Good morning, the Sermon text for today is Acts chapter 10. Now there was a man in Cesaria named Cornelius, a Centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devote man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. About the ninth hour of the day, 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 said, what is it, Lord? And he said to him, your bears and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now dispatched some men to Jobah and sent for a man named Simon who was also called Peter. He's 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 us who were in his personal attendance. And after he explained everything to them, he sent them to Jobah. On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up to the house top about the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and he was desiring to eat. But while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance. And he saw the sky opened up in 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 the air. A voice came to him, Peter, get up, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, by no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy or unclean. And again came to him, and 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. 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 his vision, the spirit said to him, behold, three men are looking for you. But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without missings for I have sent them myself. Peter went down to the men and said, behold, I'm the one you're looking for. What's the reason for which you have come? They said Cornelius is centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the entire nation of Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you. So he invited the men and gave them lodging and on the next day he got up and went away with them and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him. 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 worshipped him. But Peter raised him 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. That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I asked for what reason you have sent for me. 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 prayers have been heard and your alms have been remembered before God, therefore sent to Joppa and invite Simon who is also called Peter to come to you. He is staying at the house of Simon the Tanner by the sea. So I said for you immediately and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord. 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. 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. 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 raised him up on the third day and granted that he become visible. Not all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead. And he ordered us to preach to the people and solemnly to testify that this is the one who has been anointed 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. 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 Christ, then they asked him to stay on for a few days. The grass weather is in the flower fades. Please pray with me. Father, would you grant now for me that I would stand in line with the prophets bearing witness with them that everyone who believes in your Son, the Lord Jesus, would receive forgiveness of sins? And would you grant in this room today even being pleased to use my finger painting of the Savior? Would you be pleased from the portrait which your Spirit will draw forth now from this text to bring some into new life on this very day? Father, we look to you to be the one to speak to us and for your Spirit now to open hearts and to make them yield to your revealed will. Will you do that work now, Father? Acts are attention away from the clock and upon Jesus Christ and him crucified, raised and exalted at your right hand. I pray in Jesus' name. So our second week on Acts 10, it's going to be our last week on Acts 10, Lord willing. And I think that's a record two weeks on one chapter. And last week, one of the points I made was that in the book of Acts, everyone is always learning the gospel. That includes Christians and non-Christians. Now, we tend to think as those in the church that when we interact with non-Christians that they're the ones who are mainly learning and that we're the ones who are mainly teaching. Like, were the experts filling the void or the lack that the non-Christian has? Now, that's partially true but dangerously incomplete as I tried to show last week. Learning the gospel, we learn in the book of Acts is a two-way street and Jesus gives to his people a mission not only to deliver the gospel but to learn the gospel. And I said that Acts 10 is a case in point of this principle because what we see is an encounter between Peter who is a Christian and Cornelius and his followers who are non-Christians. And yet, right, what we looked at last week, it's really Peter who has the first bit of learning to do in this encounter, isn't it? And so what we looked at last week was how Peter had been taught by God about the inclusiveness of Jesus Christ. That was our theme last week, that there is no person, no category of person now because of the work of Jesus Christ and I want you mentally to imagine the most outlandish category of person right now. There is no such category of person or ethnic group or ability or disability or proclivity who is beyond the reach of the gospel. So great is the work of Jesus Christ, so complete, so full, so adequate, so sufficient that there is no longer any basis in the universe for saying this person is beyond reach and is untouchable. And this person