OUR HEART IS IMPORTANT NOT OUR RACE ETHNICITY OR NATIONALITY

PROCLAMATION

“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 10:28 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Luke records that a devout and God-fearing man named Cornelius, who was a centurion in the Roman army, had a vision in which he was told to send for Simon Peter. (Acts 10:1-6)  About the same time Peter had a vision in which The Lord God told him not to call anything impure that He had made clean. (Acts 10:9-16)  While Peter was still trying to figure out his first vision, The Holy Spirit came to him and told him to go with the three men who were looking for him because He had sent them. (Acts 10:17-19)  Peter went with them and when he arrived at the home of Cornelius, he told them that their law did not allow a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, but God had shown him that it was okay. (Acts 10:23-29)  Cornelius had invited his relatives and close friends to his home to hear the message that God had for them. (Acts 10:24)  Peter found a large gathering in the house (Acts 10:27) and preached to them until The Holy Spirit came upon all of those who heard him. (Acts 10:44-46)

 

APPLICATION

With The Lord God there is no respect of persons, (Acts 10:34 and Romans 2:11) there are only believers and non-believers.  Believers are to accept all other believers as brothers in Christ, regardless of their racial, ethnic, or national differences.  All believers possess The Holy Spirit of God within them.  Our differences do not matter.  All that is important is that they believe in Christ.  If they believe, then they are to be accepted.  If they do not believe, then we are to share the gospel with them.  It is the job of The Holy Spirit to convict, convince, and convert them. Only He adds to the church and He does so as He sees fit. (Acts 2:47)

 

MAN'S JUDGMENT IS BIASED ONLY GOD IS ALWAYS JUST

Proclamation:

“As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said, ‘Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?’”  Acts 22:25 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Luke, a frequent traveling companion of the apostle Paul, recorded that after Paul was arrested he spoke to the crowd in their native language. (Acts 22:1-2)  He told them his story including that he was born a Jew, educated by Greek scholars, and was a zealous persecutor of the followers of Christ until his conversion on the road to Damascus. (Acts 22:3-20)  Things were going well until he said that the Lord sent him to preach to the Gentiles and then the crowd turned on him. (Acts 22:21-24)  As the soldiers were about to flog him, Paul told them that he was a Roman citizen.  They were alarmed and concerned because they knew that Roman citizens were to be treated differently as prisoners than other people. (Acts 22:25-29)

Application:

With The Lord God there is no respect of persons. (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, and Ephesians 6:9)  He doses not play favorites.  Position, title, rank, or riches do not matter to God, for He sees the heart of man. (Jeremiah 11:20 and 20:12)  We tend to judge people by what they have.  Today, the law appears to be applied differently to the rich and famous than it is to the average people and the poor people.  As believers we are to love all of our brothers and sisters, (John 13:34, 15:12, and 15:17) and our enemies, (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, and Luke 6:35) and we are not to judge anyone. (Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37)  We are not to use a double standard for how we treat people.  We should speak to, treat, and respect the CEO and the janitor, the rich and the poor, believers and non-believers in the same manner.

OUR HEART IS IMPORTANT NOT OUR RACE ETHNICITY OR NATIONALITY

Proclamation:

“He said to them: ‘You are 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 10:28 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Luke records that a devout and God-fearing man named Cornelius, who was a centurion in the Roman army, had a vision in which he was told to send for Simon Peter. (Acts 10:1-6)  About the same time Peter had a vision in which The Lord God told him not to call anything impure that He had made clean. (Acts 10:9-16)  While Peter was still trying to figure out his first vision, The Holy Spirit came to him and told him to go with the three men who were looking for him because He had sent them. (Acts 10:17-19)  Peter went with them and when he arrived at the home of Cornelius he told them that their law did not allow a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, but God had shown him that it was okay. (Acts 10:23-29)  Cornelius had invited his relatives and close friends to his home to hear the message that God had for them. (Acts 10:24)  Peter found a large gathering in the house (Acts 10:27) and preached to them until The Holy Spirit came upon all of those who heard him. (Acts 10:44-46)

Application:

With The Lord God there is no respect of persons, (Acts 10:34 and Romans 2:11) there are believers of all nationalities.  We are to accept all believers as brothers in Christ, regardless of our ethnic differences.  All believers possess The Holy Spirit of God within them.  It should not matter to us what race, creed, ethnicity, or nationality someone is, all that is important is if they believe or not.  If they believe, then they are to be accepted.  If they do not believe, then we are to share the gospel with them and let The Holy Spirit work on them and add to the church as He sees fit. (Acts 2:47)