Episode 232: God Who Orchestrates - He's the Conductor | Steve Henderson

Introduction

Good morning, church of the Holy Spirit. Good morning. Can we just give God some praise? He is worthy of it. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Would you pray with me, please? Father, we're so grateful to be in your presence. We know that you're here. We are grateful, God, that you are here to speak to us by your spirit and by your word. God, I don't know what they need, but you know what they need. So I'd ask, God, that you would meet them right where they are, that you would speak individually to each one of us here, and speak collectively to us by your spirit and by your word. It's your word that has authority to save, to heal, and to deliver today. So do that for your people, God. Speak to them so boldly, so precisely, so clearly. We give you thanks. Thank you for your love, God. Thank you for your love for us. And we honor you in Jesus' name, amen.

Can you just give him some more praise? It's alright. He is the God who orchestrates our lives. He is the God who conducts our lives. And sometimes he does it in amazing, incredible ways, and sometimes he does it so quietly and so minutely that we don't even see it.

The Gathering of the Church

And what he's doing here in the book of Acts is bringing his church together. He's bringing them together, and sometimes it takes a little while for us to get it, right? And we're going to see that in two individuals in Acts chapter 10.

Let's just do that now, let's do that. In Acts chapter 10, God is orchestrating the lives of two men so that we, the Gentiles, might be saved. Us, the non-Jews. Because at this time, the church was made up of Jewish Christians and some Samaritans. But the Gentiles— the door hadn't been opened to bring the Gentiles in. That's us. That's us. So I want to shout out that God said, the door is open, come on and be saved.

Well, here, he's going to orchestrate the lives of two gentlemen. The first one I want to introduce you to is Cornelius. In Acts 10, see, this gentleman Cornelius lived in Caesarea. He was a centurion, a commander of 100 soldiers.

It says three things that are so sweet about this centurion. First, he was a devout man. This man Cornelius was a devout man, which means he was committed and devoted to his religious duties. That kind of baffles me because I see he's a Roman soldier too, a Roman soldier who was religious and devoted to his duties.

But not only that, it says that he gave alms generously to the people. And to give alms means that he gave of his time, resources, and money to help others. In particular, the scripture speaks about how he gave to the Jewish nation.

Cornelius, a Roman soldier, devout, he gave of his alms, but not only that, it says he prayed to God always. Now, what does praying to God always mean? It means he prayed to God continually. That's what that means.

So let's look at Cornelius, Acts chapter 10; we'll start—well, one more thing I left out. It also says in verse 2 that he feared God. He was a God-fearer. And God-fearers were non-Jews who had given up the practice of pagan religion and their pagan customs to serve Jehovah God. They had not yet become full Jews because to do so, you had to follow all the customs, all the Jewish laws and traditions, including dietary measures and circumcision.

Cornelius was a God-fearer but not a full Jew. And one of the other things is he had not yet accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He didn't know.

So now, God is going to orchestrate these two people to come together, that we, the Gentiles, the Cornelius, could be saved.

Cornelius’ Vision and Faith

In verse three and four of Acts 10, about the ninth hour of the day, which was 3 p.m., he saw clearly—Cornelius saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him,

Cornelius?

He stared at him in terror and said, what is it, Lord? And he said to him, your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

This is amazing, you all. This is where God begins to do the incredible. An angel shows up at your doorstep. What happens to you? What do you do? And I’ll tell you what I do—I pass up.

But it shows that Cornelius was afraid, he was afraid but he said, what is it, Lord? What is it, Lord? And he tells him that his alms, the things he's doing, they've come up to the Lord and he sees—

That Greek word for that, let me see if I can get that for you— that Greek word for God sees is milmenusium. It means God, as a memorial, that God would remember you.

I'm amazed and grateful that God sees us in any situation. I can also be fearful that God sees us in every situation. I'm grateful that he sees me when I'm hurting, crying, lost, or when I don't know how to stand in front of people like you.

It's not always easy to stand in front. It’s not always good, but God says, I see you. In every situation, you need to know that God sees you. Again, that could be good or not so good, but I'm glad he's the God who sees.

He tells Cornelius that it’s all good—God sees your prayers, your devotion, your faithfulness.

