Accept - Who Does God Accept?

(Acts 10:1-35) There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, -2. A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. -3. He 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. -4. And 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. -5. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: -6. He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. -7. And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; -8. And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. -9. On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: -10. And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, -11. And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: -12. Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. -13. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. -14. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. -15. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. -16. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. -17. Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate, -18. And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there. -19. While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. -20. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them. -21. Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? -22. And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. -23. Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him. -24. And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends. -25. And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. -26. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man. -27. And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together. -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 showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. -29. Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me? -30. And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, -31. And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. -32. Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee. -33. Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. -34. Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: -35. But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Our subject today is taken from verse 35 of this account - Who Does God Accept? Peter's words tell us that God has two conditions for acceptance - fear Him and work righteousness. If you will meet those two conditions, then God will accept you. The fact that God will accept you does not mean that others will accept you. Others are affected by the traditions and teachings that they have been taught and may have a notion similar to that of Peter, that it is unlawful to meet with someone of a different religious persuasion. Let us consider now what it takes for God to accept us.

First Peter tells us that God expects us to fear Him. Jesus taught us in (Mat 10:28) And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. We live in a time when many think that we should not fear God. Somehow they have the idea that a God of love need not be feared. Let me remind you that this God of love, is also a God of judgement. While He prefers to grant to you forgiveness of sin, He will not hesitate to send upon you His wrath. He is just and fair and you will receive from Him according to your works. He has power to give or to take away life from your soul. God is to be revered, respected, and feared. (Heb 10:31) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The fear of God is the very foundation of understanding and respecting God. (Prov 9:10) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. God is feared not because He is a tyrant, but because He is so great and awesome It is only reasonable to want His power and ability working on your behalf rather than against you.

The Bible instructs us to not only fear God, but to also keep His commandments. (Eccl 12:13) Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. This is the whole duty of man. This is basic. This is fundamental. Keep His commandments. Many people today seem to think that the commandments of God are the suggestions of God. Let me assure you that is not the case. It is the whole duty of man to fear God and keep his commandments. When you disregard God and fail to give him the reverence he deserves, you are deceiving yourself to think that he still accepts you.

The second point that Peter reminded us of is that to be accepted of God, we must be workers of righteousness. (Acts 10:35) But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. We live in a time when many people have the idea that they can be accepted of God and continue to practice sin day after day. Let me remind you that to be accepted of God requires you to work righteousness not sin. Work righteousness by living right, doing the right thing according to the law of God.

This is no new idea for it has been God's plan from the beginning to accept those that work righteousness. (Gen 4:1-7) And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. -2. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. -3. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. -4. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: -5. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. -6. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? -7. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. This was God's message, if thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted. If not, then you will not be accepted. Remember that this statement was made before Cain became a murdered. God looks on the heart and he saw the intent of Cain's heart and did not find it to be righteousness. Abel was accepted of God because he did the right thing with the right motive. (Heb 11:4) By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

To seek righteousness is one of the basic fundamentals of being a Christian. (Mat 6:33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. As a Christian, God expects you to seek righteousness in every thing you do and in every place that you can. He expects you to put forth a diligent and continuos search for righteousness. It is his desire that righteousness fill the whole earth and every Christian has a duty to help spread righteousness. You cannot spread righteousness and sin at the same time. That would be like trying to put out a fire with gasoline.

Your works must be works of righteousness to be accepted by God. Let us review the works of righteousness and the works of unrighteousness (referred to in the Bible as works of the flesh). (Gal 5:16-26) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. -17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. -18. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. -19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, -20. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, -21. Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (In our world today we have multitudes of people who are wrapped up in works of the flesh and yet at the same time they seem to think that God for some reason is accepting them. Isn't the Bible clear in this passage that people that practice such works shall not inherit the kingdom of God? It is clear to me and yet I know that thousands are being deceived into thinking that God will overlook their sin because He is so forgiving. It is true that God is a God of mercy and that He delights in forgiveness but it is also true that he expects his people to work righteousness. He is a God of judgment as well as a God of mercy). (Isa 30:18) And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. Now that we have looked at the works of unrighteousness, let us consider the works of righteousness referred to here as the fruit of the spirit: -22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, -23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. -24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. -25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. -26. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

And so we see that it is our responsibility to work righteousness and not sin. (1 John 3:9-12) Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. -10. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. -11. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. -12. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Here John is reminding us that our parenthood is established by the kind of works that we do. Those that work righteousness are of God and those that work evil are of Satan.

God is aware of your works and he will judge you accordingly. Seven times in chapters two and three of Revelation, Jesus said. "I know thy works". Just as he knows their works he also knows your works whether they be righteousness of evil.

Peter's statement in our text gives us the basics that it takes to be accepted by God. (Acts 10:35) But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. You can be one of the accepted today by taking heed to this message and putting God first in your heart and life.

Peter was surprised that day to find that God had accepted Cornelius for Cornelius was of a different denomination than was Peter. If God had not moved upon Peter in the strange way that he did, Peter would not have been in Cornelius' house that day. There are those Christians today that think that only the people in their particular denomination are going to be in heaven. Well Peter's understanding gives us a better insight into who is accepted by God. All those that fear him and work righteousness are accepted by him.

The Psalmist asked the question in (Psa 24:3-6) Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? -4. He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. -5. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. -6. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah. If you expect to stand in the presence of God in this world or in eternity, then you must have clean hands and a pure heart. You must be one that fears God and works righteousness. You can receive the blessing from the Lord by repenting of your sin and taking Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.

And so we have considered Who Does God Accept? Peter's words have told us that God has two conditions for acceptance - fear Him and work righteousness. If you will meet those two conditions, then God will accept you. The fact that God will accept you does not mean that others will accept you. Others are affected by the traditions and teachings that they have been taught and may have a notion similar to that of Peter, that it is unlawful to meet with someone of a different religious persuasion. Today you have opportunity to be accepted by God. We pray that you will fear him and work righteousness in your life so that you can enjoy the peace and joy of the kingdom of God with us.

(2 Cor 5:9-10) Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. -10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.