People can be “acceptable” to
God
1) Most know that under the Old Testament system the people of Israel offered sacrifices.
2) In verses like Lev. 1:3-4 God said sacrifices could be “acceptable.”
3) There were times when sacrifices were rejected; in some cases God refused to some things.
4) When God’s people did as they were told, their gifts were accepted.
5) This is really a thought provoking point.
6) Man was able to offer something to the creator of all things and the creator took it.
a) Considering this point allows us to appreciate what is said in Acts 10:35.
b) Prior to verse 35 Peter God is “no respector of persons.”
c) We may study this statement in Acts 10:34 next week.
d) Tonight we want to comes after God not being a respector of persons.
e) People can be “accepted” by God – here is how Acts 10:35 reads.
7) There are times in life when people or they things they offer are not accepted.
a) A young person may apply to a college and the school rejects them.
b) We may seek employment with a certain company and we are turned down.
c) Some companies go so far as to say they will not even accept an application.
d) We may engage in some type of work and it is classified as unacceptable.
e) If we cook, we may make a dish and it turns out so badly it is unacceptable to eat.
8) Imagine a God who says to the world, “You are sinful creatures, but I will accept you.”
9) God’s offer is not some half-hearted offer. God says He will adopt us into His family.
10) He will let us be His people and eventually allow us to spend eternity with Him.
11) This is an incredible offer.
12) In life we recognize varying levels (degrees) of acceptance.
a) A person may not be rejected for something, but he is not fully accepted.
b) There are times when people tolerate someone or something.
c) Or, a person may be a friend but not a close friend.
d) “Accepted” in Acts 10:35 describes full approval and acceptance. It is 100% acceptance.
13) Jesus described this as being “friends” with God in Jn. 15:14.
14) In 1 Cor. 6:19-20 Paul told the Corinthians they had been “bought with a price” (God accepted them).
BEING ACCEPTED BY A GROUP OF PEOPLE OR ACCEPTED INTO SOMETHING IS OFTEN SOMETHING WE VALUE.
a) When we are accepted for something, that often means others are not
b) The word “acceptance” almost always implies that others are somehow excluded.
2) Growing up I spent a lot of time in the boy scout organization.
3) Over the course of many years I was entitled to participate in almost everything the troop did.
4) When I was about 14, I was told “no.”
5) Older members were planning a trip to Canada. The youngest to go were, I believe, 17.
6) I was at least 3 years too young for that trip.
7) I gave my best sales pitch to be part of that group and I made my case multiple times.
8) If being accepted would have been based on persistence, they would have taken me.
9) Time and time again I was told “no” and in the end I was not accepted for that trip.
10) Being rejected is not all that fun and rejection occurs for many reasons.
11) People are not accepted in some situations because they do not have enough money.
12) A person who makes $50,000 a year is probably not going to be acceptable to a club full of millionaires.
13) Religious people may be looked upon as unacceptable because of their moral convictions.
14) This afternoon I listened to a man who spoke of globalization.
15) He said our world is shrinking; technology brings the world together more and more.
16) If religion is consistent with globalization, great. If it is not, then that religion is unacceptable.
17) Acceptance means a lot of different things in our world.
18) God’s acceptance of people is not like what we find in the world.
a) We started with the end of verse 35; let’s now look at the beginning of the verse – READ
b) Who can be acceptable to God? Peter said “people from every nation.”
19) A good cross-reference for this point is Acts 15:9.
a) This passage actually refers back to the conversion of Cornelius.
b) Peter said “God made no distinction between them and us.”
c) Peter and others used to see a distinction between Jew and Gentile—a huge distinction.
d) Peter said God regarded people as all being “one.”
e) This makes sense. For a while, Adam was the only person. Then Eve was formed.
f) All people have come from the first couple. Humanity is really of “one blood.”
g) All have the same problem (sin) and all need the same cure (Christ).
h) Mankind has several common bonds so we should expect that all can be “acceptable” to God.
20) This point is so important it was taught under the Old Testament system.
21) Think back to the book of Jonah; God’s prophet was supposed to go and preach to the people of Ninevah.
a) Those living in Ninevah were not Jews; they were Gentiles.
b) Yet, God sent a Jewish prophet to them to warn of destruction if the Ninevites would not repent.
c) Those living in Ninevah turned from their sin, at least for a time.
d) Their repentance was in “sack cloth and ashes” (Jon. 3:6-10).
e) God accepted the repentance from these Gentiles and spared their city.
22) In this same story we read about disobedience on the part of Jonah.
23) This prophet was from the chosen nation, but he did not act like one of the chosen people.
a) God inflicted punishment upon h prophet – Jonah was swallowed by a great fish.
b) It apparently didn’t take Jonah too long to figure out that he had made a bad choice.
c) He cried out to God, he had a willingness to obey, and he was released from the big fish.
d) When we speak of being “accepted by God” and “every nation,” the book of Jonah illustrates the point.
