Over the years, Jeffrey and I have learned that
the greatest battles we face are usually fought
in our minds, but won with our mouths. When we've
chosen to speak God's promises in the face of
our fears, failures, and problems, we've seen
God do what only He can do. This truth has changed
our lives, and it's why we wrote Talk to Your
Giants, to show you how to fight the good fight
of faith, speak in agreement with God's Word,
and discover the victory that comes when you
stop talking It's week number four in our series
that we've entitled Never Unnoticed. Everybody
say double negative. My sister was an English
teacher. She told me not to use double negatives,
but I decided this was the best way to get the
message across because so many people go through
seasons and times in their lives where they feel
like they are unnoticed. That what they are doing
for God goes unnoticed. But I just want everyone
to know, you are never unnoticed by God. Never
unnoticed. Now, how many of you have ever seen
the TV show, Candid Camera? You have to be old
to see a candid camera, I guess. I can't remember
how long it's been since it's been off the air.
But let me tell you about it. They would put
these cameras in places where people couldn't
see them. This is, I guess, one of the first
reality TV shows. I mean, actual reality TV show.
And I looked to kind of share one with you. Jeffrey
shared one with you last week. So I said, well,
I need to share an episode of candid camera with
you as well. So here's what they decided to do.
They got with a local police department, and
what was the guy's name? Al Font? Alan Font?
Did I miss it? Okay, it's close. His name was
Alan. Anyway, he put on a police uniform, got
in a police car with a policeman in a small town,
and they also had an actor as a taxi driver.
And they had it set up. You know, it was all
pre -planned. But a lady called the taxi and
he drove by this place. All of a sudden, he gets
pulled over by the police because he's speeding.
So they come up to the window and they say, Sir,
you were speeding. Let me see your license. And
the cab driver says, Well, I was only speeding
because my passenger told me they were in a hurry.
and told me I need to get there as quick as I
can. And the policeman goes, so she told you
to break the law? He said, yeah, she told me.
So then the policeman goes to the passenger door,
tells a passenger in the cab to get out, asks
for her driver's license, and begins to write
her a ticket for speeding, and she wasn't even
driving. Now you can go Google this and see it
on YouTube. It's hilarious. She's like, I'm not
paying a fine. I wasn't driving. How could I
get a ticket? And he just said, well, he said
that the reason why he's speeding is because
you told him to go fast. And I mean, it just
escalated and escalated and escalated until he
looked at her and he said, smile, you're on candid
camera. That's the way the show worked. They
would set up these people and work them into
a frenzy and then tell them that they were on
a TV show. I want to share another story with
you because we're always being watched. I mean,
there's a camera right there. There's a camera
right there. There's some more back here. There's
one out in the lobby. As you came to church today,
right now, the principal, the superintendent
of schools, any... Anyone with access, they can
pull up these cameras, listen to what's going
on in this room. They can see the back of your
head and they can see my face. So I hope you
comb the back of your hair good. Because sometimes
when I turn around, you can see a bald spot and
I have to comb it a certain way. Because I have,
trust me, it's because of a cowlick. It's not
because I'm going bald. Whatever. Whatever. When
was that, JT, that North Greenville? North Greenville
University is... Gannon and I met at North Greenville,
and they had an alumni banquet back in June.
So it's about a month and a half ago. And they
got down here, my alma mater got down here, and
they didn't have all the equipment that they
needed. So just a few days out, they said, do
you know anyone with a video projector and a
screen and a small sound system? I said, have
I got the person for you. gig rent. And JT works
at gig rent. And Jamie and Jordan own gig rent.
They've moved to another side of town now, but
they own gig rent. So I connected them. And that's
all I did. I connected them. JT worked out the
deal or whatever, got it ready for them. They
went and picked it up. And then when I show up
at the alumni banquet about 30 minutes before
it starts, Since I was the one who recommended,
right? When I walk in the door and they were
holding... Well, actually, I was outside. They
hadn't let anyone in yet. But when they saw me,
they said, it's Dean's fault. They could not
find the power cables for the speakers. They
couldn't find the wires for the... from in between
the computer and the projector. And they were
freaking out because everyone was lining up.
