Change me first

So many times when we pray we ask God to intervene and change our situations. But how many times do we ask him to help us to change within the situation. We explore the story of Peter and Cornelius, one mans desire to please God through righteous living, and another man’s battle to change his mind and recognise something promised yet unfamiliar. The intrinsic tussle between revelation and understanding, and the visual struggle between love and traditional duty.

Change (Def) - To make the form, nature, content, future course of something different from what it is or what it would be if left alone. To transform or convert, to transfer from one to another.


Acts 10:1-7 - Change always requires a reason.
“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”


Acts 10:9-16 - Change forces you to challenge what you know.
“About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”


Acts 10:19-21 - Your heart has to be open.
“While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”


Acts 10:25-28 - Peters thinking is changing.
“As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself. While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.”


Acts 10:44-48 - Transformation.
“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.”

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Good morning everybody and welcome to Reman Reloaded with me, your boy Sean Williams. Um, it's an honor and a privilege and a pleasure to be with you all. I hoped you love the last Bible study we did, Don't Panic, where we looked at the story of Stephen, um, and we looked at his his sacrifice and his offering, more than that, his conviction, his belief in who Jesus was, to the point that even as he was leaving this world, that he got a revelation of who Jesus was. And the last final words that he was able to speak was, Father, forgive them. Um, such a beautiful testimony of his life, his belief, and his faith in God. Today, um, I want to speak to you from the book of Acts, chapter 10. I've been I've been really deep in the book of Acts for the last couple of weeks. Um, and I had a situation this week where I was talking to the Holy Spirit and I was praying, I was not happy. I was like, Holy Spirit, this is annoying me, that's annoying me, that's annoying. And imagine I was going to God, yeah, with his word to kind of hit him with it. And it's almost like the Holy Spirit, let me run my mouth. And then he was just like, So, all the things you want to change, cool, I'm God, I can do it. What are you planning to change? And I was like, say what? He was like, What are you planning to change? I was like, Well, we weren't praying about me, we were praying about stuff, and he's like, Yeah, but I'm dealing with you because I choose to live and reside in you. My heart was so convicted, and I was led to the book of Acts. Um, and I've entitled today's Bible study, Change Me First. Now, the first thing I want to do is I want you to have your notebooks. Go get your notebook now. And for the others of you that have already got your notebook, go put the kettle on quickly. I'm gonna give you like 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, , um. I'm bilingual people. Right. Um, the first definition I'm gonna give you change. Definition of change, you're gonna see on the bottom here. To make the form, nature, content the future course of something different from what it is or what it would have been if left alone. To transform or convert, to transfer from one to another. Okay, so we see in the fundamental foundational principle of change that it means one thing turning into something else, that through a process of transformation, transference, conversion, that it goes from being one thing into something completely different. Okay. Now, what we're gonna do is we are going to read a lot today, and we're going to be in the new international version, okay? Because I've been seeing the comments and I've been getting the messages.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

It's like Sean, we love the King James version, but it's a bit old, it's a bit okay. Can we have the new international?

