God Is No Respecter of Persons

Acts 10

   ¹There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,

   ²A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

   ³He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.

   ⁴And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

   ⁵And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:

   ⁶He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

So Cornelius sent some folks to go find Peter and relay this message to Him.

In order to fully appreciate what is going on here, you must understand that the Jewish people were very prejudiced towards anyone not of their race.

In the mean time God is preparing Peter for this culture shock! Peter goes to the roof top and has a vision.

Peter fell into a trance and a large sheet was let down from heaven filled with animals. God said “Take and eat”.

Peter said “Not so Lord. I have never eaten anything that was unclean”!

God basically said “Don’t call anything unclean when I say it is clean”! God is preparing him for what happens next.

About that time a knock was heard at the door of the house Peter was staying in. It was the men from Cornelius’s house. Peter went with them to Cornelius’s house, and tells them of his prejudice.

Acts 10:28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Then after hearing the angel’s instructions to Cornelius he makes this statement in:

Acts 10:34 “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

Then Peter begins to preach the Gospel, but before he can finish his sermon the Holy Ghost falls on Cornelius and his family, and they all begin speaking in tongues! Something unheard of to the Jewish Peter!

God is the original “Equal Rights” advocate!

His book is the original equal rights manual!

Look at John 3:16 and get a fresh perspective on this blessed scripture!

 ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Notice that no race, creed, religion, or color of man is excluded! It is for “Whosoever”!  Now! Who does that include?

That’s right! Everyone that is born on this planet has an equal right to be saved, redeemed, born again. (These terms mean the same thing) Or they have an equal right to have their own beliefs that contradict God’s word and go to hell. (I am being brutally frank!)

Romans 10:13  ^“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Mark 16:15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

   ¹⁶He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Jesus, too, is being very frank!

Notice “Every Creature” has a right to hear and be saved. God is no respecter of persons!

But just as in the Old Covenant the choice is left up to the individual.

Deut. 30:19 “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”

You have equal rights! You have a right to choose! No matter who you are! No matter what color, or gender, race! God plays no favorites.

Hebrews 11:6  ^“But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

You can use your faith to receive any, and all the promises of God.

2 Corinthians 1:20
”For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

Let me say it again! God makes all these promises in Christ  to “Whosoever will”!

Now, our ancestors may have been persecuted, beaten, even enslaved. Maybe we are still being persecuted for the color of our skin.

McKnight is my name, some Irish in there somewhere! The Irish had a very hard time when we first came to America. Some of us were beaten, and even killed for no other reason than we were Irish!

Others (of many races) were persecuted, beaten and made slaves, but we cannot hold on to those ungodly things that happened and have any kind of success, or victory, or joy in our lives if we do. They will drag us down.

You may say “People don’t like me because….I am uneducated, I am poor, I am black, I am Asian, I a white, then proceed to tell of all the sins of the past that have been perpetrated on “our” race or gender, or whatever you have been taught, or  maybe have even experienced.

But all that will just lead to more prejudice, and loss for us!

Listen to what God says to all that accept Christ as savior!

Galatians 3:28   ^“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

God is no respecter of persons! Any one can be blessed in Christ Jesus!

Rick