isn't. God says in Jesus Christ that distinction that used to control the way Peter thought about the world is totally obliterated. So now the one question that God asks of everyone and the only question that we should ask is, what is your relationship to Jesus Christ? That's it. And how did Jesus bring that about? We saw that that principle of the wide openness of the door of the gospel reflects Jesus's own work and who he is because he was the cleanest of all. He was the cleanest one of all and he became through his ministry culminating ultimately on the cross. He didn't just identify with the uncle. I mean that would have been by itself astonishing that he would identify and hold on to somebody who was unclean. He didn't just identify with the unclean, he became the most unclean man who ever lived in history on the cross. He became sin, all the sins of his people, so he became the most unclean. That's the one who says to us no longer consider any man unholy or unclean because I speak to you as the one who became the most unclean. And if I want to make my gospel available to any one, who are you to second guess me? He was the one who was the most closely related to God. He was in the most intimate fellowship with God. He is the son of God who had lived for eternity in amazingly deep and rich fellowship with his father. He who was the closest God on the cross willingly for the sake of his people to keep the door of the gospel open willingly put himself in the position farther away from God than anyone else could ever be or had ever gone. Why? All to keep us available for the gospel to make sure that the door of the gospel was open for everyone. So who is it then who commands us not to consider any man unholy or unclean? That Jesus does. Now that was what we learned from Peter. He learns the inclusiveness of Jesus Christ. Now what's interesting is that Cornelius's side of this exchange really is in some ways the opposite lesson because Cornelius is learning as a Gentile, the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. See the Christian needs to hear that he wants us to reach our end wide and the non-Christian needs to hear there is only one way and only one man's works that will ever reconcile anyone to God in the whole world and it's Jesus Christ. So if you're not Christian here this morning, you need to hear this part of the gospel and so I've been praying this week that God would open your eyes to see your own life through the lens of Cornelius. So there's two aspects to that exclusivity. I want to talk about you this morning and the first is the exclusivity of Christ's person that there's only one way and the second is the exclusivity of his work. Only his work alone can reconcile you to God. Now as we talk about these points, they're each going to have something to say for Christians in the room just as much as non-Christian. So because we write like Peter, like the church in Acts, we are constantly learning the gospel, we are amateurs, we need review all the time. But in order for us to make sense of this, the first point that needs to be made is you have to see that Cornelius is not a Christian before he hears Peter's message. A lot of people have questioned about that. That's a very important threshold point to see that Cornelius is unsaved. He is not a righteous pagan. He is an unrighteous pagan. He is an unsaved non-Christian. Two, really three reasons. I know on the outline I said two and then I thought of another one. So I'm sorry about that. You have to get over it, okay? Three reasons to draw this conclusion. The first is look at what Peter says to Cornelius in verse 43. The punchline, if you will, of his sermon is this, of him, all the prophets are witness that through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. Jesus whom Cornelius did not know before this encounter, which is why God sent Peter to him. So in other words, Peter is talking to Cornelius. He's not announcing a salvation. He's not describing a salvation that Cornelius already possesses. He's telling him a bit of news that Cornelius is not yet heard. Saying, if you want forgiveness of sins, you have to believe in him. The second reason is, and this is a little unfair because you didn't have to read chapter 11. But if you go over to chapter 11, verse 14, chapter 11, when Peter is back in Jerusalem, and he, and manual people, if you're sitting next to somebody who doesn't have a Bible, take one of those P. Bibles right now and open it up for him and help them find Acts chapter 10, Acts chapter 11, verse 14, please. When Peter is back in Jerusalem and he is explaining to the Apostles what's happened, he says this, as he summarizes what Cornelius told Peter, he says, and he shall speak words to you. This is what Cornelius is reporting, the angel said to him, and now Peter is explaining that to the Apostles, and he shall speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household. And that's what the angel is saying to, excuse me, Cornelius, Peter is going to do, so notice that, what is necessary, therefore Cornelius' salvation, is a message, right? Peter has to be sent by God, or Cornelius will not be saved, and that message is words that have to be communicated. So Cornelius must hear a message, which he hasn't heard before, and notice also the tense of the verb, I which you will be saved. So Cornelius is not a Christian. Now the third reason really is a little more subtle, and that is, look at verses 4 and 5 of chapter 10. Remember, we know that Cornelius is a praying man, right? And we know the angel appears to him, and then in verse 4 the angel says to him, your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God, and