And then all of a sudden I go in there and I'm
texting JT. And guess what JT does? He pulls
out his phone. He looks at the security camera,
which is not just security. He rewinds it. I
guess you can scrub it with your finger and rewind
it when they were packing up the job to go to.
near the convention center and JT says those
cables are there they're in the speaker bag that
they pulled the speaker out of there's a little
bag there that has the wires in it and then the
other wires are in another place and I said why
didn't you look in the bag so I wound up digging
through the bags, hooking everything up correctly,
running sound for the entire event. So JT is
watching. They're probably working right now
on something. You hope not. But he's watching,
and he was able to solve the problem because
the recorded video feed that was there, he told
me exactly where everything was that they were
looking for, which people are always watching.
Always watching. We're always being watched.
We're never unnoticed. We're also never unnoticed
by God. In Genesis 16, we see the story of Abram,
Sarah, and Hagar. Very quickly on the story.
God made Abram, who's later named Abraham, He
made him a promise. He told him that he was going
to be the father of many nations. Only problem
is, he's about 85 years old. He made the promise
at 75. Now he's about 85. He still doesn't even
have one child. Much less enough offspring to
be the father of nations. Somewhere along the
way in the first 10 years of their journey, just
following God, not even knowing where to go.
Because God says, I want to take you to a place
that I will show you. He didn't say, here's where
I want you to go. He just said, follow me. and
I'm going to take you to a place. And then he's
like, everywhere your foot treads, this is yours.
Somewhere along the way, they wound up going
to Egypt during a time of famine, and they were
provided for there. When they left Egypt, they
were given a servant girl, a slave, named Hagar.
So back to the story. We're now about 85 years
old. Still no child. Sarah couldn't have a child.
Sarah came up with this idea. God made us a promise.
God hasn't come through on His promise. Not yet.
So maybe we need to help God out. I've got an
idea to help God out. How many of you know that
probably is not going to turn out too well? When
you come up with human ideas to try to help God.
Because God's promised something to you, you
don't see it yet, so now I've got to figure it
out in the flesh and in my own human reasoning
how to make God's promises come true. Not going
to work out too good. So Sarah said, Abram, you
know, we have this servant girl, Hagar, and...
I would like for her to be the surrogate mother
of our child. So, all of a sudden, Hagar's pregnant.
She's expecting. But here's what happened. All
of a sudden, she got an attitude. It says she
began to treat Sarah with contempt. And that's
another way of describing that she got an attitude.
We know what an attitude is more than we know
what contempt is, right? So she got an attitude
and she was like, you know, you can't have a
baby. I'm having a baby. I'm having your husband's
baby. You know, his attitude. So Sarah got upset.
And she says, what are we going to do with her?
Abram says, whatever you want to do with her.
That's a good answer for a husband. Whatever
you want, honey. Anyway, Sarah began to make
Hagar's life very difficult. And Hagar ran away.
She ran out into the wilderness. And when she
ran out into the wilderness to run away, the
angel of the Lord talked with her. He met her
and talked with her. And he told her to go back.
And in this encounter, we're not reading either
the entire chapter of Genesis 16, but in this
chapter we find out a name for God. We learn
that God is El Roy. God is El Roy. El is an abbreviation
for Elohim. It means the supreme mighty God.
And Roy is who sees me. He sees. And if you were
here during the series where we talked about
the names of God, you know that the names of
God presented in the Bible, they're not just
historical events. I mean, God is letting us
know who He is. What kind of relationship He
wants to be in with us. And what He does in the
lives of His people. And He reveals Himself through
His names. That's how He does it. So when we
find out that God is El -Rohi, then we know that
He sees us. He sees you. It's like a... I even
see it on billboards and stuff like that. You
know, because people are like, our business sees
you. Has anyone seen those billboards? We see
you. Well, God was seeing you before that business
decided that they want to tell you that they
see you. God sees you. Everybody say, God sees
me. The supreme mighty God sees you personally.
He sees every tear. He sees every act of obedience.
He sees every sacrifice. He sees every act of
faithfulness. And nothing goes unnoticed by God.
Nothing. You're never unnoticed. 2 Chronicles
16, 9 says this. The eyes of the Lord run to
and fro throughout the whole earth. to show himself
strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal
to him. This is another verse confirming that
God sees us. His eyes are running to and fro
throughout the whole earth. I mean, he's looking.