SPEAKER_02 3:03

It's just like, okay, cool, I can hook you up the new international. Um, so if you will, and you want to follow it and you can go to the book of Acts, chapter 10. I will start from verse. In fact, I'm gonna read the whole scripture. Um, so get in with me, and then I'll start to break it down and we'll open it up a little bit more. So, the book of Acts chapter 10, starting at verse 1, and it reads as at Caesare, Caesarea, Caesarea, Caesars, at Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius. He was a centurion in what was known as the Italian regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day, about three in the afternoon, he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God who came to him and said, Cornelius. Cornelius stared at him in fear. What is it, Lord? He asked. The angel answered, Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa, that's a place, to bring back a man named Simon, who is called Peter. We learned about him a couple of weeks ago. He is staying with Simon the Tanner, whose house is by the sea. Listen, God knows exactly where you are, he knows exactly who you are with, and he knows exactly how to get to you. Okay. Verse 7. When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. Verse 9. About noon the following day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, this is um Cornelius's soldiers and his attendants, Peter, in the completely different space, obviously in Joppa, went up on the roof to pray, and he became hungry and wanted something to eat. And while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheep being let down to the earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, Get up, Peter, kill and eat. Surely not, Lord, Peter replied, I have never eaten anything impure or unclean. The voice spoke to him a second time. Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. This happened three times, and immediately the sheep was taken back to heaven. While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon the Tanner's house was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking, if Simon, who was known as Peter, was staying there. While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the spirit said to said to him, Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them. Peter went down and said to the men, I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come? The men replied, We have come from Cornelius the Centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say. Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. I don't know how you're inviting somebody into somebody else's house and then calling them your guests, but hey, this is a different time. Don't ever come to my house and do that. Don't come with other people and be like, oh yeah, just meet me at Sean's house. Ain't nobody getting in. But anyway, we're not talking about me. Verse number 23. The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. Stand up, he said. I'm only a man myself. While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them, You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. So Gentiles are anybody that are not Jews. They are Gentiles are anybody that are not God's chosen people, according to the Jews. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. But may I ask you, why have you sent for me? Cornelius answered, Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour. And three in the afternoon, suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send a jopper for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the Tanner who lives by the sea. So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us. Then Peter began to speak. I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism. This is Peter speaking now, but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with him. We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross. But God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God already chosen by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers, don't forget, the circumcised believers were those who practiced the law within the Jewish community. Okay, we understand that the law was given to Moses, and through other protocols of how God wanted Israel to live at that time, they used what we call the Levitical law, which would tell them what they could eat, what they could wear, what would happen in terms of their hygiene. So this is what he's talking about when we talk about the circumcision or those that are circumcised, those that are uh following the promise that God gave to Abraham, okay, um, who had come with Peter. So the circumcised believers who had come with Peter, that's just the Bible's way of saying those that were of like Israel, those that come with Peter to kind of watch what was going on. They were astonished. And why were they astonished? Because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, they were the non-um-chosen people according to the Jews of God. Okay, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They've received the Holy Spirit just as we have. So we ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. Firstly, wow. Secondly, let me give the text some context and we're gonna go back through some of the scriptures and we're gonna look at some of the points that I've just read through. Now, firstly, what is going on in this period is that the church is now going through a certain amount of persecution. Why? Because we realized when we saw in chapters six and seven that Stephen was exalting the priests and the high priests in the synagogue and the temple, and he was saying, Listen, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and they were not having it. And he used example after example. He spoke about when Moses went to their forefathers and they said, Who made thee a judge and a ruler over