Title: Let's Be Healthy Saints
Contents
Bible . Acts 10:1-8
Subject: Let's become healthy saints
The same is true of the religious life. People often think that “faith will be good” if you go to church for a long time, but there must be a clear distinction between going to church for a long time and having good faith. Going to church for a long time literally means long years of faith, but good faith means that a person's life of faith has changed a lot through faith in Jesus Christ. There are people who believe in 10 or 20 years but never pray and never read the Bible even once, while there are people who continue to read and meditate on the Bible even if they believe for 2 or 3 years, and are always filled with the emotion of worship and the assurance of answers to prayers. In fact, there is no relationship between the number of years and the strength of your faith. Jesus also said, “The last shall be first.”
First, Cornelius was a God-fearing man. “Awe” means the attitude of worshiping God with fear and trembling. From this point of view, it indicates that Cornelius devoted himself to a life of worshiping God, and worshiped God with all his heart, not with a dry mind.
Second, Cornelius was a warm-hearted man. With his warm heart, the Bible records that Cornelius helped the people a lot. Despite all the privileges he had as a commander of the occupying forces, he was not proud and humbled to serve the poor in a subject-ruled area. Rather than serving according to the assortment in moderation, he was zealous and helped many people. We can help the poor once or twice, but we know that consistently helping many people is not an easy task.
Third, Cornelius was a man of prayer. The Bible tells Cornelius that he “prayed all the time,” revealing that he was not a moderate prayer. He must have been very busy as a commander too. There must have been a lot of people to meet, and there must have been a lot of work to be done. If he had prayed for a long time during business hours, he would have been exposed to the Roman government officials and superiors who had always had an unfavorable view of Israel. Also, there was a risk that those around him who envied him would inform him, but he did not neglect his prayer life. God was moved by Cornelius's faith. So God grants him the blessing of meeting an angel through a vision.
Dear saints,
Do you want to be a longtime churchgoer? Or do you want to become a mature believer? If you listen to the sermon and think that Cornelius is a very special person who is so different from me, the work of faith will hardly happen to you. You will see that there are rich and poor phenomena in the life of faith. A cold person will always face difficulties, and a passionate person will always experience God's work. Why the hell is that? It was just a matter of attitude. Remain a nominal Christian? Or will you live as an influential Christian experiencing power? Of course, the choice is mine and you. But keep in mind. Whatever you choose, you and I are responsible for the consequences.
While we claim to be believers, we cannot always live in anguish and frustration without any experience of God. May you and I also experience God's help and work, see God's visions like the centurion Cornelius in this age and this society, experience God's miracles, and become people of faith who receive God's answers in the name of the Lord. Congratulations.