all that means is that God is listening carefully. What was the content of those prayers? What was Cornelius praying about? I'll tell you how you know. You know what he was praying about from what the angel tells him to do. Notice, your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now the answer to those prayers is you dispatched some men to Japa, and you send for a man named Simon who is called Peter. In other words, what Cornelius has been praying about, I think, is, Lord, show me the way of salvation. You see, same thing happens in verses 31 and 32, and he said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms have been remembered before God, send therefore to Japa. So I think Cornelius has been a seeker, and God answers his prayer by revealing the gospel to him through Peter's message. Now, since Cornelius is not a Christian, Peter's sermon is very important to understand what he tells him, and the first thing that he tells Cornelius, or the first lesson I want to highlight, is about the exclusivity of the gospel, that there is one way and only one way to be Rex Aldogon. Look at verse 42. When Peter is preaching, he says, and he ordered us, this is the Lord, right? He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. What Peter is saying to Cornelius is that Jesus Christ is in a category all by himself. There is only one judge of the living and the dead, and God has appointed Jesus Christ to fill that role. Do you know that? Do you know that? One judge, that seems so culturally bigoted, doesn't it? That seems so absolutist, doesn't it? That seems so prideful, doesn't? That seems so arrogant. Not for God. There's only one way. Now we can't dress the gospel up, I wouldn't want to masquerade it. There's only one way. God has provided that way, that was through Jesus Christ, but God is the one who decides. So I tell you the same thing this morning, the biblical gospel is unambiguous, it's unflinching, it's unyielding, there is one way to God, and that way alone is Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter what culture you're from. Now if you were Cornelius, if you were Cornelius, I want you to think about Cornelius because I know the objections you have, because listen, I was there. Can you imagine being a 19-year-old on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley? Well maybe you don't want to do that during church service. But you talk about a marketplace of ideas, you talk about religious diversity, you talk about pluralism, multiculturalism, every kind of isms, it was all there. So I understand what it's like to be hit in the face with a claim of absolute truth in a place where there are so many other competitors for the assertion of absolute truth. Now Cornelius, Cornelius is more like us and more like our culture than we might be initially inclined to acknowledge. I want you to think about Cornelius's personal religious background. I don't know how hard it would have been for Cornelius to have Peter say to him, there is one judge of living in the dead and God appointed him, his name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. What was Cornelius's personal religious background? He was a Roman centurion. That means he has grown up and been trained by a polytheistic, many gods, kind of religious environment. And that's the type of environment where an absolute truth claim is just not going to be very well received, is it? A lot of options. In fact in that kind of environment and it's like any culture by the way where there are a lot of gods and I know a little bit about this from my time in Japan when you have multiple deities, the way you live is you master the art of juggling. You have to placate this deity or you have to ingratiate yourself with this deity and so you are constantly insecure because you are going to this shrine and to this shrine and to this shrine and when you take your exams you go to this one and you have to make this kind of offering. Do you notice the bombing last night in New Delhi? Did you see that? There's a Hindu festival that's going to start on Tuesday, right? One of many, however many millions of gods they have in Hinduism and so the way you survive in that culture like the way you would have survived in the Roman culture is you juggle. You have to keep everybody happy. So for Cornelius to hear that there's one judge of the living in the dead, that wouldn't have processed very easily for him in light of his religious background and yet he doesn't object, do you notice that? And secondly, what about his multicultural setting? Do you honestly think that the first century, the Roman Empire in the first century was less diverse than our culture right now? I don't think you can make that argument. I don't think you can say that the Roman Empire was a lesser marketplace of ideas than what we experience culturally. So I think not just about Cornelius's objections but I think about the kinds of objections we would raise in our cultural setting and that would be hey, hey, hey, wait a second, you tell me one judge of the living in the dead, what about those other faith options in the marketplace? And I say, wait a second, see the first century a little bit, understand the Roman world, this was a very culturally diverse empire, a lot of options. So you can't say that a claim of exclusivity would have worked better or been easier to swallow in the first century than it is today, that argument just doesn't work. Now, what's another objection that people constantly make? Well, that's kind of arrogant, right? I kind of alluded to that before, it's so arrogant for you to assert that there's