But now, this is what the angel says to Cornelius in verses five through eight. You with me?

And now, send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.

When the angel had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him. Having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Here it is—Cornelius, a devout man who gave alms, served God, prayed constantly, and was a God-fearer, hears from an angel of the Lord.

Let me introduce you to Peter, who God is going to now miraculously bring together with Cornelius. We know a lot about Peter. His characteristics aren’t so similar but somewhat similar to Cornelius'.

Peter was bold. Peter was outspoken. Peter was a fighter. If he aimed well, he'd cut your head off, but I remember he cut a guy’s ear off—I think he was aiming at his head. Peter was a fighter. Peter was sometimes hard-headed; anybody know?

Peter doubted. His faith was tested. Peter failed the test. But Peter was brave. He walked on water. Peter was restored back to the Lord. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter loved Jesus.

Man, these two men—God wants to bring them together for his glory and our good.

The Vision and the Call

Starting in verse 9, we introduce Peter into the scene. The next day, as they were on their journey approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour— that’s about twelve noon— to pray.

He became hungry and wanted something to eat. While they were preparing it, he fell into a trance.

Look at God working again. He saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds of the air.

And there came a voice to him:

Rise, Peter. Kill and eat.

But Peter said, by no means, Lord. I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. The voice came to him again a second time:

What God has made clean, do not call common.

This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

While Peter was inwardly perplexed about the meaning of the vision, behold, the men sent by Cornelius had made inquiries for Simon's house and stood at the gate, calling out to ask whether Simon, called Peter, was lodging there.

As Peter pondered the vision, the Spirit said to him:

Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down, and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.

So Peter went down to the men and said, I am the one you're looking for. What is the reason for your coming?

And they said:

Cornelius, a centurion, an upright, God-fearing man who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you—to come to his house and hear what you have to say.

Peter invited them in to be his guests.

Look at God, you all— orchestrating Cornelius and Peter to meet, that the Gentiles might be welcomed into the body of Christ.

I'm thinking about Cornelius at this point. When the angel speaks to him and he sends these guys to look for Peter, can you imagine? He's going to his friends and saying, look, an angel of the Lord spoke to me, and Peter's going to come to my house. Peter's going to tell us what God has to say. Come, come!

He gets his friends, his relatives, and he's excited to hear from the Lord.

Let me tell you, every Sunday, that's how you ought to be. Every Sunday, you come in saying, I’m going because God has something to say to me.

Every time you open the word, you say, God, I know you're going to speak to me. Every time you come into this place, have an expectation that you're going to encounter God because he's here. He's the God who sees you in every situation.

Don't think like I used to think—thinking you can get away with stuff. Know this: God sees you when you're good, and I’m grateful he has mercy in our bad. I’m grateful that this love doesn’t give up on us.

This love that God has for us, he sees us, and we should have an expectation that he wants to meet with us. He has what's called, I dare say, a reckless love—a reckless love for us.

What kind of God, I ask, because I preface this by saying—what kind of God would sacrifice his own son? What kind of God would let men drive spikes through Jesus' hands? For people who turn their backs on him, who don't love him?

He is reckless because he loves you so much, and whatever it takes to gain your heart, he will do it.

This love is bringing Cornelius and Peter together so that we, the Gentiles, might be able to come into the body of Christ.

The big picture isn’t who you are or what you can do. The big picture is that God wants you to show the love, the power, the forgiveness, and the salvation of Jesus. He wants you to get it so you can give it.

He wants to order your steps and orchestrate your life.

Look at Peter. In verse 19, it says: while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him:

Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down, and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.

The Holy Spirit has to tell Peter, go without hesitation. Why? Because Peter was hesitating—trying to figure out what the Lord wanted him to do.

And the Spirit says, go down and meet these men. See, Jews didn’t associate with non-Jews because of customs, traditions, lifestyles.

Peter had barriers—barriers that kept him from being able to associate and witness.

We all have barriers. Sometimes we create them ourselves. Because I don’t look like you, I can’t talk to you. Because I don’t dress like you, we can’t connect. Because I might not work where you work, I might not have your prestige, so we can't associate.