us? He spoke about when Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and that he went into prison, but yet God raised him up. Why? So that he could then deliver the people of Israel because there was a famine in the land, right? So he used all of these different examples to explain why Jesus was the Messiah, but they did not want to hear it. And so at this time, the church is under great persecution because after the stoning of Stephen, we understand that there was a guy called Saul from Tarsus who would then later become the apostle Paul, who would write so much of the New Testament and give us so much revelation and perception and insight of who Jesus was and how that we are saved by faith through grace. The church was scattered. Why? Because Paul was finding these believers. At this time, they weren't called Christians. We do not see the term Christian coined until we get into the book of Acts, chapter 11, and they are on missionary work and they go down to Antioch. And the people in Antioch, which was uh a Greek province, they're looking at these people and they're going, we need to give these people a name. Because at that time, Christianity, as we know it, was only called the way, and Christians were only called believers. That's why the other week, when we spoke in our last Bible study, we spoke about belief to conversion. So the church at this point is scattered, but even though the church is being scattered, something amazing was happening. As they were spreading out and going to different places, they were still speaking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were talking about the Son of God, that Jesus came and though, and through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, that he did many signs and he did many wonders and that he did good. And not only that, that they killed him, they hung him on a tree, but on the third day he was resurrected, and that they had been witnesses to this resurrection. So the church had now been this, it was threatening to be a mainstream thing because don't forget in the book of Acts, chapter 2, we see thousands of souls being added to the church on the day that Peter preached. So we know that the church is growing and it was becoming what we call a visual, uh uh, it was becoming a visual movement, but the persecution sent it underground. But even with it being underground, we realize that there was still much going on and people are still getting saved. So at this point, we have seen the disciples, the main ones, the ones that were with Jesus in the beginning. They are moving throughout the coast and the different provinces and they are speaking to people, but yet in this situation, we see something very key. Sometimes when God is trying to give you or do something new in your life, he requires you to let go of what you've already known. He requires you to let go of the thing that you have built the cornerstone of your life upon. Why? Because he's either going to give you new information to lead you into a new space, or he's going to change something within you so that you might be a reflection and a witness to somebody else. So that brings me to my first point. Change always requires a reason. Okay, write that down for me. And the reference point you're going to use for that is the book of Acts, chapter 10, verses 1 to 7. I want to read it to you. What was Peter's reason? At Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius. This man was a Roman. This would have been triggering for Peter. Why? Firstly, Jews don't mix with Romans. Secondly, the Romans are occupying Jerusalem. The Romans are the ones they were hoping Jesus was coming to overthrow. And the Bible says that this centurion in what was known as the Italian regiment, he and all of his family were devout and God-fearing. That sometimes the thing that we're trying to avoid, God has put people in that situation, in that space. Why? So that we can connect with them, so that his greater will and purpose can be done. His will is greater than your preference. I want you to say that to yourself because I had to say that to myself. Don't worry, I'm teaching you this Bible study from the Holy Spirit first, teaching it to me and me being like, oh, I don't like it. His will is greater than your preference. Okay? So the Bible tells us that he was devout and he was God-fearing. He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. And at about three in the afternoon, he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel who had come to him and said, Cornelius, and Cornelius, look at him in fear. What is it, Lord? The angel said, Your prayers and your gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Why is this important? It's important because what God was trying to show Peter, and he and Jesus had said this. Jesus had said to Peter, and there'd been many numerous occasions when Jesus was walking the earth with the disciples, where he lent in and gave them clues that the gospel of salvation was not just for the Jews. And you're sitting there going to me, Sean, what are you talking about? When we look in the book of St. Luke, chapter 8, and Jesus is on the sea. Firstly, Jesus' family come to see him. He says, Firstly, tell my family I'm busy. Secondly, he says, My mother and my brother and my sister are those that do the will of the Father. Okay, then what did he do? He gets in the boat with his disciples, they go across the sea. Remember that storm? They're freaking out. Jesus is sleeping. He speaks to the sea and they go, What manner of man is this? Where do they then end up? At the gatherings. Who do we meet at the gatherings? We meet the man possessed with legion, right? And then you remember those demons cry out, Jesus, have you come to torment us before it's time? Please let us go into the pigs. And Jesus is like, You men are lucky. I'm gonna let you go