And he's looking for something specific. We spent
a little time in front of a mirror getting ready
to come to church today, but what's on the outside
is not what's most important to God. The Bible
tells us in Samuel, God says, I don't see you
as you see each other. God doesn't see us like
we look at each other. Because God looks at our
hearts. And this verse in 2 Chronicles confirms
that. He's looking at our hearts. I want you
to picture God going up and down the row of chairs
that you're sitting in right now, to and fro.
I mean, He's looking, He's looking, He's looking,
and He's looking at everyone all around the world.
And He's God, so He doesn't just get on one row
at a time. He goes down every row at the same
time. So there's no hidden time. Well, I sure
am glad he's seeing their heart, not mine. No,
he's seeing. I'm glad he's over in India looking
at hearts in India. It's going to take him a
while to get back here. No, he sees. He sees
you and he sees your heart. And he's looking
for a specific type of heart in order for him
to do something about it. Do you see it in the
verse? He's looking for hearts that are loyal
to him. We could replace that with fully committed.
He's looking for fully committed and loyal hearts.
And then when he finds it, when he finds somebody
with a fully committed or loyal heart, here's
what he's going to do. He's going to show himself
strong on your behalf. If you have a committed
or loyal heart, fully committed, loyal heart,
he's going to show himself strong. Not just for
you. Listen. He's not just going to show himself
strong for you. Even though that's great. But
he's going to show himself strong through you.
When your heart is loyal and fully committed
to him. He's going to show you how big he is.
How great his love is. How awesome he is. He's
going to show himself in your life and through
your life. And notice what he's looking for.
He's not looking for the most talented. He's
not looking for an influential person, somebody
who already has a lot of influence. Even though
that's fine, if they do, I mean, if their heart's
loyal to Him, He can still use them, but He's
searching for hearts that are fully committed
to Him. Fully committed to Him. Someone who says,
God, whatever you say, I'll do. I'll follow you.
If you want me to say something, I'll say it.
If you want me to go somewhere, I'll go. If you
want me to do something, I'll do it. Even before
you know what it is. He's looking for somebody
who's committed. Because just like Abram in the
story that we looked at, he didn't even know
where or how long or anything like that. But
he was willing and loyal. He was fully committed.
He was ready to walk in faith and not in sight.
He didn't have to see the end before he made
his first step. He just chose to be obedient
with what he already knew and what he already
heard. I'm going to obey. And then it kept unfolding.
Just kept unfolding in front of him. If he wouldn't
have had a fully committed heart, it would have
never opened up. Hello? Come on. Somebody smile.
You can either take this like it's something
negative or you can take it like, yes, it's mine.
That's the way I want you to receive it. I don't
want you to look at your past and say, oh no.
I want you to look at today and say, oh yeah.
Oh yeah. This is available for me. This is for
me. No matter how, you know, how lack of, I was
in the past. Today's a new day. Let's go from
here. That's what God's going to tell you because
you can't fix anything from yesterday. We got
to go from today and move and follow God. Be
fully committed. Be loyal. Hallelujah. Make that
commitment even before you know what the direction
is. That'll lead you into an amazing life, I'm
telling you. God doesn't simply observe our hearts.
When he finds one that's loyal and fully committed
to him, he responds. He responds. Throughout
this series, we're studying several biblical
accounts where God sees the hearts of people.
God always sees the hearts of everyone, but in
these instances, what he sees, he... reveals
to us what he sees. How many of you are glad
God doesn't always reveal what's in your heart
to everybody else, right? But these people, it's
been like 2 ,000 years. They've been gone, but
God wrote it in his book so that we could see
what their hearts were like. Acts chapter 10.
Look to the person beside you and say, listen
fast. All right, listen fast. Acts chapter 10.
For in Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer
named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian
regiment. He was a devout, God -fearing man,
as was everyone in his household. He gave generously
to the poor and prayed regularly to God. One
afternoon, about three o 'clock, he had a vision
in which he saw an angel of God coming toward
him. Cornelius, the angel said. Cornelius stared
at him in terror. What is it, sir? He asked the
angel. And the angel replied, Your prayers and
gifts to the poor have been received by God as
an offering. Now, send some men to Joppa and
summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying
with Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.
