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<v Speaker 1>Good morning everyone.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for being here on this spring day, Thankful for spring to arrive this week.

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<v Speaker 1>I hear all your glad sounds At this time.

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<v Speaker 1>Our children ages 3 to 6, can be dismissed to Children's Church right downstairs.

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<v Speaker 1>If you want to make your way out right now and follow the teacher downstairs and we are going to continue our sermon series in the book of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament and if you'd like to follow along in a sermon outline, our ushers have one available right now.

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<v Speaker 1>Or if you want to borrow a Bible and follow along, you could get one of those too.

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<v Speaker 1>I'd like to start with a very deep question.

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<v Speaker 1>How do you know if you're really from Chicago?

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, no, catcalling, that was my best punchline and you just gave it away, Lila.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you so much.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, let me continue with.

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<v Speaker 1>How do you know you're from Chicago?

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<v Speaker 1>You understand what lake effect means, and sometime you have switched from heat to air conditioning in the same day.

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<v Speaker 1>You know you're from Chicago.

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<v Speaker 1>You drink pop, not soda, and you understand the names of the interstates Stevenson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Dan Ryan, Edens and you call them expressways, no matter where you are around this area.

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<v Speaker 1>When you hear the word downtown, you know it means downtown Chicago, and you can distinguish between the following area codes 847-630-773-708-312 and 815, if you're from Chicago.

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<v Speaker 1>You know you're from Chicago, though, as Lila started to help us with.

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<v Speaker 1>If you know the number for Empire Carpet, all together now 588-2300.

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<v Speaker 1>There you go, Thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>I should probably get some sort of commission for that, but I won't press it Now.

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<v Speaker 1>That's how you know if you're from Chicago.

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<v Speaker 1>But how do you know you've been converted to Jesus Christ and become a Christian?

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<v Speaker 1>That's what Luke is helping us understand in the book of Acts as he tells the story of the early church and conversions to Christ.

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<v Speaker 1>He's talked about, so so far, thousands of people converted to Christ at the very beginning of Acts, in Acts chapter 2.

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<v Speaker 1>But then, as I said before, he slows the stories way down and looks at individuals who are converted to Christ to help us understand what that means.

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<v Speaker 1>And first we looked at the foreign Ethiopian eunuch in chapter 8, who was converted to Christ.

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<v Speaker 1>A foreign Ethiopian eunuch In chapter 8, he was converted to Christ.

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<v Speaker 1>Then we saw the Jewish Pharisee, Saul, converted to Christ in chapter 9.

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<v Speaker 1>Now we began Acts 10 a couple of weeks ago, where we're watching how the first Gentile, the Roman centurion, Cornelius, was converted.

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<v Speaker 1>I've always marveled at how they were able to take pictures back in the first century.

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<v Speaker 1>Marvel at how they were able to take pictures back in the first century.

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<v Speaker 1>From the story of Cornelius the Roman soldier, the centurion, we've learned several things so far that are involved in every single conversion to Christ.

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<v Speaker 1>From Cornelius we learned first somehow, someway, God begins to draw a person into himself Circumstances, people.

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<v Speaker 1>Somehow, someway God begins to draw a person into himself Circumstances, people.

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<v Speaker 1>Somehow God is going to get them in context where he can speak to them.

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<v Speaker 1>Second, we learned that in order to be converted, a person needs to first hear and understand the gospel of Jesus, specifically who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and that he rose from the dead and is alive, now ruling from heaven.

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<v Speaker 1>Next third thing we learned that in order to be a converted, person must believe the gospel.

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<v Speaker 1>Not just hear it, understand it, but believe it, Not trusting in their own goodness to be pleasing to God, but trusting in Jesus alone to save them from God's wrath and judgment by his grace.

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<v Speaker 1>The call to conversion is not a call to become more moral or Christianly or kind.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a call to believe in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as your Savior.

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<v Speaker 1>Why?

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<v Speaker 1>Because you can't save yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>This is a huge stumbling block in my years in ministry that when I've talked to people about the gospel, many are trying to, and I was one of them.

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<v Speaker 1>Many are trying to be their own Savior by being good enough for God, and I can pretty much bet, if you go up to somebody and say you know what, you need to be converted to Christ.

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<v Speaker 1>They'll probably say me Converted.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm a good person, I'm better than most, I didn't commit murder or rob a bank or anything.

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<v Speaker 1>Their response usually highlights the person's need for Jesus.

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<v Speaker 1>In other words, the ones who think they are spiritually okay without Jesus are actually not okay.

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<v Speaker 1>That was really my story to begin with.

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<v Speaker 1>I had a number of people try to share the gospel with me.

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<v Speaker 1>As a young man I even went to some evangelistic crusades.

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<v Speaker 1>It just went over my head.

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<v Speaker 1>But one instance I remember in particular a friend of mine shared the gospel that I needed to believe in Jesus in order to be saved, to go to heaven, and he said do you want to pray right now?