only one way. Now, here's what's really important here, understand that your quarrel is not with me, your quarrel is not with Christians, if that's your objection, your issue is with God, I'm just telling you what the Bible says. So your quarrel is not with me, and it's not with Christians who assert this, it's with Jesus himself who says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through me. That's him, okay? And finally, I had somebody say to me a few weeks ago, I was having lunch with an unbeliever, a non-Christian and a Christian in this church, and he said, that's so preposite. When we were talking about the exclusivity of the gospel, he said, that's just preposterous. I said, what do you mean that's preposterous? He says, that's preposterous that there would be only one way. I said, why? He said, because that's preposterous. And I said to him, after some other stuff, I said, I don't think that is unreasonable. Well, why is it so unreasonable that if you begin with the assumption that God exists, one creator of all things and all people, you certainly wouldn't deny him the right to insist upon one way, would you? You wouldn't say that God doesn't have the right to impose a singular focused narrow condition for salvation, would you? You couldn't say that about God. He's God, right? He clearly has the right. So why isn't it reasonable? Why isn't it reasonable given the Bible's description of and diagnosis of the human condition that the nature of the human condition unredained by Christ is to say, we want to stay out of our life. We'll take the universe on our own terms. You stay out of our life. We don't want to listen to you. We want to rule. Why is it so unreasonable given that frame of reference that God would say, there's one way and one way and one way and one way. I don't think it is unreasonable. Maybe you haven't persuaded me. Now what's interesting to me is that Cornelius finds this exclusivity which is unyielding. He finds this good news. So did all of the people who are around him. They think this is good news. They don't think it's bad news. They rejoice. And so what I want to get across is the exclusivity. If you think the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as a threat, then you haven't understood what it's really about because what it's really about is that it's a gift and not a threat. It's a gift. Let's go back to Cornelius and his way of living, which was have to juggle as you do in any kind of situation where you have multiple kind of options or things or people or possessions that you look to to define your identity. You want to tell me that you would rather live according to the gospel of our popular culture, which sends you 10,000 different messages about things you need to do today in order to have a fulfilling life, a meaningful life, a life that will count, a life that won't be wasted. They're inconsistent messages. You want to tell me you'd rather be at the mercy of the ways of our popular culture and the false uspils. You would rather live according to the pseudo-savory of your jobs demands and the approval of people and the need to please people and the need to have money and have things. You want to live that way and juggle all those things and keep them all together because your family at some point is going to say, you're giving too much of your soul to your work and your work is going to save you. You're giving too much of your soul to your family. So how are you going to reconcile those? You want to live that way? I don't want to live that way. Our culture tells us to live that way and God comes in and says, it's just one question. There's really only one thing you need to embrace for lasting welfare, for lasting safety, for true enduring meaning, for true safety, for true peace. It's just one thing and it is to believe on my son, Jesus Christ. See, I think it's a relief that there is a way, that there's only one way. I find that incredibly encouraging to me that the quest is not endless. I find it incredibly encouraging that my deepest longing for the answer is met in one place, Jesus Christ. And that God means for that exclusivity to be an oasis and a place of safety, to eliminate confusion and bewilderment and dizziness and to provide a security for me. Thank you for the exclusivity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if you still feel that as a threat, I'm not sure that you have really evaluated your pseudo-saviors and your methods for basing your identity very accurately. Now, let's go on to Christ's work alone because this is really the more important aspect of what Cornelius is taught by Peter. And I guess the way I want to approach this is for you to see, first of all, that Cornelius really ought to make you uncomfortable. His life, this situation in Acts 10, should create a crisis in your life. Here's why. Go back to verse 2 in chapter 10 with me. And look at Cornelius' life. And this is an amazing life. It's a lot better than my life. God says, it's an unsaved life. Look at Cornelius' profile. Cornelius proves that our best, your best, will never be good enough for God. It will never be good enough. If you're counting on being able to polish your spiritual apple enough so that you can kind of work your way in by your own spiritual elbow greased into the presence of God. And God Cornelius is living proof that it will never work. Cornelius has spiritual authenticity. He's a devout man. And one who feared God. He's a man who's marked by spiritual disciplines. How about you? He prayed to God continually. He's a man of tremendous spiritual influence. You notice he got his whole household of people assembled. He's