Now, let's stop right here. We're going to continue
all the way through the entire story. I want
to take notice. He was seen by God. What he was
doing was seen by God. His prayer and his generosity
were received by God as an offering. Now he didn't
give it to God. He didn't give it to the temple
because he wasn't a Jew. He couldn't go in the
temple. Like we looked at the lady who put in
the two mites. We looked at her story when we
started this series. Well, all he did was he
looked around him and he saw God's people. I
mean, he's a Gentile, but he saw the Jews around
him and he saw like widows and orphans who are
struggling, having a hard time. And we can tell
through the language and through the description
of the offering that his giving was specifically
directed towards those in need among the people
of God. It wasn't just philanthropy to wherever
around the world. He saw the people of God. He's
a Gentile. He's outside. He believed in God.
He was praying and he saw God's people. He's
a Roman officer. They were ruling over Jerusalem
at this time. He saw the widows and orphans and
He just wanted in his heart to help them out.
So it was directed towards the people of God.
And then listen, God essentially says through
this angel, here's what he says, Cornelius, I've
been watching. Your prayers weren't unnoticed.
Your generosity wasn't unnoticed. Your pursuit
of me wasn't unnoticed. And now I'm responding.
Now I'm responding. Now up until this point,
Cornelius did not have the revelation he needed
to become a Christian. He didn't have any information.
He didn't know who Peter was. Peter was the most
prominent one of the disciples. I mean, he was
the front man for the disciples in Jerusalem.
and the most recognizable preacher up until this
point. I mean, Paul had had his Damascus Road
experience and conversion right before this,
but he hadn't started going out yet. None of
the missionary journeys have taken place yet.
But listen, Cornelius acted with the revelation
that he had. He responded to what he knew. And
he knew to pray. He knew to give, be generous.
He knew those things. And he was just acting
based on what he knew. I want to encourage you.
Don't allow what you don't know yet. To keep
you from acting on what God has already shown
you to do. Because sometimes we do that. Sometimes
we do that. I'm going to say it again. Don't
allow what you don't know yet to keep you from
acting on what God has already shown you to do.
Cornelius prayed, he gave, he sought God. And
what happened? Because he was seeking God, God
brought him more light. In a pretty amazing way.
Hebrews 11 .6 says this, It's impossible to please
God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to
Him, come to God, must believe that God exists.
And that He rewards those who sincerely seek
Him. Listen, it's easy for us to just say amen
with, we believe that God exists. But some of
us in our background, in our training, I mean,
it's hard for us to swallow that He rewards those.
He's a rewarder of those who sincerely seek Him.
Sometimes that makes us... I didn't grow up in
that environment, but... Is this the Word of
God or is this the Word of God? Come on. I'm
just reading a verse. Somebody ought to smile.
Again, you need to say, Wow, starting today,
if I act on the knowledge that I have and I start
seeking God, I'm going to find him. Hello? That
ought to put a smile on your face, not like,
oh no. We always want to receive things on the
negative side so much. Oh no. I haven't been
acting on what God's word has laid out for me.
I haven't been acting on that, so now I'm shrinking
back. No. Don't do it. Say, today's the day I'm
going to start acting, and I'm going to see it.
God's going to show Himself strong in me. God's
going to bless me in ways I haven't even seen
blessing before. Because He's a rewarder of those
who sincerely seek Him, and I'm sincerely seeking
Him. Hallelujah! As soon as the angel was gone,
Cornelius called two of his household servants.
Did he wait a day? Did he wait a week? Did he
say, boy, I wonder what I ate for dinner last
night. That was crazy. An angel? A vision? I
mean, I hadn't even heard about that stuff, much
less experienced it. As soon as the angel was
gone, he acted. Cornelius called two of his household
servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal
attendants. He told them what had happened and
sent them off to Joppa. All he could say is,
go to somebody who makes leather and tans skins.
His name's Simon. I don't know where he lives.
I don't know his address. Go to Joppa by the
seashore. Start asking, does anyone around here
sell leather? And then go to his house. Is anyone
named Simon who lives here that sells leather?
And then they go knock on the door at Simon's
house, and then they say, is there a guy here
named Simon Peter? Not even Simon Peter's house.
He's just staying with the other son. That's
faith. So, the next day, because it took them
a long time to get there, the next day, as Cornelius'
messengers were nearing the town, they were already
on their way. Peter went up on the flat roof
to pray. It was about noon. And he was hungry.
But while a meal was being prepared, he fell
into a trance. Here comes another vision. He
saw the sky open. And something like a large
sheet was let down by its four corners. In the
sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles and
birds. Then a voice said to him, Get up, Peter.