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<v Speaker 1>And I said, nah, I'm good.

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<v Speaker 1>And his response was why would you want to go to hell and I'm like what are you talking about?

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<v Speaker 1>Go to hell?

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not going to hell, I'm not that bad.

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<v Speaker 1>Little did I know at the time that Jesus once said to the most religious and moral people in Israel you will die in your sins unless you believe that.

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<v Speaker 1>I am he meaning the Messiah?

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<v Speaker 1>That's pretty profound.

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<v Speaker 1>If the gospel of Jesus is true, that we are not saved by our good works, or any works by that matter, but by grace, God's grace, through our faith in Jesus, then listen to me, Like I did.

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<v Speaker 1>We must repent of our good works and our bad thinking that that's good enough.

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<v Speaker 1>We must believe in Jesus.

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<v Speaker 1>That was the third thing we found in Cornelius' life that led to his conversion.

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<v Speaker 1>So today we're going to take a final look at Cornelius' conversion this devout, he was devout and religious and we're going to see that this last thing is common to all conversions to Christ, and that is receiving the Holy Spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>Nobody who has converted to Christ, who has not received the Spirit, is actually converted.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's read about it in Acts, chapter 10,.

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<v Speaker 1>If you want to follow along, I'm going to just back up to verse 38, get the context going and I'll read to the end of the chapter, Peter meets Cornelius and his family and others who have gathered in Cornelius's house in Caesarea.

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<v Speaker 1>Peter says to them you know of Jesus of Nazareth how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

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<v Speaker 1>We are witnesses of all the things he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem.

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<v Speaker 1>They also put him to death by hanging him on a cross, but 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.

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<v Speaker 1>And he ordered us to preach to the people and solemnly testify that this is the one who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.

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<v Speaker 1>Of him, all the prophets bear witness that through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.

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<v Speaker 1>And while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message, All the circumcised believers, the Jewish 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.

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<v Speaker 1>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, Kenny, and he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and they asked him to stay on for a few more days.

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<v Speaker 1>We see two main things that follow Cornelius's conversion that are true, I believe, of every single person who is converted to Christ.

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<v Speaker 1>First, there will be an internal spiritual realization of the Spirit's presence in us, Jesus' presence in us.

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<v Speaker 1>Second, there will be external manifestation that the Spirit is working through us.

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<v Speaker 1>Two things internal, external.

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<v Speaker 1>First, a person is going to receive an internal spiritual realization.

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<v Speaker 1>Something just happened to me.

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<v Speaker 1>The Holy Spirit has come into me.

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<v Speaker 1>When a person believes the gospel of Jesus, the scripture tells they receive.

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<v Speaker 1>They don't earn or merit, they receive the Holy Spirit in them.

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<v Speaker 1>They are born again spiritually.

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<v Speaker 1>A person who's truly converted realizes something has come into them, fallen on them from the outside, just like the Spirit did at Pentecost.

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<v Speaker 1>Look at how Luke describes what happened to Cornelius.

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<v Speaker 1>We're going to just focus in today on the amazing thing that's happening here.

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<v Speaker 1>In verse 43 and 44 of Acts 10, Luke says, or Peter says of him all the prophets bear witness that through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.

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<v Speaker 1>Believes receives, Not believes, and becomes moral.

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<v Speaker 1>Then they receive no, no, no.

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<v Speaker 1>Believes receives.

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<v Speaker 1>And while Peter was still speaking those words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen, there it is.

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<v Speaker 1>Luke says the Holy Spirit fell on them.

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<v Speaker 1>Something from the outside came upon them and in them.

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<v Speaker 1>That's conversion.

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<v Speaker 1>Peter goes on to describe what happened to them as receiving the Holy Spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>In verse 47, no one can refuse water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit, just as we did.

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<v Speaker 1>Did you see this?

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<v Speaker 1>It wasn't baptism, it wasn't any good work done by Cornelius that saved and transformed him.

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<v Speaker 1>It was the actual presence, internal presence of the Holy Spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>That was the first thing.

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<v Speaker 1>This just echoes what Jesus said, what Paul has said in the rest of this scripture.

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus said to Nicodemus that being born again happens to us when we believe in him.

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<v Speaker 1>John, chapter 3, verses 3 to 8, Jesus answered and said to Nicodemus truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

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<v Speaker 1>Nicodemus said to him well, how can a man be born when he's old?

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<v Speaker 1>He can't enter into the second time.

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<v Speaker 1>His mother's womb can be born, can he?

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus answered okay, listen, Truly, truly, I say unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

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<v Speaker 1>That which is born of flesh is flesh.

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<v Speaker 1>You were born a little baby.

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<v Speaker 1>That which is born of flesh is flesh.

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<v Speaker 1>You were born a little baby.

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<v Speaker 1>That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't be amazed at what I'm saying to you.

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<v Speaker 1>You must be born again.

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<v Speaker 1>Look, the wind blows where it wishes.