24) Acts 10:35 is broad enough to even include Christians who leave the faith and want to return.
25) Some of us will meet Christians who walk away from the faith.
26) They may get mad at someone, discouraged, feel let down, or one day decide God does not love them.
27) As the young man in Lk. 15 left home, so some Christians decide to abandon the faith
28) In many cases time passes (perhaps several years) and people think about returning.
29) In many of these cases wayward Christians wonder if God will forgive and accept them.
a) We sing songs about that – “wandering far away from home.”
b) Acts 10:35 affirms that God will accept the prodigal back.
c) If a wayward brother sister is willing to comply with God’s terms, they can be accepted.
d) Acts 10:35 is a great verse.
e) This information should also encourage us: God will warmly accept anyone who wants salvation.
f) This salvation must be on God’s terms; it cannot be based on a plan we devise.
30) Jude once said (verse 3 in this single chapter book) that salvation is “common.”
a) Sometimes a person will refer to “commoners.”
b) We may also refer to items that have little value as “common.”
31) “Common” in Jude 3 does not have either of these meanings– common describes sameness.
32) When a person is saved, they must follow a single process (a specific procedure).
33)
Salvation
does not involve “two steps” for some people, three steps for others,
and five steps for someone else.
34) If someone is saved under the NT, he has followed the exact same plan as everyone else who is saved.
a) A person may not receive the information about salvation in the exact same way.
b) One person may be taught by a friend; another may find the truth by searching the Internet.
c) A person may request a Bible correspondence course and learn the truth that way.
d) When a person is taught, they obey a very a specific process to become a Christian.
35) That process is the same for “every nation” and it allows people to be “accepted by God.”
36) If people in every nation do not follow God’s one plan, God will not accept them. He will reject them.
37) The salvation process that God uses is also associated with the middle of verse 35.
a) A person must “fear God” and “work righteousness.”
b) A person does not become a Christian by chance. They must be taught.
38) When a person is taught, they “fear” God (this fear is “reverence” – respect).
39) Ps. 85:9 says salvation is “near” to those who respect God.
40) When a person respects God, they are inclined to be obedient.
a) Some cultures, and ours is a great example, likes to trust in its own wisdom and power.
b) Many times our nation has the idea there is no problem we cannot conquer.
c) Think of the scientists who claim global warming and they have the solution.
d) We have people who think they have the knowledge and power to change the weather.
e) We can’t even always forecast it right; how do we think we are going to control it?
f) People often respect and reverence the wrong things.
g) Prov. 3:7 warns of trusting in our own wisdom.
41) God says if people in any nation want to be acceptable to Him, they need to respect Him.
42) They also need to “work righteousness.”
43) This point of the verse is well explained by some of the opening words in Rom. 2.
a) Paul asked if the Jewish people despised God’s goodness (Rom. 2:4).
b) He said that such a choice would treasure up wrath on the day of judgment (Rom. 2:5).
c) God will “render to every man according to his works” (2:6).
d) I want to read verses 8 and 10 – READ
44) There are people in every nation that God will reject for all the reasons in verse 8.
45) They engage in faction, refuse to obey the truth, and seek what is wrong.
46) We also find in every nation some sincere people like Cornelius in Acts 10.
47) There are those who want to “work good.”
48) These are the people who seek to “work righteousness” (they want to live a Christian life).
a) What is the end result for choosing and obeying Christ? Glory, honor and peace.
b) Working righteousness is by no means a new thing.
49) Eccl. 12:13 says “fear God and keep His commandments.”
a) This is man’s duty (responsibility).
b) If we make this choice, God says we will be blessed (He will accept us).
50) In Heb. 11:32 the writer of that book mentioned some names—David, Samuel, Barak, Gideon.
51) He said these Old Testament characters “wrought righteousness.”
a) Men and women under the Old Testament system were able to choose what was right.
b) That choice helped them in their life and they are still enjoying the benefits of it as we sit here tonight.
c) Many of the things we do in life have little to no meaning later in life or after we die.
d) After 5 years pass, 10 years go by, or 20+ years have been lived, many things are forgotten.
e) Many things no longer matter.
52) God does not forget those who are righteous, no matter what nation they are from.
53) Christians build a record that is an eternal record.
54) Righteousness is so important John said (1 Jn. 2:29) that righteous people are “begotten of God .”
55) We are God’s children if we choose righteousness.
56) Working righteousness does not mean we are working our way to heaven.
57) It simply means what James descried in Jas. 2:18 - faith is shown by its works.
58) Moses commented on this a long time ago.
59) He said God could be found if men would seek Him with “all” their hearts (Deut. 4:29).
60) Jeremiah said (29:13) God would be found if people would seek Him with all their hearts.
61) David reminds us (1 Chron. 16:10-11) to “seek God continually.”
62) We can be acceptable in the sight of God – it does not matter who we are.
63) Tonight are we one of the people God has accepted?