Kill and eat them. Now listen. No, Lord. Peter
declared. He's thinking like, is this a test?
Because I'm not supposed to eat these animals
that are in this sheet. My tradition tells me
I can't do that. No, Lord, Peter declared, I
have never eaten anything our Jewish laws have
declared impure and unclean. No. How many times
do we say no when God tells us to do something?
How many times do we begin to question? How many
times do we say, no, God, I can't do that. They'll
think I'm weird. You know, they won't be my friend
anymore if I tell them what you want me to tell
them. You know, this is... That's what Peter
did. But the voice spoke again. Listen to what
God says. Do not call something unclean if God
has made it clean. Same vision, two more times.
That means the second time, he still said, even
after he heard this, No, Lord, I don't need anything
that my Jewish tradition tells me not to eat.
I can't do it. God spoke to Peter in a vision.
Listen, Peter was so ingrained in tradition that
God presented the same vision three times. And
then even after the third time. It said that
Peter was just perplexed. He's like, what could
this mean? What can this vision mean? Well, I'll
go ahead and tell you. It was about more than
food. It was an illustration. It was about more
than food. In verses 17 through 23, now as we
jump ahead. Cornelius' servants arrive and they
ask for Simon Peter. They ask for him to come
with them. God tells Peter to go with them, these
strangers. All of a sudden now he's going to
travel a full day to go see somebody he's never
met before. They arrived in Caesarea the following
day. Cornelius was waiting for them. Now listen.
We can't just bounce by this information. Cornelius
was waiting for them. That's obvious and expected,
right? But this part isn't. Cornelius was waiting
for them, and he had called together his relatives
and his close friends. He didn't even know if
the guy was going to come or not, outside of
what God told him. But it's like, hey. Everybody
come to my house. Something big is about to happen
at my house. God sent an angel in a vision to
talk to me to go get a man named Peter and tell
him that I want him to say the message that God
has placed on his heart. So you better be here.
You better not miss it. He had a house full.
So he meets Peter outside the house. They talk
together, briefly, and then they go inside the
house. And then, well, I was going to jump ahead
on the slide. Listen, this is important. Cornelius
didn't just seek revelation. He prepared to receive
it. If we're praying our Ephesians prayer, asking
God to give us insight and revelation towards
His Word and what He's speaking to us, let us
see it. If we're really expecting to see it,
we should be preparing to receive it. Cornelius
just didn't seek that Word, that message, that
revelation. He prepared to receive it. He was
waiting for Peter. He had gathered his relatives
and close friends. Think about it. Peter hadn't
even arrived and Cornelius had already filled
the room. He had filled his house. Expectation
prepares before revelation arrives. I'm going
to say it again. Expectation prepares. before
revelation arrives. If you're going to write
down something, write that down. Expectation
prepares before revelation arrives. If you're
asking God to bring revelation as you read the
Bible, as you pray, as you talk with Him, listen,
you need to be expecting that He's going to do
it. You need to be expecting revelation. You
don't just pray it like, well, I doubt this will
work, but the preacher told me to pray it. Pray
that the eyes of my understanding will be enlightened
to the truth. I'm not expecting it, but I'm going
to pray it. Hallelujah. Expectation. Has to be
there before the revelation is going to arrive.
I'm glad I'm having fun. Verse 28. Now listen
to what Peter says when he walks in the house.
He's got his friends. He's got his family. And
now listen to what Peter says. You know it's
against our laws for a Jewish man. to enter a
Gentile home like this, or even associate with
you. What a warm welcome. Hello? But, hallelujah,
there's a but. But God has shown me that I should
no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean.
So even though I knew I was going to a Gentile's
house, and even though that's just totally out
of my understanding and out of my comfort zone,
out of what I think is right, because I think
all Gentiles are dogs, God showed me something.
In that sheet that He lowered, He showed me something.
I should no longer think of anyone as impure
or unclean. So I came without objection as soon
as I was sent for. Now, why am I here? Tell me
why you sent for me. At that point, Cornelius
shares his encounter with the angel. We've already
read it. We've seen it. He shares that whole
thing in front of his family and his friends
and in front of Peter. And he basically ends
up saying, I sent for you at once after that
encounter with the angel. It was good for you
to come. Thank you for coming. Now we're all
here. And we're waiting before God. Everybody
say expectation. We're waiting before God to
hear the message the Lord has given you. Then
Peter replied, I see very clearly. We could put
now. I see very clearly. God shows no favoritism.
