Turn and ask him to grant you repentance. Do you see the God in salvation? Do you see your responsibility in salvation? God grants repentance, and you know what you're to do? Repent. He turns your heart. So you know what you're to do? Turn your heart.

40:45So man must repent. Acts 2. Acts chapter 3, man must be blessed by the seed by turning his heart. Acts chapter 5, man's heart must be turned by Jesus. Acts chapter 11, man must receive the word. Man must be cleansed by the Holy Spirit. Acts 11, 18, God grants repentance to life. And historically, God granted repentance to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. And I believe he will one day grant full repentance to the nation of Israel. But how does this all boil down to us here today? These are the terms, and I've tried to lay them out as best as I could using the terminology that Peter used or that Luke recorded that Peter used. So we could get into the mind of Peter. But it's important to know that you can, that the power of salvation is not in you.

41:48And this is hard for some people to believe because we've got this idea of God's justice that doesn't square with the plain teaching of Scripture. The power of salvation is not in you. It is in Christ. And there is no authority above him. And he grants repentance to whom he will. So, where does that leave us? You must repent, but it must be granted to you. And we are to receive this word and to respond to it in faith. So, what do we do? What do we do? Listen, this doctrine takes us to the very end of ourself. You must repent, but you can't repent unless God grants it to you. So, where does that take you? Cry out.

42:43Should you go to Las Vegas and live it up until he grants you repentance? Is that a response of faith? No. What's the response of faith to this teaching? God, give me repentance. God, grant me every good gift. Turn my heart. Whatever has to happen, God, you do it. God, turn my heart and keep turning my heart every day. Turn my heart and I will walk in your ways. And he promises what? Whoever asks of me, what? You think he's going to say no?

43:19No. And when you're praying for your loved one, where does this doctrine take you? To the very end of yourself. You can pray all you want for your friend, but something has to happen. What? God has to grant repentance. Jesus, the name of Jesus. Jesus has to grant repentance. So, where does that take our prayers? To the absolute end of humanity. God, you must intervene. God, we beseech you. Come in and awaken our hearts. Waken my loved one's heart. Do you see what that does to our prayers? It takes us to the end of ourselves. And this is the God. This is the Christ that Peter understood.

43:59And the response of faith to this teaching is what? God, grant me all those good things. Turn my heart. I can't change a heart. And I see stubborn, hard hearts lots. And I'm sure you do too. I'm sure you know them because you have one, right? You can recognize a hard heart because we're all too familiar with a hard heart. But that is where the gospel takes us. This is the gospel of grace. And only this can change a heart. And you know what? This is what he lives to do. This is what he delights. He loves to take you to the end of yourself so that you may cry out like a dead man who has just nailed the nails in the hand of Christ.

45:00He needs to grant you repentance. And he will, if you ask him. Heavenly Father, we do not pretend to know all the mysteries between your sovereignty and man's responsibility, but we do know this. We can see it in Scripture. Father, no one is saved unless you first do a work. And Father, we ask for that work to be done in us. Jesus, we know that you are sitting at the right hand of the Father, that all authority and all power is yours. We see how you poured out your spirit upon those at Pentecost. We see how you poured your spirit out upon the Gentiles. And Father, we know that you are still active in calling out a people for yourselves. And Father, we just ask that you would do this work in us, have your way in us, even if we don't fully understand it. Father, we know enough from this passage to say, Father, we need your blessing. We need a turning of heart. Turn us from all of our depraved ways, from all of our unclean forms of entertainment, from all of our unclean words and unkind words and unforgiving hearts. And forgive us from our own pride, where we do not bow ourselves down to your word. And Father, just for all these things, Father, only you can change the heart. Ask you to change the heart of us individually, change the heart of us corporately as a body.

46:38And we take great delight, Father, because this is what you came for. In Jesus' name, amen.