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<v Speaker 1>You hear the sound of it.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't know where it comes, where it's going.

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<v Speaker 1>So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>Something's coming upon them.

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<v Speaker 1>Paul confirms this in his letter to Titus.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm just going to give you a couple, because this is not just some unique, standalone thing happening in Acts.

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<v Speaker 1>This is true, for what conversion is all about?

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<v Speaker 1>Titus 3, 3-7, Paul says you know, Titus, for we ourselves were once foolish, we were disobedient, we were deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

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<v Speaker 1>But when the kindness of God, our Savior, and his love for mankind appeared, how did that appear?

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus Christ, when that appeared?

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<v Speaker 1>When he appeared, he saved us, not on the basis of deeds, which we've done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that, being justified by his grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

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<v Speaker 1>Notice that God saves us not by our good works, but by his grace, through the regeneration, renewal of the Holy Spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>You know what regeneration means?

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<v Speaker 1>It means to be regenerated, be born again, regenerated, reborn.

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<v Speaker 1>Be born again, Regenerated, Reborn.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not a matter real conversion.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not a matter of exercising your will, saying I'm going to become a Christian now.

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<v Speaker 1>No, it's not a matter of turning over a new life.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to do all kinds of Christian things, I'll go to church, or trying to work harder at being good.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not about that.

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<v Speaker 1>Or it's not about adopting Christian teachings.

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<v Speaker 1>That's not conversion.

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<v Speaker 1>Conversion happens when you believe in Jesus, you will receive the Holy Spirit and you'll know it.

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<v Speaker 1>When the Holy Spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>I got to ask this.

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<v Speaker 1>This is.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't run over this.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry this is a long sermon because I got to stop talking about Cornelius and move on.

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<v Speaker 1>When did the Holy Spirit come upon?

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<v Speaker 1>Listen carefully.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's what the text said.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen again upon.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen carefully, here's what the text said.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen again, Verse 44.

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<v Speaker 1>While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word.

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<v Speaker 1>What words were they listening to?

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<v Speaker 1>Peter was speaking explaining the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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<v Speaker 1>He died for our sins on the cross.

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<v Speaker 1>He rose again and everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins and become heirs of eternal life.

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<v Speaker 1>That's the gospel.

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<v Speaker 1>That's what they're listening to Somewhere in there as he's speaking.

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<v Speaker 1>They get it, they believe it, they put their trust in Jesus and the Holy Spirit comes in.

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<v Speaker 1>That's conversion.

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<v Speaker 1>But you might say how do we know that Jesus took the curse of sin for us and he didn't just die?

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<v Speaker 1>We know because he rose from the dead, the resurrection.

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<v Speaker 1>God raised him from the dead.

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<v Speaker 1>The apostles and many others saw him alive.

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<v Speaker 1>They ate and drank with him.

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<v Speaker 1>That's how we know.

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<v Speaker 1>Jesus' death was not just a death but a death for you, for me, for everyone who believes in him.

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<v Speaker 1>The Holy Spirit came down on them.

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<v Speaker 1>When they heard the word of the gospel of Jesus and believed, they were converted.

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<v Speaker 1>A fundamental spiritual transformation occurs inside everyone who believes in Jesus.

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<v Speaker 1>The Spirit just is manifesting the presence of Jesus in us.

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<v Speaker 1>The Apostle Paul I said this before, but to me this is what he says to the Gentile Ephesian believers in the book of Ephesus Just beautiful summary of the process of conversion Ephesians 1, 13 and 14.

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<v Speaker 1>In him he says to the Gentile Ephesians believers in him Christ, you also, after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel I mean Jesus died for your sins, rose from the dead, gives eternal life forgiveness to everyone who believes.

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<v Speaker 1>That's the gospel you listen to the message of the truth, the gospel, and then, having also believed, you were then sealed by the Holy Spirit, a promise he's given to us as a pledge of our future inheritance in heaven to the praise of his glory.

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<v Speaker 1>Notice the same pattern of conversion with the evisions we saw with Cornelius.

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<v Speaker 1>They listened to the gospel, they believed in Jesus, they received the Holy Spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>That's conversion.

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<v Speaker 1>And the first evidence, then, is an internal realization that the Lord, the Holy Spirit, has somehow come upon me and in me.

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<v Speaker 1>That brings us to the second evidence of a real conversion that we see here in this passage.

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<v Speaker 1>There will be external, physical manifestations of the Spirit's new life in us, coming out of us.

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<v Speaker 1>Luke reports that there were actually two that happened here, two physical, outward manifestations of the Spirit's presence in them, and the first thing that happened was they began speaking in tongues.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, everybody on the count of three, let's all speak in tongues if you have this.

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<v Speaker 1>No, no, okay, the holy spirit, get.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's the deal.

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<v Speaker 1>The holy spirit gives every single person who believes in jesus, who's converted, a spiritual gift or gifts to minister to others and glorify god.