In every nation, He accepts those who fear Him
and do what is right. In every nation. I'm not
a Jew, so I say thank you, Jesus. This is the
message of good news. Everybody say gospel. This
is the gospel. This is the message of good news
for the people of Israel. Because they all thought
that the gospel and Jesus was just the Messiah
for Israel. They didn't understand, you know,
the prophecy through Abraham. That through Abraham,
he's going to bless the whole world. This is
the message of good news for the people of Israel.
there's peace with God. There's peace with God
through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. Wow.
So Peter shares the good news. He shares the
gospel. He shares his testimony. He talks about
how he walked with Jesus and went with Jesus
and saw that Jesus was doing good. and everything.
I mean, He didn't explain it all, but He was
like, I was with Him. I was there. He talked
about Him dying on a cross. He talked about His
crucifixion. He also talked about His resurrection.
And He ends His message by saying, you know,
when people believe in Jesus, their sins are
forgiven. Sins are forgiven. So he shared the
wonderful news of God's great love. And the Bible
says that even as Peter was saying these things,
while he's speaking, while he's sharing the gospel,
while he's sharing his testimony, while he's
telling them this good news, right in the middle
of it, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were
listening to the message. It's just like Pentecost.
In a Gentile's house, not in an upper room in
Jerusalem, but in the Gentile's house, Holy Spirit
fell upon all who were listening to the message.
The Jewish believers, because Paul had some friends
come with him, some other Jews, the Jewish believers
who came with Peter were amazed. I mean, they
saw what happened at Pentecost. They saw the
result. But now they're in a Gentile's house.
Didn't even feel like they should be there, but
now they're amazed that the gift of the Holy
Spirit has been poured out on the Gentiles too.
For they heard them speaking in other tongues
and praising God. Right in the middle of Paul's
message, all of a sudden, it just broke loose.
He hadn't even finished yet. He hadn't got to
the altar call yet, and all of a sudden, they're
all believing in Christ, and Holy Spirit's falling
on them. I mean, it's, whoo! I've never had a
service just totally break free in the middle
of it. That'd be nice. God just take over. That's
what happened. Then Peter asked, can anyone object?
He's looking at these other Jewish ministers
or laymen or whatever. They were there with him.
He says, can any of you guys object to their
being baptized? I mean, basically what he's saying
is, I know they haven't converted to Judaism
yet. Because that's what they thought. Up until
this point, they thought the only way that you
could become a Christian was to convert to Judaism.
That's what they thought. That's what Peter thought.
If you've been coming to Life Group, we've looked
at it, and it's like he got challenged on what
he thought even after this point. But he says,
can anyone object to all these people in this
room? Cornelius' family and his friends. Can
anybody object to... Them being baptized? Now
that they have received the Holy Spirit just
as we did? I mean, they were shocked. The Holy
Spirit fell on them even though they weren't
Jews. We've never seen anything like this before.
And then Peter said, baptize them. There were
no objections. He said, let's do it. So they
left the house and went to a river or pond or
something, and they baptized them all right then.
Listen, Cornelius was seeking God, but he couldn't
possibly have understood everything that was
coming. He had expectation, but he didn't know
what he was expecting. He's just expecting God
to do something because God sent an angel to
talk to him. He didn't know what was going to
happen. He had never heard of Jesus. He had never
heard of salvation. He had never heard of the
forgiveness of sins. He had no idea what was
coming. Nobody in the room did. I mean, it's
hard for us to imagine that because We've all
heard, right? And we think, oh, everybody already
knows everything. No, they didn't know anything.
He had no idea what was coming. And God just
didn't answer his prayer. God sent Peter. Like
I said, the most influential disciple, follower
of Christ at this time. I mean, he's the... It'd
be like you praying several years ago and God
sending Billy Graham to knock on your door. I
want to know you. Call for this man named Billy
Graham. Who's that? And then he just comes to
your house and talks to you. I mean, it's of
that magnitude. And we just read over this stuff
and we're like, we're just casual with it. God
sent Peter. God revealed Jesus. He'd never heard
of Jesus. And God poured out. The Holy Spirit
on him and his family and his friends. They were
born again. Filled with God. Cornelius, his family
and his friends were all born again and baptized.
