Title: God's Plan of Salvation
(There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion in an army called Italiadae.
He was devout, fearing God with all his house, and giving many alms to the people.
He always prayed to God, and one day, about the ninth hour, he saw clearly in a vision.
An angel of God came in and said, "It's Cornelius." Cornelius looked at him and saw it and was afraid.
“Lord, what is the matter?” The angel said, “Your prayers and alms come up before God.
So it is remembered, that you now send men to Joppa and call them Peter.
Ask for Simon, who lives in the house of Simon who is buried, and his house is by the sea.
Then the angel who was speaking had left, and Cornelius was a devout man among the two servants and the servants of the household.
He called a man and told him all this, and sent him to Joppa.
The verse that clearly reveals God's plan of salvation through the Bible is the words of John 3:16.
is. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, because that
that everyone should not perish but have everlasting life.”
It means that God's plan of salvation is what he tried to save anyone. this is annoying
If you go up there, it was a promise to Abraham.
"I will bless you and your descendants, and you will be a blessing. All peoples of the earth will
You will be blessed because of it.”
God has been carrying out this salvation plan without change until now.
That is why this gospel has also entered the land of Korea and today we too are God's chosen people.
has been This God's plan of salvation continues even now.
1. God's 'salvation plan' uses a mysterious method.
This mysterious method is called God's sovereign plan.
God's Sovereign Plan Transcends Human Thoughts and Chooses and Uses People
All.
The person featured in today's text was such a person.
Cornelius was a Roman soldier.
He was a man in an environment and position that did not allow him to fear God.
It is surprising that the officers of the Roman army at that time feared God.
It's unimaginable.
Moreover, he was a powerful man with a high status as a centurion of the Italian University.
If you think about it these days, it was the most important position to protect the Blue House.
Did God use such a person in the plan of salvation?
All.
Cornelius was said to have been a devout man who feared God and gave many alms.
So he said that he was a person who was praised by the Jews.
First, God called him with a mysterious voice.
Calling on his name, he told them to ask for Simon Peter in Joppa.
God's call to Cornelius to ask for Peter confirms your great salvation plan.
It was intended to prolong.
Even today, God mobilizes a mysterious method when realizing the plan of salvation. see
People don't understand it well when you call it in a way.
Even now, when God calls by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it is either a mysterious voice or a vision.
Or, they are calling us through events.
This is called the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
God's work of salvation cannot be understood by human expertise.
How did the Romans show the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles?
The world doesn't make sense. This is the history of God.
To become a Roman officer at that time, you had to be loyal to the emperor.
The emperor must be held higher than God.
Then you can become a general.
A person who is loyal to the president, who is the supreme commander of the military, even today
Wouldn't it be nice to get a star if it's evaluated?
However, in the midst of this, a man like Cornelius was hired.
Cornelius was a Roman soldier, but he lived by hearing the voice of God.
is.
When President Kennedy took office, President de Gaulle of France congratulated Kennedy on the inauguration.
haha and said: “President Kennedy, you have the greatest power in the world.
hold it With the power in your hand, you can determine the history and fate of the world. you
has a number of assistants who are seasoned experts. If there is a problem,
Each of the silver aides will tell you their expertise, and you
If you listen to this person and that person, you will not be able to make easy decisions.
You must listen to all those who are assisting you, but
When you need to lower the altar, meditate before God alone in a place where no one is
Hear the voice resounding.” The more you savor, the deeper the meaning.
I see it as a horse.
You're going to have to listen to the experts, but you have to listen to the voice of God.
All.
This voice is the aide of our minds.
Experts are experts in various mathematical, logical, sociological, and statistical
put out. But we must listen to God's voice.
Through God's Word in meditation and prayer, God's wisdom and God's knowledge
And if we get and act upon the judgment of God, we will ultimately be on the path to success.
I mean, it's going to go away.
2. When God reveals the plan of salvation, he breaks down human barriers.
He broke down this wall by showing Peter a mystical vision.
Through mystical visions, God removes obstacles to the plan of salvation.
It melts the heart that has been hardened by stubbornness, partiality, and preconceived notions.
You broke down the walls of Peter's stubborn nationalism and the hardened walls of legalism.
All.
If I had not seen this vision, the work of the Holy Spirit from Peter himself to the Gentiles
would have denied coming. But he called Peter to have a mystical experience.
This made it impossible to deny that the same Holy Spirit came to the Gentiles.
is.
This was God's wonderful plan.
Today, the work of the Holy Spirit of God is revealed like this.
By subduing those who persecuted the church and cursed those who believed in Jesus,
Set up as an evangelist. This is God's amazing plan of salvation.