I worked at Allstate for about 28 years, and in my early years, we dressed going to work—ties and all. The lunchroom was segregated not by color, but by management levels. We did not sit together.

It’s amazing the barriers we have, but it’s also amazing how God orchestrates our lives.

God orchestrated my life years ago, though I didn’t see it at the time. My mother raised five children; I was the youngest. She worked a forty-hour week and did day work on Saturdays, cleaning homes.

Two families in particular—white families—she worked for them on Saturdays. I remember one named Gillespie. If you all know any Gillespies, please tell her thank you.

My mom worked in Miss Gillespie's house, and one day she said to my mom:

Ms. Henderson, you have a son at home, don’t you?

My mom said, yeah, I have a son at home.

Let me back up—I didn’t like my mama going into y’all’s homes to clean. In case you didn’t hear that, I didn’t like my mom doing that. There was a pride—maybe even prejudice—I had that I didn’t know was in me.

But my mama said they always treated her with love and dignity. They respected her. She would come back with all these great things to say about Miss Gillespie and the other family.

One day, Miss Gillespie came to my mother and said:

You got a son at home?

My mom said, yeah.

She said, well, my son’s gone off to college. He left his guitar at home. Would you give it to your son?

My mom said, yeah.

She took it home and told me, Steve, Miss Gillespie said she wanted to give you this guitar; her son went to college.

I said, thanks, mom. I took it, smiled, and closed the door—

And said, I don’t want anything to do with that guitar.

I left it in the corner for months. Possibly five or six months before I picked it up.

One day, I just started going up and down the strings, not doing anything. I thought, oh, what song is that? Batman.

That’s what I did—Batman, Batman.

And I realized I could play a song. I got interested in learning how to play. Little did I know, God was orchestrating my life.

I played in clubs, got involved in drugs and wrong turns, but God was reeling me back in, little by little.

He was orchestrating my life because he has a reckless love—for me, for you—and he is orchestrating our lives.

Overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God, and oh, it chases me down, fights till I’m found, leaves the 99.

I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, but still, you give yourself away.

And all the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.

Isn’t he reckless? Doesn’t he love you so much that he orchestrates your life to be his mouthpiece? That’s what he wants.

He wants you to give it, so you can give it.

My wife and I, we don’t see color—no, we do see color. But we don’t see it as opposition. We see it as a blessing.

Look at creation, look at everything God has made.

God has made so many beautiful mixtures. We see the rainbow and all its colors.

It’s been about twenty years or more that God has used my wife and me to minister and worship with people who don’t look like us.

And you know, that’s all right. The greatest thing is that God sees us.

I was walking on the Greenway yesterday. Oh, by the way, I meant to tell you all—this is an extended service. I think I have about an hour and a half to preach today. Just hang in there with me. I’ve got stories.

While walking yesterday, I saw many people riding bikes and running by me. I thought, gosh, am I that old? They were passing me by, but several didn’t see me.

I wanted to smile, say hello, but they didn’t see me. I’m grateful that God sees me. I’m grateful that God sees you—no matter what it is, hurt or pain.

He wants you to know he's walking with you through this.

Somebody ought to praise him. Hallelujah.

The Gospel and Salvation

Let me read these last few verses. When Peter finally comes to Cornelius’ house, God gave him a word.

In verse 34 of Acts 10, as was read earlier, Peter opened his mouth and said:

Truly I understand that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

As for the word he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ—he is lord of all.

You know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.

He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

We are witnesses of all that he did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.

They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear—

Not to all people but to the ones chosen by God, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

He is the one appointed by God, to judge the living and the dead. To him, all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

This great message of salvation will not change, but it can and it will change your life.

If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, today you can do that. You can come around these curved rails, and you can have a one-on-one with God.

Why? Because he's here. Why? Because he sees you. Why? Because he knows you, loves you, and understands you.

If you want someone to pray with you, someone will be there to intercede with you.

But he loves you and he bids you to come.

Before I spoke a word, you were singing of me.

You have been so, so good to me.

Before I took a breath, you breathed your life into me.

Tell him, you have been so, so kind to me.

Won’t you lift your hands to him?

And oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.

And oh, it chases me down, fights till I'm found, leaves the 99.

I couldn