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<v Speaker 1>Paul mentions this in first corinthians 12, verses 4 to 7.

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<v Speaker 1>He says Now, there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>There are varieties of ministry, but in the same Lord.

00:19:58.604 --> 00:20:10.827
<v Speaker 1>There are varieties of effects of those ministries, but the same God who works all things and all persons, but to each one is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

00:20:10.827 --> 00:20:16.807
<v Speaker 1>Peter even echoes this in his first letter later in the New Testament, 1 Peter 4.10.

00:20:16.807 --> 00:20:18.579
<v Speaker 1>He says as each one.

00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:21.426
<v Speaker 1>Each one has received a special gift.

00:20:21.426 --> 00:20:22.938
<v Speaker 1>Well, use it.

00:20:22.938 --> 00:20:26.547
<v Speaker 1>Employ it in serving one another, not yourself.

00:20:26.547 --> 00:20:30.685
<v Speaker 1>Serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

00:20:32.654 --> 00:20:37.544
<v Speaker 1>In Cornelius' case and those there, he was given the gift of speaking in tongues.

00:20:37.544 --> 00:20:43.400
<v Speaker 1>What does that mean?

00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:57.207
<v Speaker 1>Well, in the book of Acts it means that people were given the ability to speak in another language that they had never learned before, immediately, and they would be understood by those who spoke that language.

00:20:57.207 --> 00:20:59.383
<v Speaker 1>That's what the speaking in tongues in Acts means.

00:20:59.383 --> 00:21:02.984
<v Speaker 1>But don't get hung up on speaking in tongues.

00:21:02.984 --> 00:21:14.486
<v Speaker 1>That was just one gift, One way the Holy Spirit was manifesting his presence in these new believers, but it wasn't manifested in all believers.

00:21:16.876 --> 00:21:23.439
<v Speaker 1>Speaking in tongues is only mentioned three times in the whole book of Acts Three times.

00:21:23.439 --> 00:21:28.645
<v Speaker 1>The Jews who believed at Pentecost in Acts 2 spoke in tongues.

00:21:28.645 --> 00:21:32.344
<v Speaker 1>Other people there could understand them in their own language.

00:21:32.344 --> 00:21:35.298
<v Speaker 1>They came from all over the region.

00:21:35.298 --> 00:21:41.630
<v Speaker 1>The Gentiles who believed at Caesarea here in Acts 10 spoke in tongues.

00:21:41.630 --> 00:21:49.268
<v Speaker 1>And then we'll see the Gentiles who believed in Ephesus in Acts, chapter 19, spoke in tongues.

00:21:50.916 --> 00:21:58.564
<v Speaker 1>There were many people converted in the book of Acts, but this is only one of three places they spoke in tongues after being converted.

00:21:58.564 --> 00:22:05.144
<v Speaker 1>Speaking in tongues then was not a normative consequence of being born again.

00:22:05.144 --> 00:22:07.327
<v Speaker 1>It was one consequence.

00:22:07.327 --> 00:22:09.653
<v Speaker 1>I could go on.

00:22:09.653 --> 00:22:13.525
<v Speaker 1>The Ethiopian eunuch didn't speak in tongues when he was converted in Acts chapter 8.

00:22:13.525 --> 00:22:17.940
<v Speaker 1>Lydia won't speak in tongues when she's converted, in Acts 16.

00:22:20.165 --> 00:22:24.423
<v Speaker 1>Not normative Special gift given for specific reasons.

00:22:24.423 --> 00:22:28.323
<v Speaker 1>Why God has given you the gift he's given you.

00:22:28.323 --> 00:22:34.044
<v Speaker 1>There's a reason, and we just heard part of it to serve one another, not yourself, it's not for you.

00:22:34.044 --> 00:22:34.935
<v Speaker 1>It's a reason and we just heard part of it to serve one another, not yourself.

00:22:34.935 --> 00:22:36.398
<v Speaker 1>It's not for you, it's for us.

00:22:39.247 --> 00:22:43.778
<v Speaker 1>There were many times in the book of Acts that the Holy Spirit even came down on people.

00:22:43.778 --> 00:22:51.221
<v Speaker 1>It says the Holy Spirit came down on those who were praying in Acts 4, but there was no speaking in tongues.

00:22:51.221 --> 00:22:53.006
<v Speaker 1>He came down on Paul in Acts 9, but there was no speaking in tongues.

00:22:53.006 --> 00:22:56.961
<v Speaker 1>He came down on Paul in Acts 9, but there was no speaking in tongues.

00:22:56.961 --> 00:23:03.644
<v Speaker 1>But this time they're speaking in tongues.

00:23:03.644 --> 00:23:05.436
<v Speaker 1>Why?

00:23:05.436 --> 00:23:14.204
<v Speaker 1>It's a sign that the Holy Spirit will come even on Gentiles who believe in Jesus.

00:23:14.204 --> 00:23:18.201
<v Speaker 1>Peter gets it, you see.

