that the Gentiles had also received
the word of God. And when Peter was come up to
Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision, that is, Jews,
contended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to me an uncircumcised
Gentile. Didst eat with them. But Peter
rehearsed From the beginning, Peter went
over and told them what happened in chapter 10, that story of
Cornelius and his house. He expounded it in order unto
them, saying, I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance
I saw a vision, a certain vessel descend as it had been a great
sheep let down from heaven by four corners. And it came even
to me. Upon the witch, that is the vision,
when I had fastened my eyes, I considered and saw four-footed
beasts of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and fowls of
the air. I heard a voice saying unto me,
Arise, Peter, slay, and eat. And I said, Not so, Lord. Nothing
common or unflamed hath at any time entered into my mouth. But
the voice answered me again from heaven, what God had cleansed,
call not thou common." This was done three times, and they all
were drawn up again into heaven. Behold, immediately there were
three men already coming to the house where I was, sent from
Caesarea unto me. The Spirit bade me go with them,
nothing doubting. Moreover, these six brethren,
he pointed it, there were six men. there in his company that
went with him. They accompanied me. We entered
into the man's house, Cornelius. And he showed us how he had seen
an angel in his house which stood and said unto him, Send men to
Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell
thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. And
as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at
the beginning. Then remembered I the word of
the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but
ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. For as much then
as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us who believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand
God?" So when they, the Jews, heard these things, they held
their peace. and glorified God, saying, Then
God hath also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."
And you and I should be very, very thankful for that, because
we're Gentiles. We're not Jews. Simon Peter is
recounting the story that is recorded in chapter 10. And the
same thing that we heard last week, and he's telling it again. What did you think about when
you heard it again? Paul the apostle one time said,
to write the same things to you, to me, is not grievous. Paul
went all over It went before various kings and rulers, telling
the same story, telling how the Lord revealed himself to him. And he told it again and again
and again, and one time in the end, after he had already told
it many times, I think it was Agrippa or Hephaestus, I forget
who, but they said, All right, Paul, tell me again what happened. Well, I just am happy to do that.
It just makes me happy. You know, those who have not
heard and believed and received this gospel of God's sovereign
electing grace quickly tire of hearing it. They want other things. Now, that's not so for those
who have really heard. Those who believe with the heart
One way you know that the gospel is gospel, that means good news,
good news, is that it's always new and it's always good. That's one way you know that
the Lord truly has revealed to you the gospel, revealed it in
you. have a love for the truth where
you never tire of hearing it. The gospel. A man on death row, if he heard that he's going to
receive a full, free pardon, he'd just have to wait on it. How often do you think he would
like to hear that story? Be reminded. You think you would
ever tire of hearing that, huh? The Israelites of old, the Lord grew tired of them,
didn't he? Because they said, we've had enough of this light
bread. Talk about that manna, didn't it? That's the gospel. That manna.
Angels put it. Christ. The gospel of Christ.
And they'd had enough of Moses, too. They said, he's just a man
and this is like bread and we're tired of him. Simon Peter was just a man, I'll
tell you what. Just a man. Sinful man. But Cornelius. Cornelius
was instructed to go to great lengths. Remember? Go to great
lengths and great expense. to send for that one man, because
there was one man, there was not another, within miles around
who was preaching the truth. And he said, You, Cornelius,
and your house must hear this man. He has the gospel. Do whatever
it takes to go there. Spare no expense. Send for him
to come here. And he will tell you words whereby
thou and thy house shalt be saved." Now what could be more important
than that? What could be more important
than that? And bless God, he did save Cornelius and his whole
house. And we, Mack, I'm going to bring
you up again, we rejoice to thank Last week about what it would
be like if the Lord had, right there's your family all sitting
with you in that row right there. What if you're sitting in glory
some day? All four of you beholding the Lord Jesus Christ. What could be better than that?
What's that worth? Everything. Well, so Simon tells
this story. Simon retells this story to the
Jewish Brethren, if you read the bulletin, you see the title. I had it there for last week,
but it didn't really go in that direction. Equality of race and
grace. Racial equality and grace, equality
of grace. That's the subject that we're
dealing with this morning. And we're going to look at that.
