A God-Pleasing Family
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February 14, 2010 |
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 "Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually." (Acts 10:1-2)
Cornelius was a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, of the Roman Empire that was ruling the world at that time. Though he was a Gentile, God was pleased with his deeds. Through an angel God let Cornelius know where Peter was so he could invite him to his home. Also, God showed Peter a vision and called him to respond to the invitation of Cornelius and preach the gospel to him.
When Peter came to the house of Cornelius, Cornelius had been waiting with eagerness with his family members, relatives and close friends. When Peter preached the gospel of salvation of the cross through Jesus Christ, something amazing took place. The Holy Spirit came upon everyone who gathered there. Not only Cornelius, but his family members, relatives, and his friends who were there received salvation together.
Do you want the same thing to happen to you also? Yes, it would be wonderful if you could evangelize your family members, relatives, and friends so that they could all be saved at once. Then, how could Cornelius have received an answer and blessings as amazing as this?
God works in justice, and Cornelius certainly met the conditions according to the justice of God. What were the conditions? Verse 2 in today's reading passage has the answer. It says, "…a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually."
First, Cornelius was devout and feared God with all his household.
It was not just Cornelius who had a reverent fear of God alone, but his entire household. This means he was respected, loved, and trusted by his family members. That is why all other family members obeyed him and were united as one. As Cornelius loved God, his family members came to love God, too.
If your children refuse to obey even after you tell them the way of salvation many times, it's not only children's fault. If the parents are good models and demonstrate how to fear God to their children as they are growing up, the children will naturally learn by their example. To fear God is to hate evil as in Proverbs 8:13. If the parents have cast off all forms of evil and have treated their children with goodness, truth, and love, then the children should resemble their parents naturally.
Therefore, as parents you have to be first to fear God and cast away all forms of evil. Then, your children will naturally change and grow up to properly fear God. Cornelius' family members acknowledged him and feared God primarily because of the example Cornelius set for them to follow as the head of the family.
The second reason Cornelius received blessing is because he did many good works by helping the people in need.
Those who fear God will speak words and have acts of goodness for they cast away evil from heart and fill it with goodness instead. They speak out words that give comfort, courage, and warmth, and the words that guide others to life, and their acts will edify others and give love to them. The Bible tells us that Cornelius helped many people. His goodness and the spiritual uplifting found in his deeds were shown especially in his 'charitable works'. We cannot help others just because we are rich. We first have to love the souls and have compassion for them. Charitable works without love cannot be true charitable works. Even if we donate large amounts of money, God will not be delighted with this if we want to reveal our names through it (Matthew 6:3-4). Cornelius' true heart was passed on to the Jews. Acts 10:4 says his alms have ascended as a memorial before God. That is why Cornelius could receive such a great blessing.
It is important for us to store up good deeds in all things. We should not just have good hearts, but we have to actively store up goodness with words and deeds. This is the secret to bring down blessings quickly. If you want to evangelize your family members or friends, you have to act even more so. I hope you will diligently store up goodness so that God can be pleased with you and give you blessings and answers to your prayers.
The third reason that Cornelius received blessings is because he always prayed to God.
Even though one has such a good heart and does many good things, he cannot be saved by those things. The latter part of Jonah 2:9 says, "Salvation is from the LORD." Proverbs 16:1 says, "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD." Cornelius sought God and always prayed to God in good conscience even though he was not a Jew. Then, God met Cornelius, who was seeking God, and as evidence God gave him blessings. Even though we fear God and do good to meet the conditions according to the law of justice, the one who gives the answer is God.
Therefore, we have to leave everything to God in prayer with humble minds. Also, to receive an answer from God, we must fill the amount of prayer. We have to constantly cry out in prayer with faith and love. I hope you will believe and trust this God the Father and pray without ceasing like Cornelius so you will not only receive answers to your heart's desires such as your family's evangelization but also accomplish a happy family and live with them in Heaven forever.
To read this message in more detail, visit our website (www. manmin. org) and click on 'sermon'.
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