gotten all of his friends and relatives. Even the soldiers who hang around him have become God fears because of his character. He has massive influence. And not only that, but he's a sacrificial giver. And you know what? None of those things. Either separately or together is good enough for God. So that ought to create a crisis. If that is resulting in a life that God says is unsaved, that doesn't make a question. Then what in the world does? I'm confident that every one of those four things is part of each one of our survival strategies before God. We believe every one of those. We look to them as surrogates for the way we measure our spiritual health. Your pastor does. And they are not the gospel. And look at what Peter does. He says to this, he's the highest man who is probably the best case. Cornelius is the ideal Gentile to be the first one to come into the kingdom. He's perfect. Do you know why he's perfect? No, Mike, why is he perfect? He's perfect because he's not a phony. He's perfect because he represents absolutely piety at its best, superstitious, careful, following the formula, rigidly disciplined, do, do, do, make a list, make a list, make a list. And God says, unsaved, you need the gospel. You need my son. He's taken inventory now. Take an inventory of what you are banking on for your relationship to God. Is it those outward things? Is it what you do? Because if it is, it's not the gospel. What Peter does is something so amazing. It almost seems, if you read it carefully, it almost seems like a non-secret or like it doesn't follow. He looks at this totally pious man and who wants to know how to be saved. And you notice what Peter Sherman does? All he does is he talks about Jesus. He doesn't say anything to Cornelius, really. He says, okay, I see. You're a pious Gentile. Now I'm going to talk to you about Jesus. I'm going to talk to you about three things about Jesus. See, the answer, the answer for the crisis that Cornelius is unsaved but pious life creates. The answer is not Cornelius, you're not praying hard enough. Cornelius, you're not doing enough. You're not giving enough. Cornelius, you're not authentic enough. You don't go to church enough. The answer is not, you need to get circumcised you Gentile. That is not the answer. Make your list longer, Cornelius? No, that is not the answer Peter gives. The answer Peter gives is look at the life of Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. My friends, if that is not the focus then we have missed the lesson. God sent Peter to teach Cornelius. The exclusive focus of Peter Sherman is Jesus Christ. There's three parts to what he talks about. His life, he talks about his life in verses 37 through 39A. 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, with power. He had God seal of approval on him in a way that no other life ever had before. And how he went about and look at what he did with the power and how he went about doing good and healing all who were pressed by the devil. He was a liberator. What Peter is doing is he's showing us a life that God deserved from every single one of us. He's showing us what a true human life is. He's showing Cornelius, he's saying Cornelius you think you're pious, you are nothing comparison to Jesus Christ. You think your piety is great, what about Jesus Christ? Put your trophies, measure them alongside the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Friends you and I need to do that as well. What is it that we think we are producing in our life that could begin to compare with what Jesus Christ accomplished in his life, everything that we do, every act of obedience at some level is a caricature. And it's infected with self-interest and Jesus Christ's life is the life God deserved from us and which we did not give in. But the second part of what he talks about with respect to Jesus is his death by crucifixion. And this is a contrast to his life, his life which was a blessed life. With that kind of life, the life in 37 through 39A, he deserved the highest award that could ever be given in all the universe and what did he get instead? He got the lowest kind of death, a cursed death, the crucifixion, verse 39. And we are witnesses of all the things. He did both in the length of the Jews and in Jerusalem and they also put him to death by hanging him on a cross. You see not only was his life what God deserved from us but his death was what we deserve from God. The world thought he was nothing, thought he was valueless. I thought Jesus Christ was valueless before my conversion. I had no regard for his glory or his work or his love. My opinion of Jesus Christ was so low it didn't even register. It was low enough if the situation had presented itself I would have been there yelling crucify him with the rest of the crowd. But God had a different opinion of his son, didn't he? Which is the third part of Peter's message that his vindicating resurrection verses 40 and 41. God raised him up on the third day and granted that he should 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 arose from the dead. You see the world's verdicts to reject Christ. God's verdict was to vindicate him, to vindicate the value of his life. Now friends something very important is missing from Cornelius from the sermon Peter delivers to Cornelius. And you know what's missing? Us and our performance. The application point is not work harder, do harder, be harder. The application is you believe, become obsessed and identify with each one of the three of these parts identified by faith with the life of Jesus Christ and its perfect satisfaction. Of God's law, identify by faith. That is what it means to