into that swine over there. And they went into the swine and they ran into the sea. And then what did the man who was possessed say to Jesus? He begged him. He said, Please let me follow you. And Jesus said, You're not supposed to follow me. I need you to stay here. Go back to your family and tell everybody that comes and sees you and asks of you what the great things God has done for you. So that seeding all the way back then was building us up to this moment. Why? Because the salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ was not just to a group of people. Sometimes when God is trying to take us into new spaces, he's trying to widen our perspective. And the things that we think through, the things that we've experienced. It was normal for Peter not to want to hang out with the Romans. It was normal for Peter to want to be as correct to the law as possible. Why? Because he would have still been holding the guilt and the doubt and the fear and the angst of knowing he betrayed Jesus. He would have been holding all of that stuff. How do we know this? Because we see in Acts chapter 8 and in chapter 9 that when they meet Simon the Sorcerer, and Simon says, Hey boys, how much for this Holy Ghost thing? I got some papers. And Peter was like, You think you can buy the Holy Ghost? Peter freaked out. Because he was watching someone trying to purchase something that he almost died over. Right? So the first thing that it shows us is that Jesus was not only planting seeds whilst he was here for something greater that was going to happen when he wasn't here. And he also knew that Peter's conversion was going to be more than just that moment of I don't know him. It was going to be more than the day of Pentecost when Peter standing up with the other the other 11 saying, Men and brethren, this is what you have to do to repent, uh to be saved, repent and be baptized, every one of you. There are times when God is going to take you through things so that He can dig and de-weed and pull up so that you can have better. So we see that the first thing that is happening in verses 1 to 7 is that we see the reason why there was going to be a change in what was happening with Peter. Now, change forces you to challenge what you know. Okay? The reason being we see in Acts 10, verses 9 to 16, that the Bible says, About midday, the following day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. Cornelius was following the same patterns of prayer that Peter had, which tells you what that whilst Cornelius was frequenting that region of the world, he was watching their practices. Why? Because the Bible told us he was a devout guy. He believed. He just couldn't do it super openly because he was kind of Roman and they were kind of not being nice to the Jews. But he believed. Okay. And it says that as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. What does that tell you? Prayer opens your heart to hear from God. What is prayer? Prayer isn't just you talking at God. Why? Because the Bible says he knows everything. So prayer is an interaction, it's a reciprocity. It's where you honestly conversate with the Holy Spirit and you tell God what's going on, and then you sit back and allow him to speak into you. Okay? The Bible said that Peter went up on the roof to pray, he became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He then saw heaven open and something like a large sheep being let down by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals. Now, the reason why the animals are important is because in the Levitical law, the the Israelites, it was very clear what they could and couldn't eat. So Peter was in uh almost like a double jeopardy because he's super hungry, and we all know that when we're hungry, everything tastes amazing, right? But even in his his famished state, Peter was like, God, I ain't touching that, I ain't touching that. Ain't touching that, and I definitely ain't touching that. And the Bible says that Daniel said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what I have cleansed, call not unclean. What was this? This was a greater example of what salvation was going to do for the world. Why? Because the disciples who were the witnesses, they were going to be the people that took this gospel of salvation to the world. And God knew that unless He dug out some of the historical strongholds. Some of the things that we go through aren't because of what we have taught ourselves. Some of the things we struggle with aren't because of what we have taught ourselves. A lot of what we sometimes deal with are reflections and models that we have perfected in different moments of time that then becoming woven and interwoven in our subconscious, and they now become habitual. Peter was used to saying no to certain things. Why? Because that's what the law required of him, but he was no longer under the law because he had been liberated by grace through faith. So it was important that when Peter was being given this opposing information, the truth is Peter could have sat there and started rebuking the sheet and saying, You sheep from hell and from Satan, I rebuke you. And wouldn't have realized that God was trying to show him something that he just simply wasn't ready to see and accept. Sometimes God has provided the change that we've been praying for, but because we're not ready to see it and accept it, we end up dithering and wasting time and missing the point. So when it said that Peter saw the sheet and it came to it contained all kinds of four-footed animals as well as reptiles and birds, then the voice said, Get up, Peter, kill and eat. Surely not. Peter replied, I have never eaten anything in pure unclean. Look at how look how uh strong the repost was. He's like, No, never eaten any of this stuff.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Even in like a vision and a trance.