He had no idea what was coming. God gave him
more than he knew to ask for. I'd write that
down too. God gave Cornelius more than he even
knew what to ask for. And that reminded me of
a verse. Has anybody ever read Ephesians 3 .20
before? God is able. Somebody say God is able.
God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above
all that we ask or think. Everybody say above.
I mean, it's bigger than what we can even ask
for, bigger than what we can even think when
we are seeking God. We need an expectation that
He's going to hear and He's going to answer.
Do you expect God to answer when you pray? Come
on, let's be honest. Do you? Are you really expecting
Him to answer? Every time you pray, you're expecting
Him to answer. There's always an expectation
every time you pray. I would have to say there's
a lot of times I pray that I'm just going through
it. And you're like, oh no. I'm more spiritual
than the preacher, I guess. Because I have never
prayed without expectation. Let's be real. Sometimes
we just go through it. And sometimes we prayed
for the same thing. Over and over. And we haven't
seen the answer yet. And we know that we're praying
in agreement with God's promise. Listen, I'm
not just asking him for some selfish thing. I'm
praying in agreement with his promise, according
to his word. And I prayed over and over and over.
Sometimes, you're still praying. But your expectation
might be slipping just a little bit. Come on.
We're looking at this story today. We don't know
how long Cornelius was praying to God. We don't
know how long he was being faithful in what he
knew, in the light that he had, in the revelation
that he had. We don't know how long. He had been
doing that. God showed up. God showed up. Cornelius
prayed when apparently nothing was happening.
He gave when apparently nothing was happening.
He sought God when apparently nothing was happening.
Over and over and over again. Listen, something
was happening. Look at the person beside you
and say, but something was happening. He hadn't
seen it. He hadn't heard it. Something was happening.
Something was happening. It's happening. Even
though I've been praying a similar prayer almost
every day, if not every week for 20 years, something's
happening. Something's happening in the spirit
realm. We keep praying to have a new building.
You look at it. We came up with a picture to
kind of give you a vision, kind of give you an
understanding. And we're praying. We're not stopping
praying. Because something's happening. We might
not see it yet. But we can't give up hope. We've
got to hold on to hope. And our hope is anchored
behind the veil, the Bible says. According to
the promises of God, our hope is anchored behind
the veil. And we hold on to that hope. Without
wavering. Because something's happening. Don't
give up. I'm here to tell you, don't give up.
Need to encourage myself. Don't give up. Because
if you give up, you'll never get it. Don't give
up. believing according to God's promises, don't
ever give up. Something was happening at Cornelius'
house. Heaven was noticing. Every time he prayed,
every time he gave to the poor Jews, the people
of God, every time he gave, heaven's watching.
Don't know how long it was, but one day, everybody
say one day. One day the angel appeared and the
message of the angel was, hey, God's seen it
all. You weren't unnoticed. Cornelius could have
thought, well, I'm doing all this stuff and,
you know, I'm basically unnoticed. It's unnoticed
that I'm praying. It's unnoticed that I'm giving.
You know, nobody's building a library with my
name on it. Hello. God saw it all. And I ask
you again, if you can't figure it out, if you
can't put two and two together, why were Cornelius,
his family, and closest friends among the first
Gentiles to become Christians? Why were they
first? Why were they first? Hmm? Because Cornelius.
Because of his prayer, his generosity had not
gone unnoticed by God. That's what the angel
said. I'm not making up anything. I mean, that's
what the Bible says. The angel says, look, God
has seen your prayers. He's heard your prayers
and he's seen your generosity. And that's why
I'm here today to tell you that there's this
guy named Simon Peter that you've never heard
of and he's at... Simon the Leathermaker's house
that you've never heard of down in Joppa is a
day from here. Send him and tell him to give
you the message. It was not unnoticed by God.
Was not unnoticed by God. El Roy sees you. Everybody
say, God sees me. God sees me. That's who he
is. That's his name. God sees me. He sees your
heart. He remembers your faithfulness. He watches
over His Word to perform it. And God remains
a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
He told us that. Anything He told us, we should
be able to trust it. We should be able to trust
it, right? If God said it, we should be able
to trust Him. Act on what God has already shown
you. Prepare your heart with expectation. Prepare
your heart to receive what He wants to show you
next. And then trust Him with what you can't
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