Title Blessed Family (Acts 10:1-8)
Contents
***Introduction
It is now the last Sunday of May, the “Family Month”. This evening, I would like to examine the crisis of the family in the current reality that our country is facing and think about the way to build a blessed family in God.
Now, our country is entering a worrisome situation in terms of marriage customs and fertility rates. An increasing number of younger generations avoid marriage and live together by agreement for mutual convenience. The divorce rate is among the highest in the world, while the fertility rate is at the bottom.
“The family line is collapsing.” It would be welcome to see the walls of the East-West Cold War break down, and we should be delighted to see the ideological barriers between the two Koreas come down. But the destruction of the family is not only a national crisis, but also a disregard for God's order.
Spiders habitually live alone and crickets fight each other until they are left alone, but humans cannot. Couples meet with love, and through the fruits of that, children are born and families are formed. These families come together to form a nation and a nation. God has also commanded family happiness and made it possible to enjoy it. Let's find these words.
Then, everyone has the duty and right to establish a family and live happily. This is a blessing that God has granted to man. So, what should we do to become a family that receives God's blessing? How to live is the way to become a family approved by God? I hope that you can understand the will of God through the family of Cornelius appearing in today's text.
1. A blessed family is a godly family.
A man named Cornelius was a centurion in the Roman army when Rome ruled Europe. His humanity is evidenced in verse 2. “He was devout and feared God with all his household, gave many alms to the people, and prayed constantly to God.” First, Cornelius himself was a pious man.
The name ‘Cornelius’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Piety’. It is difficult for even a person of faith to live a godly life. Moreover, living a godly life as a soldier gives us an idea of Cornelius' character and his religious beliefs.
In Acts 22:28, the commander who was trying to arrest and interrogate Paul who was preaching the gospel said that he had spent a lot of money to buy up his Roman citizenship. In Luke 3:14, to the soldiers who asked, “What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be cruel to people, do not be rude, and be content with what you receive.” This shows that the army at that time was very corrupt. Even so, Cornelius was truly a pious man. He said that he feared God with all his house. The word reverence means ‘right relationship with God’ and ‘dedicated to God’.
Cornelius feared God, not only with himself, but with all his household. In order for the whole house to fear God, parents must set an example of faith in front of their children. Family happiness begins with family piety.
Let's look at Deuteronomy 6:1-3. “These are the commands and ordinances and ordinances which the LORD your God has commanded you to teach. You will do it in the land you will go over to acquire, so that you and your son and your grandson may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life, and keep all his ordinances and commands that I have commanded you, and that you may prolong your days. it would be Hear, Israel, and take heed and do it. Then you will be blessed, and your number will increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
The reason Cornelius was able to receive God's blessing was because of his reverence to fear God. However, his godliness had an effect on himself, his family, his family members, and his family friends (text verse 7). This godliness has been received by God (text verse 4b).
2 . A blessed family is the practice of godliness.
Cornelius and his family were not alone in their godliness. He was practicing godliness. The piety practiced by him and his family was twofold.
1) It was always godliness to pray.
The foundation of a godly life is prayer. Many of the ancestors of godly faith were all people of prayer. Prayer is a conversation with God, the breath of our souls. We can see our body through a mirror, but we can see our spirit through the Word and prayer. And what we have realized through the Word and prayer must be revealed in our lives. This is true godliness.
Let's look at James 1:23-26. “If anyone hears the Way and does not do it, he is like a man who looks in a mirror and sees his own face; when he sees himself, he goes and immediately forgets what he is like; but whoever is looking into the perfect law of liberty, Not a forgetful, but a doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue and deceives his heart, this man's religion is in vain.”
As such, godliness without practice does not receive God's approval, and it has no power.
2) It was godliness that appeared through salvation.
True godliness recognized by God is to fear God above and love people below. If you serve God with a whole heart, you will also show love to your neighbors. This is natural behavior. A believer who has a right relationship with God will also have a right relationship with people.
Let's look at James 1:27. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
This is a good representation of the two aspects of godliness. It is to maintain godliness through the Word and prayer, that is, by constantly managing one's faith, and to show that inner piety through giving. Cornelius's family was doing both well.
3. A blessed family is a life of godliness recognized by God.
A miracle happened in Cornelius's family, who continued to fear God with all their homes, even though no one recognized them, and tried to give relief. His prayers and alms came up before God, and God remembered him. He said, “Your prayers and alms have come up as a reminder before God.”
Although Cornelius was a Gentile and did not yet know the manners of serving God, God saw his undefiled piety, and through Peter he perfected him. God poured out the Holy Spirit on Cornelius and his family, who heard the word through Peter (Acts 10:44-46).
Cornelius and all the house were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues to honor God. This was the official beginning of the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles. Before that, even Peter was reluctant to deal with Gentiles (Acts 10:28). However, God changed the times through a godly family.
God always works through those who fear God. Me and your family have been chosen by God. As a tool to change the times.
How is your home? Are you leading a godly life that deserves God's approval? Once again, I pray that you will take care of your family and the whole house, correct your relationship with your parents, your spouse, your children, your neighbors, and build a family that will receive God's blessings.