Today I asked Gabe if he would like to have a break this morning. I had something that I think
they could profit from and he said it would be fine. We are
going to talk about racial equality. Now the apostles, look at chapter
11 verse 1. The apostles and brethren that
were in Judea. Some of the apostles were there
when Simon Peter came back, and even they were upset because
Simon Peter went down and preached to these uncircumcised, that
is, these Gentile dogs. Racial prejudice or bias or hatred
of one race by another. one race thinking they are superior
to another. That didn't begin with whites
against blacks. No, no. It pretty much began
with the Jews hating Gentiles. That means whatever
other race there is. We don't blame it on the Lord,
but the Lord did tell them, I chose you out of all people. Not so
they'd be proud of their race, but thankful for His grace. Not so they would think they're
better than everyone else, but thank God who made them to differ. And this racial prejudice, as
I said, didn't begin with whites and blacks, but Jews against
Gentiles, then later Gentiles, that is the Egyptians. Once they
had the Jews as their slaves, they hated them, despised them. Then on and on it went, whites,
blacks, reds, yellows, browns, greens, blues. If you're just
a different color, I hate you. You're less than me. I'm better
than you are. One of the first things we learn
when we hear the gospel, hear the truth, is that all men are
equal in God's sight. All men are absolutely equal.
Is that our constitution? I need to know this. Young people?
Yes, that's in our constitution. All men are created equal. Scripture says there is no respecter
of persons. That's what chapter 10, verse
34, Peter opened his mouth and said, here's what he concluded. Of a truth, verse 34. Are you
looking at it? Chapter 10. Of a truth, I proceed
that God is no respecter of person, nor should we be. Certainly not ourselves. You say, where are you going
with this? Exactly what I'm saying here. This is what the Lord teaches
us. There is no respecter of person. There should be no respect
when you look at this person. James wrote about this, didn't
he? He said, if you see a person
come in with fine clothing and fine upbringing and all that,
and you have respect, don't do that. Don't esteem him more highly
than this poor man down here. Didn't he say that? And don't hate or have prejudice
against this fellow and prefer this fellow. Don't do that. God does not look at one race
as being superior to another. God doesn't even look on the
outward countenance, does he? They all look the same to God.
Now here's racial equality. Okay? All look the same to God. All races of men are equally
bad. Wicked. Now, let's talk about
racial equality. None are worth saving. This is
the fundamental of the gospel. This is why the gospel becomes
gospel. The gospel of sovereign mercy
is to those who don't deserve it. Those who know they're nothing. Those who know they're wretched,
miserable, poor, blind and naked. This gospel is for worthless
people. all who know themselves to be
unworthy, God Almighty sends this gospel of one who is worthy. Racial equality is this. All
are equally bad in God's eye. No, God has no respective person,
because there's not one person he respects except Christ. The Lord looked down from heaven.
Psalm 14. To see if there were any that
did understand. On the children of men. To see
if there were any that did understand. Any that sought after God. He
said they're all together. Put them all together. They're
unprofitable. Filthy. Stinking. That's what this book said. That's
what God said. Look at verses 11 through 14. Peter, this vision he saw, he
says the great sheep let down, they were all in it together.
Verse 12, all manner of four-footed beasts crawling on all fours. Man believes in evolution. Man thinks he started on all
fours and eventually ended up on two feet. No, it's the other
way around. Young people, it's the other
way around. Man started upright. God created
man in his own image. Upright. Male and female created
him. Upright. He fell and he became worse than
a beast. John Calvin once said, with an
apology to the beast, because the ox knows his owner and the
ass knows his master's crib. The beast of the field. Wild
beasts. See that? Verse 12. Wild beasts. Creeping things. Fowls of the
air. I bet those were mostly turkey
buzzards. And Peter, when he saw this,
what did Peter say about all of them? Unclean, didn't he?
These are unclean animals. All of them. Two scriptures will
suffice. Genesis chapter 6. Go back to
Genesis 6. And I already quoted Psalm 14
to you. This is the fundamental truth
of the gospel. This is where the gospel begins.
It begins, it starts with a T. Total depravity. Total depravity. Look at Genesis chapter 6 verses
5 through 8. Genesis 6, 5 through 8. God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every, that is the whole
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only, only evil
continually. And it repented the Lord that
he had made man on the earth. And verse 7 says, I'll destroy
him whom I've created from the face of the earth, man and beast,
creeping things and fowls of the air. It repented me that
I made them, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. The Lord said, I'm not going
to destroy them all. That's before the flood. A fine man. Well, he was. Why? He found grace. Why was he righteous? The Lord made him to differ.
The Lord revealed himself to him. The Lord restrained him.
The Lord constrained him. The Lord saved him. The Lord
regenerated him. The Lord did this. Salvations of the Lord.
By grace. Through faith. And that's not
of yourself. It's a gift of God. the flood. Genesis 8. Look at Genesis chapter
8. This is after the flood. And
oh, this is that gospel savor. Verse 21. The Lord smelled a
sweet savor. When Noah got off the ark, he
sacrificed one of every clean beast and and offered them, and the Lord
says it was a sweet-smelling savor. Noah hadn't had any for
40 days, for a year. He was on that ship a year. He
hadn't had any of this savory meat either. It was sweet to
God and sweet to him. If you go without hearing the
Gospel very long, oh my! Indeed, you have tasted The Lord
is gracious. But the Lord said in verse 21,
I will not curse the ground anymore for man's sake, for the imagination
of man's heart is evil from his youth. You mean was, don't you,
Lord? No. Is. Who are you talking about? Noah
and his family. Those are the only ones left.
