Cornelius Received A Vision

At the last AY Camp-out I went for swimming at the lake and met a strong mother in there.  She was throwing her little son far away.  He was crying but trying to go back to her mother by swimming with a dog paddle.  When he came back to the mother’s arms, she again threw him away.  She repeated this again and again.  Watching her action I was deeply touched with her firm attitude to teach the son how to swim. 

God teaches us an important lesson through some difficult experience which we taste.  It is not only through our personal Bible studies but also through our daily experience.  There are some lessons which we can only learn through our experience.  So we should ask ourselves what God is trying to teaching us.  We need to focus our attention to His work.  God is teaching us something everyday. 

Today let us learn from the first part of Acts 10 an experience in which Cornelius met an angel of God.

Acts10:1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,

10:2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.

Cornelius was a centurion of what was known as the Italian Regiment. The centurion was, as it is written, a captain who commanded one hundred soldiers.  He was high in a social position.  So he had a relatively rich life.  He was a devout man and feared God.  Perhaps he got to know God through contact with the Jews, worshipped Him, and developed sincerity to show compassion to the poor.  His way of life gave good influence upon his family and helped them revere the true God.  Inevitably his righteous life made him receive good reputation from both Jews and Gentiles. 

Caesarea where Cornelius lived was a big harbour city.  It used to be small, but as Herod the Great executed a big construction work on it for 12 years beginning from 25 B.C., it became a splendid city.  And he named it Caesarea in honour of the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar.  It was also the administrative capital of the province of Judaea, and played an important part in politics and military affairs.  Therefore there was no doubt that Cornelius was worthy of Roman’s trust to be sent to this important city. 

Now it was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.  Cornelius was praying at home.  Suddenly he received a vision.  And a man appeared before him in the vision and called him “Cornelius.”  Cornelius was very stunned to be called his name correctly by the stranger.  There is one more thing to say.  Look at Acts 10:30.  Later Cornelius recalled this experience and explained that the man standing before him wore “bright clothing.”  This was very unusual.  Nobody in the world could wear the “bright clothing.”  Nobody could wear it except the heavenly visitor.  Thus Cornelius feared and said, “What is it, Lord?”  And the angel replied the following thing.  Look at 10:4-6. 

10:4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, "What is it, lord?" So he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.

10:5 "Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.

10:6 "He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do."

The angel ordered Cornelius for one thing.  That was to invite Peter to his house.  Now he was in the house of a tanner named Simon.  As I explained at the last sermon, many people detested tanning.  They remove the skin from an animal’s dead body and wash it in water.  This process released a bad odour.  Sometimes it is said that they soaked the hairy skin in dog’s urine to remove the hair, so the smell was terrible.  Furthermore, the Law of Moses says those who touch the dead animal are ceremonially unclean, so the Jews really hated to visit this kind of place. But Peter stayed in the ceremonially unclean house of the tanner.

Cornelius was a man of high standing.  He made a good living.  How did he obey the message of the angel?  He didn’t know what kind of man Peter was.  What he knew was that Peter stayed at the house of the tanner.  Do you think he was willing to invite Peter to his house?  He might hesitate to do so.  But because of the heavenly message he believed in the words of God and decided to obey Him.  Please look at Acts 10:7-8. 

Acts10:7 And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually.

10:8 So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.

As Cornelius sent some aids to Peter, he chose two household servants and a devout soldier.  And he fully explained to them the message of the angel.  Perhaps he did not want them to misunderstand it.  The Greek word of “explain” in verse 8 is exegesamenos, which means explaining clearly and in a great detail. This word is now used as “exegesis” in English.  When I was a theology student, I took a class of Exegesis.  We picked up a short biblical text and studied about it and its context by using every kind of scientific methods to understand what God wants to say.  We had to write the essay of more than 5 pages.  I was not sure if I could write it, but I did it.  This is exegesis.  Anyway, Cornelius gave a detailed account of the message to his most trusted three aids.  He spent his time to the best advantage and explained what he saw in the vision, what the angel was, where Peter was, and how much he wanted to invite Peter to his house. Thus, Cornelius sent his aids to Joppa.

There is nothing that we can hide before the Lord.  He knows our names, our occupations, and our personal addresses.  Just as God called Cornelius by name and explained to him the name of Peter and his location, He knows everything about us.  And just as He remembered the prayer of Cornelius and his gifts to the poor, He remembers our daily prayer and our services to the needy people.  For God there is nothing that He can say “I don’t know.”  Let me read Psalm 139:13-18.

Psalm 139:13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.

139:14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvellous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.

139:15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skilfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

139:16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

139:18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.

How good it is that God knows everything about us!  It is good, isn’t it?  Because He knows everything, He does not misunderstand it.  He can judge everything fairly and rightly.  He knows well what we really need.   He knows what is the most valuable in the world.  Without love He cannot have such a perfect knowledge.

There was an orphan asylum named Elizabeth Thunders Home in Kanagawa, Japan.  It was established in 1948 right after the Second World War to take care of deserted orphans of mixed blood who were born between foreigners and Japanese ladies.  Its founder was Mrs Miki Sawada.  Some of you have already heard about her.  After the war many people had bias against the orphans of mixed blood, but she took care of more than 2,000 orphans in the home. 

Now one day, an incident happened in the home.  It was raining a little bit, when one lady visited the home with her baby with curly hair.  When she handed the baby to Mrs Sawada, she ran away immediately.  Mrs Sawada had no chance to ask the name of the baby and his birthday.  Then she realised that the toes of his hand and his feet were very cold.  Soon she asked a doctor to see the baby, and found he had pneumonia and he would die before the next day.  But the doctor said the baby would survive if he got penicillin.  But the penicillin was very expensive medicine in Japan as well as in America, and it was very difficult to get it. So Mrs Sawada didn’t know what to do except prayer. 

At that time some relief goods arrived which the wife of the American ambassador sent from America.  When Mrs Sawada opened it without expecting anything, surprisingly she found two bottles of penicillin.  She didn’t know why they were there.  But fortunately they could save the life of the baby.

After several years Mrs Sawada visited the wife of the American ambassador with a photo of the grown baby just to say “thank you.”  Then she said, “Penicillin?  I didn’t put it in the relief goods.  The American law cannot allow any expensive medicine to be sent with the relief goods outside of the country.  I just told your address to the care company on the phone and asked them to send some goods to you.”  As Mrs Sawada heard this, she felt the holy guidance of the Lord and bowed down reverently to thank Him.

God created us.  Because He is our Creator, He knows us better than anybody else.  He knows what we think, what we will do, what we really need, and everything about us.  Just as He remembered Cornelius’s prayer and his giving goods to the poor, He knows what we do and what we think, and He can uncover them all. That is why we do not need to worry about anything. 

Psalm139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

God’s thoughts are so vast like the sky.  They are so great that God can know everything and He can remember it.  Let us reverently bow down and obey His will.

Cornelius obeyed God’s will and sent his devout servants and soldier to Apostle Peter.  Let us also reverently obey Him. 

Psalm139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

Amen.