SPEAKER_02 24:35

He was like, No, no, no, I've not done this. What does that tell us? It tells us immediately that this situation was triggering for Peter. Because everything about it went against who he was trying to be. Everything about it went against everything that he thought he was supposed to be becoming. Sometimes change will not look like the thing you think it's supposed to. Sometimes it's not going to look like the thing that you've convinced yourself that it is. But here's the big thing that I want you to really look at. In verse 19, while Peter was still thinking about the vision, the spirit said to him, Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them. Peter went down and said to the men, I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come? It was Peter's ability to pray, to hear. The Bible tells us, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Prayer kept his heart open. When your heart is open, your ears are receptive. I'm going to say that one more time. When your heart is open, your ears become receptive. Peter was willing to do the thing that he didn't want to do because a the reason for the change had been set. Okay? The Holy Spirit's telling him there's going to be three men coming. Two, he was ready to challenge what he knew. Three, prayer kept his heart open. Okay. Now we see in verses 25 to 28. You see, when his heart was open, he now had the right chemistry for his thinking to change, right? Because it says to us in verse 25 to 28, as Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. Stand up, man. He said, Listen, bro, I'm just a guy. And if you've met me a year ago or even six months ago, listen, the guy I'm about to tell you about, I kind of maybe said that I've never seen him. And maybe I said, like, I don't know that guy. So please, don't worship me. I'm just a regular guy. Um, and then he said that Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. So all of a sudden, everything that Peter was told by the angel, everything you see, it's coming into fruition right now. Why? Because first, he don't want to be going to no Roman's house. He's gonna be going to no Roman soldier's house. And then he gets there, and to use a uh a more common quote, there's a little shops going on, there's a little party. He's like, I didn't plan to come to no house party. I was in job of praying. I don't mix with you Jews, uh, I don't mix with you Romans, excuse me. Okay, and then Peter went inside and he found this large gathering. He said to them, you all know, like, this is against the loot, the loot, this is against the law for Jews to associate with or visit with Gentiles. But something was happening. God was already preparing for Saul of Tarsus to become the Apostle Paul, to be the chief disciple to go to those that were called the Gentile nations. But God was also going to change the heart of Peter as well. Why? Because Peter had also been called. How do we know? Jesus said, Peter, you're the rock upon which I'm going to build my church. I'm going to give you the keys. Now you can't have the keyholder being prejudiced and being like, oh, you can come, but you can't because you do that and you actually're from that place. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. There are things that God has spoken over your life that He is going to need to take you through certain situations. Why? Because He needs to build the character and the heart of ministry for others. We can't use salvation like it's cryptocurrency, like it's Bitcoin. I'll keep it for me. The Bible says, freely you have been given, so freely give. How amazing was it that when the angel spoke to Cornelius about Peter, he didn't just call him or use him according to the revelation of who he was. Because don't forget, Peter's name isn't Peter, it's Simon. His real name is Simon Barjona. But when he got the revelation of who Jesus was, Jesus said, Hey, hey, Peter, we're gonna change your name because you're now the rock. And isn't it amazing that when the Holy Spirit was speaking to Cornelius, he didn't just speak of who Peter had become. I just have to calm myself down, I'm so sorry. But he referred to who he was. That's the power of change. That it doesn't just lead you into who you're to become, but it gives you the reference point of who you were. Why? Because sometimes you just want to see how good God has been. Sometimes you want to see how far you come. Sometimes you need the reference point of journey to realize that it was never about you, but a purpose, a will, a promise, and a plan that was put inside you. So we're gonna go to verse 44 to 48, and we call this transformation. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. That sweet, powerful, explosive power that came and sat on the 12 in the upper room, Acts chapter 2. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit came on all of them, and the circumcised when I when we called about the circumcised believers, I want to talk about the old school. Those that had come to be like, what is going on over here? The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished. They were like, What do you mean the Romans are speaking in tongues? What do you mean they've got the Holy Spirit? Oh, oh, you thought it was just for you guys, huh? You could see that so many believers of the early church they thought that the Holy Spirit was going to be almost like a superpower that they were just gonna get to use. And they didn't realize that the point of Pentecost was that God wanted to infect the world with his promise. In the last five years, we know what an infected world looks like. And in the version we saw it was fear and it was death and it was isolation. But here the original infected promise is hope, it's life, it's peace. The Holy Spirit wants to come in and not only change your heart but change your mind. That your mind becomes renewed and transformed. How and through what?

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The word.

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It is by grace through faith. Grace is the undeserved, unmerited favor of God. Faith is your the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of what you can't see. Peter hadn't seen Romans speaking in tongues, but he had to believe.

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And in order to believe, he had to change him first. Sometimes we're sitting there like, God change this, God changed that.

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And God's like, no, no, you change first. Because if you change, you're gonna see it differently. That's the difference between perspective and perception. That when you're using perspective, it's based on what you think you know. When you're dealing with perception, it's based on what you are now believing through insight.

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The ability to see within, without the visual aid.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

So we see that Peter said, Surely no one can stand in the way of them being baptized with water. They've received the Holy Spirit just as we have. So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter, stay with us for a couple of days. Change had arrived at Cornelius' door, and that change would become the bridge for the Roman Empire that had taken over the world to come into contact with the promise that God had made in the Garden of Eden that He would redeem us. Every single last one of us. So today I offer you the invitation of change. Not from me. I can't change you, I can barely change myself. But there is a Saviour that loves you. And he would choose to reside in your heart. He'd never leave you, he'd never forsake you. That you have a heavenly father that loved you so much that he sent the most precious thing he had into the world so that you could be saved. Now, one thing we know about change. When it comes, it's not easy. And often it takes a little longer for those that thought they knew us to accept where we are. So next time we're gonna go into part two of this and we're gonna look at how our environment feels and looks when change finds us. Guys, I hope you enjoyed this session with us today. Until next time, don't forget to like, subscribe, and share. Um, if you want to support and donate, please do so. But this is about us giving you the revealed word of God. Not for any other reason, other than it's your right, it's your promise. See you next time.