00:23:18.201 --> 00:23:21.224
<v Speaker 1>He gets the significance of what's happening.

00:23:21.224 --> 00:23:25.083
<v Speaker 1>When Peter saw and heard them speaking in tongues.

00:23:25.083 --> 00:23:26.005
<v Speaker 1>It dawned on him.

00:23:26.005 --> 00:23:29.784
<v Speaker 1>You know what this is, what happened to us at the beginning.

00:23:29.784 --> 00:23:35.578
<v Speaker 1>When all these Jews came to faith in Jesus, they started speaking in tongues.

00:23:35.578 --> 00:23:37.557
<v Speaker 1>Now look at what's happening.

00:23:37.557 --> 00:23:40.836
<v Speaker 1>All these Gentiles believe for the first time.

00:23:40.836 --> 00:23:43.719
<v Speaker 1>These Gentiles are believing in Jesus and they're speaking in tongues.

00:23:43.719 --> 00:23:47.278
<v Speaker 1>Hmm, this is the Gentiles' Pentecost.

00:23:47.278 --> 00:23:54.173
<v Speaker 1>You see Now what's going to happen after this.

00:23:54.619 --> 00:24:11.846
<v Speaker 1>In Acts, chapter 11, Peter and they're going to go back and talk to the other believers, the Jewish believers, about what has happened, this amazing thing that's happened.

00:24:11.846 --> 00:24:15.444
<v Speaker 1>The Gentiles who believed in Jesus have received the Holy Spirit.

00:24:15.444 --> 00:24:20.364
<v Speaker 1>In Acts, chapter 11, Peter's going to recount the story almost verbatim.

00:24:20.364 --> 00:24:21.509
<v Speaker 1>So guess what?

00:24:21.509 --> 00:24:22.892
<v Speaker 1>We're not going to spend a lot of time.

00:24:22.892 --> 00:24:27.425
<v Speaker 1>I'm not going to spend a lot of time preaching in chapter 11, because I already did.

00:24:28.601 --> 00:24:29.747
<v Speaker 1>It's a recapitulation.

00:24:29.747 --> 00:24:34.666
<v Speaker 1>But here I'm going to read this portion in Acts, chapter 11.

00:24:34.666 --> 00:24:40.051
<v Speaker 1>He's explaining what happened in Caesarea to these other believers.

00:24:40.051 --> 00:25:02.971
<v Speaker 1>He says in Acts 11, 15 to 18, he says as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as he did upon us at the beginning, and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he used to say John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

00:25:02.971 --> 00:25:16.201
<v Speaker 1>Therefore, if God gave to them the same gift as he gave to us also, after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I should stand in God's way.

00:25:16.201 --> 00:25:26.166
<v Speaker 1>When they heard this, they quieted down, glorified God, saying well, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.

00:25:26.166 --> 00:25:31.385
<v Speaker 1>It was an amazing, amazing juncture in the advancement of the gospel.

00:25:32.109 --> 00:25:42.228
<v Speaker 1>Speaking in tongues then was just an external confirmation to Peter and the other Jewish believers that Cornelius and those Gentiles had received the Holy Spirit just like they did.

00:25:42.228 --> 00:25:51.107
<v Speaker 1>Peter sees this as a Pentecost for the Gentiles, Acts 11.15,.

00:25:51.107 --> 00:25:55.000
<v Speaker 1>As they began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he did upon us.

00:25:55.000 --> 00:26:02.900
<v Speaker 1>And also you realize it was the same for the Gentiles as it was for them at Pentecost.

00:26:02.900 --> 00:26:08.092
<v Speaker 1>They didn't speak gibberish, they spoke in an actual language they never learned before.

00:26:08.092 --> 00:26:10.403
<v Speaker 1>That's the same as they did in Acts 2.

00:26:10.403 --> 00:26:18.295
<v Speaker 1>I think what's happening is in the most vivid possible way.

00:26:18.295 --> 00:26:26.192
<v Speaker 1>God is saying to Peter and these other Jewish believers that the gospel is for the Jews and the Gentiles.

00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:31.471
<v Speaker 1>No language or culture is better suited to Christianity than any other.

00:26:31.471 --> 00:26:35.351
<v Speaker 1>In Christ there's no racial or cultural superiority.

00:26:35.351 --> 00:26:44.911
<v Speaker 1>The gospel of Jesus is universal across every language, society, cultural, boundary, tongue or whatever, Across the board.

00:26:44.911 --> 00:26:57.099
<v Speaker 1>The Holy Spirit comes into every culture and recreates Christianity in that culture culture and recreates Christianity in that culture.

00:26:57.099 --> 00:27:14.567
<v Speaker 1>Initially, you know, Peter was resistant to go speak to the Gentiles due to his racial prejudices, his view that the Gentiles were unclean according to Jewish law and if he did anything with them and make him unclean, in other words disqualified to worship in the temple with him.

00:27:14.567 --> 00:27:17.419
<v Speaker 1>And make him unclean, In other words disqualified to worship in the temple.