repent and believe. You are saying my life did not return to God what God deserved. His did. I turned in repentance from my sinful record and lay whole of his by faith and identifying by faith with his death saying there is no other route or recipe or strategy or formula to absolve me of my guilt or requirements before God. There is only one solution in the whole universe and it is sufficient and it is his death by crucifixion. So I identify with him and his death and say that is what I deserve. I take shelter there but it doesn't end there. Because faith, saving faith also identifies with his resurrection and in the finished verdict of God which says it's enough. Jesus Christ, my friends, is the only perfect offering ever made by man to God. He's the only perfect thing ever given by man to God. And his resurrection is God's indelible irrevocable seal that his son is infinitely worthy. The resurrection proves that in God's sight Jesus Christ is worthy of all of your life. Proves that he's worthy of your faith that you and I should be humbled by his holiness and repentance and that we should be exulting triumphantly and faith to receive this gift. The resurrection is proof of that. It is a demonstration of God's opinion of his son and the father is ferociously jealous of his son's reputation. He's ferociously jealous of Jesus Christ's honor and that jealousy leads God to command even Christians to let go of the things that we look to like Cornelius besides Jesus Christ to earn our favor with God. Friends, if you're a Christian and you are looking to something or someone else besides Jesus Christ and him alone for your standing with God and I know you are because I am too, then what God wants us to do is to be sorry about that. Because what that represents is a lower opinion of Jesus Christ and the value of his work than he is entitled to receive from us. And God wants us, he commands us to empty our hands and if you're non-Christian you have to do exactly the same thing. Empty your hands of every trophy, every trinket, every treasure, anything that you could possibly think you would bring before God and say I want to barter with you now for my deliverance. And God says what do you have to give me? That's what he's saying to Cornelius. He's saying let it go. Lay hold of my son, let go of your pride, the pride of your performance. Every time I make some aspect of my performance, the measurement for how I'm doing with God, I make God out to be a liar. It's a very serious matter. I make God out to be a liar. Because I say I don't believe you, Jesus Christ is enough for me to wake up this morning and to trust that your favor toward me as your adoptive son has not departed or dissipated during the evening. Did you come to worship this morning thinking it was a car wash again? I should have reminded you. It's not a car wash. If you're in Christ you're clean. To have a high view of Christ's work means you come in confidence. You don't come wavering. God has not been ambiguous toward his people. There is nothing subtle about the cross. There is nothing subtle about God's verdict. It's an empty cross. He's raised from the dead. He's been vindicated. Everybody who is in Christ is free. There is nothing unclear about that. The summons to each of us this morning is exactly what Peter Summon Cornelius to do is not to come and do. It is not to come and do. It is to come and rest in what has already been done for you by Jesus Christ. That way he receives all the credit and all the honor and all the glory and in that exclusivity we discover true grace. Not some mixed hybrid of our effort and the grace of God but a hundred percent grace. The crisis of a pious life that is an unsaved life is something you need to take seriously if you're in non-Christian. You need to know the God of the Bible who says whatever your strategy is if it is a Christless strategy it is a failing strategy. And God is here this morning and he is ready to receive you. He is so ready to receive you but you have to bring your heart into alignment with him. You have to agree with him about the worth of Jesus Christ and his exclusivity that he alone could do this for you. Alone could reconcile you to God as the one who has made himself the most unclean of all on his cross and who has been vindicated to be the holiest of all by his father. He now calls for you to repent and believe in him this morning and he will give you new life if you do so. Let's pray. Father now your son who is glorious and who is worthy of our highest opinion stands before us. As those who have already known him and locked with him's amateurs for many years, Lord forgive us as Christians for forgiving. What is so basic and at the heart of Peter's sermon which is that for what is wrong with my life I can't look inside but I have to look outside to the one whose righteousness was accomplished. Whose righteousness was vindicated outside of me in Jesus Christ and so I have to look away from himself and to him just as you do this morning. Help me to remember that. Help all of my brothers and sisters to remember that and for the non-Christians in this room father how I plead with you to just rip open the eyes of their heart now so that they would see their lives for what they are. They would see that they have been putting their trust in things that are not God and that can never bring them into reconciled fellowship with you and show them Christ, show them your sons, show them his eerness to receive any and all who will come to him. Show them him, make his promise for them, live this morning so that they might receive forgiveness through his name. I pray in his name. Amen.