The only ones left. So, want to talk about racial
equality? It's all bad. And the Lord said
the same thing is going to happen, not water, but fire. Didn't it? The Lord looks down on this planet. and sees that the thought, the
imagination of man's heart is only evil continually. And he
said, I will destroy man. The same heavens are kept in
store, reserved under fire, Peter said in 2 Peter 3, for the day
of judgment against all ungodliness. But God. You, hopefully, are in the ark. You, like Noah, have found grace. Let's talk about the equality
of grace. There's racial equality. The
equality of grace. God chose and elected some of
these vile sinners before the world began, before they had
done any good or evil, Romans 9 says, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand. Not of works, but of him that
calleth. And he chose some of these, knowing they would be
ungodly, just like the rest, knowing they would sin again.
Knowing, but foreknowing them, and predestinating them to be
conformed to his son's image, and sending his son down here
to be made sin for them, and them be made the righteousness
of God in him. But God is rich in mercy, for
the great love wherewith he loved us." Why would he love us? Why
would he love Jacob over Esau? The answer is only found in him,
because he said, that's what I want to do. Jacob's not lovely
any more than Esau, but Jacob have I loved. Malachi 1, that's
the way it began. God says, I have loved thee.
And they said, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Jacob Esau's
brother? Was not Jacob just like him?
Was not Jacob before an ungodly man like Esau? Did not Jacob sell his birthright
in theory? But God, I wrestled with him. I came to Him. I chose Him. I saved Him. I revealed Myself
to Him. I kept Him. I blessed Him. I, the Lord, did all these things.
Salvation is by grace. 100% by grace. That means unmerited
favor. Blessings shown by God sovereignly
upon those who don't deserve them. Do you ever get tired of
hearing that? Not if we realize what we are. By grace are you saved. If you are saved, you have found
grace like Noah. Look with me in closing. Acts
15. Acts chapter 15. Now, as said,
Peter and the apostles, I believe, were still caught up thinking, we're better than the Gentiles. No, didn't they? Obviously. Sherry,
one time later, Peter was sitting eating with the Gentiles. Do
you remember? And James and some of them came
in while Peter was sitting eating with these Gentiles, and a bunch
of Jews came in. Peter jumped up and ran over
there and sat with them. And Paul. Paul saw this. He said, Peter, you've forgotten
grace. You've forgotten grace and you're compromising the gospel
of God's grace. Acts 15, look at this. All men
are equally sinful and if they're saved, it will be by grace. One way, by grace. Acts 15, verse
5. It rose up a certain sect of
the Pharisees. that belief, saying it is needful
to circumcise these Gentiles, command them to keep the law.
Well, the apostles and the elders came together to consider this.
And Peter rose up. This is later. Peter rose up
and said, men and brethren, you know how a good while ago God
made choice among us that the Gentiles, verse 7, that the Gentiles by my mouth
should hear the word of the gospel and believe. God knows the heart. He bore them witness, giving
them the Holy Ghost as he did us, but no difference between
us and them. Crucifying their hearts how?
By faith. Abraham, remember he was a Gentile
dog when the Lord came to him. An adult for seventy-five years
old. He's the father of the Jews. He wasn't a Jew to begin with,
but God made him one. Read on. Don't tempt God, he
said, verse 10, put a yoke on their necks, which our fathers
were not able to bear. That's the law. Verse 11, we
believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall be saved even as they. In other words, if we're saved,
don't look at them like they're less than us. No, no, no. Hold
on here. If, by the grace of God, we're saved, we'll be saved
like them. Not they'll be saved like us.
We'll be saved like them. If we're saved. And Paul wrote more perfectly
over in the book of Romans, he said, what, are we better than
they? No, in no wise. God had before
proved that Jew and Gentile, they're all under sin. There
is no difference. But he went on to say, we're
all justified freely by His grace. Which is where? in Christ Jesus,
a gift. So here's the equality of race.
Oh man, none worth saving. Oh, but here's grace. I've chosen
something. And all equally, in God's eyes
now, all in Christ are equally accepted, holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in God's sight. Sons, they're all sons. No male
or female in Christ. No male or female, no rich, no
poor, no Jew or Gentile, no clergy, lowly, laity. No. In glory, after this is all over,
there will be no relationships of any kind. It won't be, Mac, if all four
of you are there. Davis won't be your son. He'll
be your brother. Equal. Because one is your father. Margaret won't be your wife.
You'll be the wife. Jesus Christ your husband. All equal. All the same. Equality of race and grace. That's what this teaches.