00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:27.891
<v Speaker 1>Speaking in tongues was God's way of helping Peter understand that when the gospel has its way in your heart and you get it, you won't have any racial superiority.

00:27:27.891 --> 00:27:31.926
<v Speaker 1>You're saved by grace, not because you're something special.

00:27:31.926 --> 00:27:35.384
<v Speaker 1>You're saved by grace not because you're something special.

00:27:35.384 --> 00:27:38.210
<v Speaker 1>Peter's learning to walk in line with the Spirit here.

00:27:38.210 --> 00:27:41.273
<v Speaker 1>He's learned to walk in line with the gospel.

00:27:41.273 --> 00:27:43.842
<v Speaker 1>There is no one who is worthy.

00:27:43.842 --> 00:27:46.529
<v Speaker 1>We are all debtors to God's grace in Jesus Christ.

00:27:46.529 --> 00:28:10.911
<v Speaker 1>Not everyone will speak to others in a different language as evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit, but there will be some sort of external evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence and you will receive some spiritual gift to help the body of Christ serve in the church.

00:28:10.911 --> 00:28:21.852
<v Speaker 1>But not only did Peter and the others see the Spirit manifested in speaking tongues, Luke also mentions one other physical manifestation that is common to all conversions.

00:28:21.852 --> 00:28:29.490
<v Speaker 1>How did they know they were transformed by the Spirit?

00:28:29.490 --> 00:28:34.265
<v Speaker 1>They heard them, they listened to them.

00:28:34.265 --> 00:28:36.230
<v Speaker 1>Praise God.

00:28:36.230 --> 00:28:39.885
<v Speaker 1>What's the big deal about that?

00:28:39.885 --> 00:28:40.924
<v Speaker 1>Anybody can praise God.

00:28:40.924 --> 00:28:46.509
<v Speaker 1>Oh see, when you're filled with the Spirit, your worship is transformed.

00:28:48.842 --> 00:28:56.327
<v Speaker 1>In the Bible, worship is defined as ascribing ultimate value to someone or something.

00:28:56.327 --> 00:29:01.142
<v Speaker 1>Ultimate, no one More important.

00:29:01.142 --> 00:29:04.351
<v Speaker 1>You value it, you cherish it.

00:29:04.351 --> 00:29:08.680
<v Speaker 1>The Bible says that even the most irreligious people worship something.

00:29:08.680 --> 00:29:12.816
<v Speaker 1>Everybody worships something, something.

00:29:12.816 --> 00:29:13.559
<v Speaker 1>Everybody worships something.

00:29:13.559 --> 00:29:26.381
<v Speaker 1>Everybody puts ultimate value on something that they live for, that they desire more than anything else, that gives us meaning and purpose in life.

00:29:26.381 --> 00:29:36.884
<v Speaker 1>Even if it's your own happiness as that ultimate value, you won't stop seeking, striving for this ultimate value.

00:29:36.884 --> 00:29:38.489
<v Speaker 1>I just want to be happy.

00:29:38.489 --> 00:29:51.951
<v Speaker 1>Well, that's what you're worshiping, Even if it's just our independence from everything else that becomes our ultimate value.

00:29:51.951 --> 00:29:56.148
<v Speaker 1>And whatever's the ultimate value, you can't serve both God and man.

00:29:56.148 --> 00:29:59.503
<v Speaker 1>And Jesus said about one area you can't do it.

00:29:59.503 --> 00:30:03.647
<v Speaker 1>There's just one, One ultimate master.

00:30:03.647 --> 00:30:10.602
<v Speaker 1>Whatever your place is, whatever you're placing an ultimate value in whatever.

00:30:10.602 --> 00:30:12.429
<v Speaker 1>The main thing is driving your life.

00:30:12.429 --> 00:30:18.788
<v Speaker 1>That's what you actually worship and that's what controls you.

00:30:18.788 --> 00:30:21.828
<v Speaker 1>That's what you're being conformed to.

00:30:21.828 --> 00:30:27.191
<v Speaker 1>You realize whatever we worship conforms us to it.

00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:32.148
<v Speaker 1>Psalm 130, I could go in several places, but I won't.

00:30:32.148 --> 00:30:42.090
<v Speaker 1>Psalm 135, verse 18, Psalmist makes an insightful observation those who make idols will be like them.

00:30:42.090 --> 00:30:48.048
<v Speaker 1>Yes, everyone who trusts in them.

00:30:48.048 --> 00:30:54.770
<v Speaker 1>If your idol is money, you're going to take on all the characteristics of finance.

00:30:54.770 --> 00:31:03.265
<v Speaker 1>You'll live for it, you'll serve it, bow down to it just to get more of it or whatever.

00:31:03.265 --> 00:31:06.579
<v Speaker 1>Idols are plentiful in our culture.

00:31:06.579 --> 00:31:10.964
<v Speaker 1>They represent ultimate value and meaning to people.

