Free audio sermons: Get free audio sermons through this free Christan sermon podcast!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

God is no respecter of persons

In the 34th verse of the 10th chapter of Acts the Apostle Peter made a statement that is echoed on pretty much a continual basis by preachers and teachers of the Bible everywhere. He said; "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons." In fact, I just quoted that very phrase in my lesson last Wednesday evening. As I said, it's a statement we hear very often from both the lectern or the pulpit.

I got to thinking about what Peter said and, I know, sometimes my thinking gets me in trouble, but hopefully not on this occasion. Peter "perceived that God is no respecter of persons" and everything I've read and studied in the Bible gives me the same perception. That there isn't anything about a person's position, economic or otherwise, their status in the community, their skin color nor their looks that would cause God to favor them over anyone else. His Gospel (laws) applies equally to all.

However, everything of man's origin that I read, hear on the radio or see on television makes me rewrite Peter's statement to read; "I perceive that man IS a respecter of persons." I base my belief in that statement subsequent to a limited study that I conducted on the commercials we're bombarded with and have to endure on television. Oh, I guess that we don't HAVE to watch them, but in reality, it's hard to miss them, isn't it?

Now here's what my "limited" study of them revealed, thereby causing me to reach the conclusion that man is a "respecter of persons." And, it may be that you also have conducted one of these studies without even realizing that you were doing so. As I explain my study, you might just find out that you too have noted the same things I did, or at least you will "see the light" after reading my observations.

It does not matter what product or service is being advertised in the commercials, there is one factor common to all of them. It doesn't matter whether they are enticing you to "eat out" at some dining establishment, wanting you to travel to some exotic vacation locale or even trying to get you to buy and wear the latest fashions in clothing. With those hints, have you guessed at what the "common factor" in all of those commercials is?

In man's way of thinking, in his approach to selling a product or service, only the young, vibrant and beautiful people are seen as using the product or service. Think about this. When they're trying to get you to vacation at one of the various beach resorts advertised do you ever see a woman who cannot wear a bikini in public or a man who doesn't look like a young Charles Atlas? As a matter of fact, now that I think more about it, have you ever seen a male on one of the beach commercials that has hair on his body?

It just seems like the only people who congregate in restaurants to enjoy a special meal of some kind (Olive Garden, Outback, Chili's, etc) are all those young, vibrant and carefree couples. My wife and I eat out a lot, as do our friends and we can't be classified as being young anymore. I think we're beautiful, but none of us have been approached to appear in a commercial to advertize a restaurant. I guess that I'm not even "vibrant" anymore. I do vibrate at times, but no, I'm past vibrancy.

I suppose that it's the commercials advertizing one or another of the alcoholic types of drinks that get me going the most. I don't hangout in bars because I don't use anything they sell in there, but let me tell you that, in 25 years of police work, I have spent a considerable amount of time in those kinds of establishments. I can attest to the nature of the clientele therein and, trust me, it's no where near what the commercials portray them to be.

You see, here again, in the commercials, the only persons who drink ____?_____ beer or ___?____ wine or whiskey are the young, vibrant, beautiful people and the idea promoted is, that you too will be one of those if you drink ___?___. Have you ever seen a commercial with fat, ugly and obviously smelly, dirty-clothed people downing whatever product they're selling? No! And you won't!

Let me assure you that, based on my aforementioned work experience, most of the people that drink alcoholic beverages, of whatever type or brand, or habituate in bars do not fit the profile portrayed by the commercials. But, the advertisers cannot show their products being used by the majority of the people who use them because of the perceived message. Remember, the aim of the message is, you too will be like those shown as using the product - ergo - who would want to be?

I'll just touch on the ads regarding "dating" or the finding of one's "soul mate." Every time a certain commercial comes on and I say to Carolyn, "Look, I can check my matches for free" she laughs, but it's sort of a sarcastic (they don't have your category) kind of laughter. And here again, when they show the couples they've matched, aren't they all fairly young and attractive? Doesn't it make you wonder what was so wrong with them that they had to resort to having a computer find them a date? Does me.

On top of that, in the "Personal Ads" we find in the newspapers, haven't you noticed that all of the women advertizing themselves there are: "beautiful, shapely, pretty, good-looking or attractive." Further noted, they're all "affectionate, romantic, personable, playful, adorable or even passionate." The men describe themselves as being "good-looking, athletic, trim or handsome." They are "affectionate, adventurous, lovable, romantic, sincere, or even sensuous." Obviously they are all "beautiful people" and again, doesn't it make you wonder, what with all their outstanding attributes, why they can't get a date?

My point here is that, whether a person is selling a product or trying to sell themselves, they have respect towards people whom society seems to think is "beautiful." Persons who are a "cut above" the rest in position, looks or personality. People who "fit the profile" of being, shall we say "blessed" over the common people. IE: Persons whom society respects.

Yes, I "perceive" that man IS a respecter of persons. That fact is abundantly evident in a lot of things we see in the world. I just touched upon a few. But just as evident, is the fact that God isn't. When Peter said "Of a truth..." that is just another way of saying, "this is a true saying." And it's "a true saying" that man IS a "respecter of persons." It's also "of a truth" that God's thinking is far above man's way of thinking and He is "just" in all His ways. (Isa. 45:21)

Ron Covey

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

How to be saved

Are you wondering how to be saved? Are you searching for information on how to be saved? Do you want to know what God requires you to do to be saved from your sins? Learn how to be saved from sin and have heaven you home by visiting http://www.abiblecommentary.com/newtestamentchristianity today! There is also a good discussion on how to be saved at http://www.commentaryonthebible.com/howtobesaved

Bible commentary search engine

On line Bible commentary

My Bible commentary books are now listed on openlibrary.org, a VERY useful web site! Check out this neat web site and my profile there at this link: http://openlibrary.org/people/abible

Commentary on the Bible listing

Yelp.com has helped me promote the "Bible commentary" products from www.abiblecommentary.com - my "yelp listing" is here: http://abiblecommentary.yelp.com

Flickr.com Bible commentary profile

I added my "Bible commentary" profile to flickr and it was EASY! Check it out at http://www.flickr.com/people/abiblecommentary/

Blogs from www.livejournal.com

Are you interested in blogging? If you are looking for a "free blog" that is EASY to use, check out www.livejournal.com. You can be up in running in just minutes - here is my first "Bible commentary" blog post: http://abible.livejournal.com/

Blog Archive