Peter experienced this mystery many times. We lowered our nets through the night
I, I did not catch any, but at the word I let down the net, and the net tore
I also had the experience of being caught.
Our faith should be as Job experienced.
Job thought he knew God better than anyone.
But he later confessed, "I have only heard of you by ear, but now
I see you with my eyes” (Job 42:5).
We need this confession. So there are stages in faith.
① This is the faith we hear through rumors. (Even if you go to church, only rumors)
② It is a faith learned only through knowledge. (Learning and knowing the Bible a lot)
③ It is the faith that I experienced after meeting the Lord. (It is the faith of complete self-experience)
Only when faith comes from self-experience can we reach the stage of true faith.
3. God's plan of salvation is also at work among us.
The church is a place where people of all kinds come together.
It is a place where people with different ideas, different learning, and different economic powers gather. like this
He works to bring others into harmony in the Holy Spirit. this is surprising
It's luck. This is a mysterious thing. The church has a lot of professional intellectuals.
However, that specialized knowledge does not fulfill the plan of salvation.
In God's work of salvation, he raised foolish people to shame the capable.
do. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.
and to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”
The church is said to be the gathering place of forgiven sinners. As a sinful human being, I still
Because they have not yet attained complete sanctification, they sometimes fall into the temptations of Satan.
All. That's why he told us to strive to keep the unity of the Holy Spirit. Spirit is human
break down the barriers of make it one.
When the church is put to the test, they will be at odds with each other.
When an individual is tempted, he withdraws from the fellowship of the saints. It is the history of Satan.
Satan urges us not to become one.
make each other jealous. make them quarrel with each other.
Fight each other and make enemies. When you see a fight, why do you fight? everyone is sleeping
Because they say it's right. Satan wants to separate us from the love of Christ
I say. Satan blinds you with lies. But the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.
All.
Because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, where the Spirit of the Lord dwells, darkness disappears and light
will live inside.
What we need to keep in mind today is the inspiration and impression of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is
Destroy all barriers and unite them as one in the cross.
Husbands and wives who hated each other become one in the Holy Spirit. sins in the Holy Spirit
Confess and repent.
A saint who served God well went to heaven while praying, but first Satan
This, "God, the people who have come to heaven have committed so many sins,
Forgive me and let me go to heaven, I have done nothing wrong but once.
Why don't you forgive me?" It is said that God pointed out that he did not repent by saying, "Satan, when did you ask me for forgiveness?"
I did.
It is true. Satan prevents us from repenting. so buy
Paul also said that he would beat himself up and bring him into subjection. Feel the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
If you don't anchovy, but beat your own thoughts and obey the Word, amazing works will happen.
you will experience
There was a man named Go Jae-bong. The man who killed four members of the army's lieutenant colonel's family with an ax
Ram, the murderer is a scary person. When this Go Jae-bong enters prison, there is no one beside him.
can't even access it. Neither the jailer nor the prisoner can approach them. "I'm Go Jae-bong" Ha
If all the prisoners were "brother". The person who killed three people said, "I'm Ko Jae-bong."
“Brother,” he said and bowed his head. But one day, a parcel came to Jae-Bong Ko.
I did. When I opened it, there was a Bible inside. Did you throw the bible saying "I'm unlucky"
All. Then I suddenly thought, 'I wish I could use it as toilet paper.'
So I took it apart and went to the bathroom to see what was written on it, and the Holy Spirit
history happened.
One day in a cell
As a person (Colonel Lee In-soo), I lost weight in my eyes, but one day it's even worse.
“Colonel, will God accept someone like me?” The person who heard this (Lee In-soo)
Colonel) I didn't say anything because I was afraid I would get caught if I said something wrong.
But then I saw that the attitude was gradually changing. So I opened up to my brother-in-law
I'll give it to you." When Hyeongmok checked, I felt a change.
“Pastor, if I believe in Jesus, will I be forgiven?” - "That's right."
He believed in Jesus and accepted Him, and from then on, he has been evangelizing. Out of 2,000 prisoners, 1,800
people believed in Jesus. This is what he preached.
"The road ahead is like nine hundred thousand miles! Are you going to live like this? In this cell
In order not to meet someone like me again, you must also believe in Jesus."
Thousands of people raised their hands to believe in Jesus and said, "A sinner like me will be forgiven.
Arthur, being justified in the sight of the Lord is not through my merits, but through the blood of the Lamb Jesus.
ok" he sang.
He said that as he died.
"If I had known God earlier, I would not have become so evil...
If there was someone who did it, I wouldn't have died like this..."
He went to God while singing. This is God's amazing plan of salvation.
I hope that all of us will experience the amazing work of God's salvation plan. ♣