00:31:10.964 --> 00:31:14.431
<v Speaker 1>There's the source of my ultimate happiness.

00:31:14.431 --> 00:31:19.990
<v Speaker 1>I will do whatever it wants so that I can get its promise.

00:31:19.990 --> 00:31:21.712
<v Speaker 1>That's worship.

00:31:24.123 --> 00:31:34.250
<v Speaker 1>Now, when the Holy Spirit comes in and changes you from the inside, what you worship as the source of your happiness and meaning and your ultimate reason to live changes.

00:31:34.250 --> 00:31:51.830
<v Speaker 1>His presence is really able to convince you that the Lord, Jesus Christ, God Almighty, is your ultimate value.

00:31:51.830 --> 00:31:54.207
<v Speaker 1>Look at what he's done for you.

00:31:54.207 --> 00:31:57.027
<v Speaker 1>Look at what he's given you.

00:31:57.027 --> 00:32:10.491
<v Speaker 1>So when Peter and others heard them speaking in tongues and that it was immediately followed these believers, they just praised God, exalted him.

00:32:10.491 --> 00:32:16.410
<v Speaker 1>Gentiles, see how did they know?

00:32:16.410 --> 00:32:26.626
<v Speaker 1>Because something happened to them Christ was now the ultimate value and precious treasure in their lives.

00:32:26.626 --> 00:32:29.086
<v Speaker 1>Look at what he did for them in grace.

00:32:29.086 --> 00:32:38.008
<v Speaker 1>Now I've got to follow up with praising God.

00:32:38.008 --> 00:32:38.348
<v Speaker 1>Speaking to.

00:32:38.348 --> 00:32:41.569
<v Speaker 1>These are just two things that happen in Caesarea.

00:32:41.920 --> 00:32:44.730
<v Speaker 1>There are other spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament.

00:32:44.730 --> 00:32:47.705
<v Speaker 1>You may have one of those.

00:32:47.705 --> 00:32:54.726
<v Speaker 1>Praising God, though, is universal, that's obvious.

00:32:54.726 --> 00:32:57.469
<v Speaker 1>Our object of worship changes.

00:32:57.469 --> 00:33:03.148
<v Speaker 1>But in addition, Apostle Paul mentions other evidences the Spirit's work in us, coming out of us.

00:33:03.148 --> 00:33:25.184
<v Speaker 1>He calls it the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, 22 and 23 love, joy, peace not anxiety, kindness toward others not meanness, Goodness in thoughts, attitudes and deeds, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control All things.

00:33:25.184 --> 00:33:27.570
<v Speaker 1>Spirit is manifesting through us.

00:33:32.321 --> 00:33:34.829
<v Speaker 1>So what can we learn from Cornelius' story?

00:33:34.829 --> 00:33:37.366
<v Speaker 1>First, notice Acts 10.44.

00:33:37.366 --> 00:33:37.688
<v Speaker 1>Again.

00:33:37.688 --> 00:33:43.390
<v Speaker 1>While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening.

00:33:43.390 --> 00:33:48.887
<v Speaker 1>Are you listening to the Word of God when it's taught or preached?

00:33:48.887 --> 00:33:58.606
<v Speaker 1>Do you realize that's the juncture where the Holy Spirit actually does something, when our hearts open?

00:33:58.606 --> 00:34:07.426
<v Speaker 1>Listening to God's Word is more than just hearing the words.

00:34:07.426 --> 00:34:13.748
<v Speaker 1>It's seeing, it's interacting with the Lord in those words, Seeing.

00:34:13.748 --> 00:34:16.592
<v Speaker 1>I need to know this.

00:34:16.592 --> 00:34:27.239
<v Speaker 1>I need to do this, I need to respond to this.

00:34:29.539 --> 00:34:34.719
<v Speaker 1>Second, from Cornelius' story we learn that real conversion to Christ shares some common traits.

00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:39.204
<v Speaker 1>There's the witness of the Holy Spirit that immediately comes into people who believe in Jesus.

00:34:39.204 --> 00:34:42.190
<v Speaker 1>They're born again and they know.

00:34:42.190 --> 00:34:46.422
<v Speaker 1>This is what Paul says in Romans 8, 15, and 16.

00:34:46.422 --> 00:34:49.688
<v Speaker 1>He says listen, and these are Gentiles again.

00:34:49.688 --> 00:34:53.494
<v Speaker 1>You have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again.

00:34:53.494 --> 00:34:59.793
<v Speaker 1>You've received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out Abba, Father.

00:34:59.793 --> 00:35:04.972
<v Speaker 1>The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit.

00:35:04.972 --> 00:35:09.327
<v Speaker 1>Where's our spirit In us that we are the children of God.

00:35:09.327 --> 00:35:14.170
<v Speaker 1>So, the Holy Spirit, there's this internal realization.

00:35:14.170 --> 00:35:23.672
<v Speaker 1>And second, we will have been given spiritual gifts that we will want to start using to serve others.

