Acts 10:4 – A MEMORIAL BEFORE GOD
Acts 10:4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it Lord? And he said unto him, thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
Cornelius was a Roman centurion. However, Cornelius was not like all the other Romans. Cornelius was a devout man who feared God and gave alms to the people and he prayed to God. Cornelius feared the Lord but he had no assurance of salvation. Cornelius gave money to the poor but he had no assurance that his good works would get him to heaven. Cornelius prayed to God but we have no indication that before this date, Cornelius had any assurances that God responded to him.
However, on this date, God makes his presence known unto Cornelius. On this special day, God gives Cornelius a vision in which an angel gives him instructions as to what he is supposed to do. God tells Cornelius that he has heard Cornelius and seen his actions.
We know that when we pray according to the will of God that HE hears us and that we will receive the thing that we asked of HIM. Cornelius had been diligently praying to God for some time and God is finally letting Cornelius know that he is going to receive an answer to his prayers.
God did not answer Cornelius’ prayers the first time he prayed nor did God answer his prays the first time that Cornelius gave alms to the poor. Cornelius had to be patient with God and he had to establish a change in his life so that not only God but so that all those around him knew that God had changed his life. God desired that Cornelius learn to persevere before HE revealed HIMSELF in this vision.
When Jesus had ascended up into heaven, HE had commanded HIS disciples to go throughout the entire world. This did not mean that the message of Salvation was only for the Jews who were scattered around the world, the message was for the Gentiles also. The Jews were stuck in their traditions and were not willing to boldly share the gospel with the Gentiles. It was time for a shake up in the disciples thinking and God did this with a vision to Cornelius and one to Peter.
Receiving a vision is not an everyday occurrence. We know of Peter’s special relationship with the Lord so we do not have a problem with Peter receiving a vision to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. What we must understand is that of all the Gentiles in the world, God chose Cornelius to hear the message that the Gentiles could receive the gift of Jesus Christ gave with HIS death.
Cornelius was chosen because HE was faithful to pursue the things of God. Cornelius desired the things of God and so God chose HIM to be an important figure when it came to spreading the gospel around the world.
There are many important lessons that we can learn from Cornelius. Just because we do not see God acting on our behalf right away, it does not mean that if we are not faithful to HIM that HE will not bless us in some supernatural way someday soon.
We need to be patient and learn to completely trust in HIM. When God does not immediately give us the desires of our heart, we should not give up but instead continue to be faithful and allow our life to be a testimony that we are willing to trust HIM regardless of what happens. As we remain faithful to HIM, we give HIM the opportunity to bless us in a special way.