00:35:23.672 --> 00:35:27.769
<v Speaker 1>We'll have some sort of affinity and love for the body of Christ.

00:35:27.769 --> 00:35:28.751
<v Speaker 1>I've talked to some of you.

00:35:28.751 --> 00:35:31.168
<v Speaker 1>I know because it is with me.

00:35:31.168 --> 00:35:33.728
<v Speaker 1>The church has become my family.

00:35:33.728 --> 00:35:37.204
<v Speaker 1>Where did that come from?

00:35:37.204 --> 00:35:39.291
<v Speaker 1>The Holy Spirit?

00:35:39.291 --> 00:35:42.547
<v Speaker 1>Do you want to be together?

00:35:42.547 --> 00:35:45.987
<v Speaker 1>Do you want to help others?

00:35:45.987 --> 00:35:47.824
<v Speaker 1>The Spirit does.

00:35:47.824 --> 00:35:50.268
<v Speaker 1>The Spirit wants us together.

00:35:50.268 --> 00:35:52.829
<v Speaker 1>The Spirit wants to help people through us.

00:35:55.061 --> 00:35:59.608
<v Speaker 1>Third, two important questions come, I think, as a result of this study on Cornelius.

00:35:59.608 --> 00:36:02.530
<v Speaker 1>First, are you really converted to Christ?

00:36:02.530 --> 00:36:09.610
<v Speaker 1>Have you believed the gospel, Put your trust in Jesus, who died for your sins and rose again?

00:36:09.610 --> 00:36:14.050
<v Speaker 1>Are you trusting in Him or your own goodness?

00:36:14.050 --> 00:36:22.010
<v Speaker 1>Matthew 18, Jesus said unless you're converted, you cannot see the kingdom of God.

00:36:24.101 --> 00:36:30.389
<v Speaker 1>Second question is if you are converted to Christ, how has the Holy Spirit been transforming your life?

00:36:30.389 --> 00:36:38.168
<v Speaker 1>Because that's what he's there to do Conforming us to the image of Christ, the ultimate object of our worship.

00:36:38.168 --> 00:36:39.364
<v Speaker 1>Is he doing that?

00:36:39.364 --> 00:36:42.106
<v Speaker 1>How have you become more like him?

00:36:42.106 --> 00:36:47.925
<v Speaker 1>What has changed in your thinking, your desires, your identity and values?

00:36:47.925 --> 00:36:48.909
<v Speaker 1>What has changed?

00:36:48.909 --> 00:36:50.052
<v Speaker 1>What is he doing?

00:36:50.052 --> 00:36:59.507
<v Speaker 1>What ways are you different in your attitudes, behavior, your speech that you can attribute directly to God's work in you?

00:36:59.507 --> 00:37:01.532
<v Speaker 1>That's the Holy Spirit.

00:37:01.532 --> 00:37:06.550
<v Speaker 1>What spiritual gifts have you received If you believed in Jesus?

00:37:06.550 --> 00:37:16.568
<v Speaker 1>You've been given the Holy Spirit not just to comfort you, but to serve and to change your life, to be conformed to the image of Jesus himself.

00:37:18.780 --> 00:37:19.541
<v Speaker 1>Philippians 2,.

00:37:19.541 --> 00:37:28.585
<v Speaker 1>Paul kind of adds this conclusion to the Philippian believers, also Gentile believers Philippians 2, 12 and 13,.

00:37:28.585 --> 00:37:33.710
<v Speaker 1>He says to them look, work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling.

00:37:33.710 --> 00:37:41.853
<v Speaker 1>You know why Because if you're converted, God is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

00:37:41.853 --> 00:37:57.452
<v Speaker 1>Now let me say if you'd like to talk further about either being converted to Jesus or about discovering your spiritual gifts, I'm going to just stand right down here after the service and come and talk to me and talk about it.

00:37:58.659 --> 00:38:02.289
<v Speaker 1>But keep in mind I'm a preacher, so let's pray.

00:38:02.289 --> 00:38:05.840
<v Speaker 1>Father, thank you for the gospel of our salvation.

00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:15.514
<v Speaker 1>Thank you that you sent your beloved son, Jesus, to save us from the judgment for our sins and give us eternal life.

00:38:15.514 --> 00:38:21.166
<v Speaker 1>Thank you that we receive the forgiveness of sins when we believe in Jesus.

00:38:21.166 --> 00:38:36.596
<v Speaker 1>Thank you that he's in everyone who believes and is doing a great work in us by your hand to conform us to Christ and to help us benefit your body, the church.

00:38:36.596 --> 00:38:39.003
<v Speaker 1>Would you please help us, Lord?

00:38:39.003 --> 00:38:50.027
<v Speaker 1>May others who see us, who hear us, actually see and hear the image of Jesus and the marks of the Holy Spirit's transformation in us.

00:38:50.027 --> 00:38:52.672
<v Speaker 1>I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.