Consistent Cornelius (2)

“Consistent Cornelius”

Intro - Video

Now we know as christians that “ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD TO THOSE WHO ARE CALLED BY GOD”.

The moral of Tom’s story is to be consistent in all thing despite the outcome. good or bad. You play through it all. Keep on doing what you are doing and be constant will eventually pay off.

Today for the sake of a tittle, i have entitled this message

“CONSISTENT CORNELIUS”

Now before i read my main text. i want briefly explain what is going on during the timeline of the character i am going to speak about.

In the year AD 30 in the city of Jerusalem. This the opening chapter of the church age.

Acts 1:8 KJV 1900

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

This is an incredible promise, and as much as we enjoy the sweet move of God. The power of the holy was given for more than to have a good worship response.

It was given to make make us witnesses and it was promised to us in Acts Chapter 1.

The holy ghost was given primarily to empower them to reach:

1. Their city - Jerusalem

2. Their region - Judea

3. Expand a cross cultural witness - Samaria

Finally,

A Global presence - the utter most part of the world

Acts 1 - Acts 6 - covered 5 years and they were greatly blessed. divine visitation, miracles, healings. boldness and they grew!

They grew:

3,000 - Acts 2

5,000 - Acts 4

multidudes - Acts 5

great company of jewish priest in Acts chapter 6

Acts 6:7 KJV 1900

7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

“THEY MULTIPLIED IN JERUSALEM”

This wonderful!!! But what about the 99.9% population that live outside the city?!

They had not even gone outside of that city for 5 years

The 5 years honeymoon was broken with the first martyr, Stephen

As things grew worse in Jerusalem, God started to push them out of the city and into Judea & Samaria

Acts 8:1 KJV 1900

1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

God had to allow persecution to that they can be scattered abroad to preach the gospel.

AD 35 - Phillip ends up in Samaria. He starts preaching the gospel.

Acts 8:5 KJV 1900

5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

(The funny thing is the Apostles are all in hiding in Jerusalem)

God is using people we do not expect to start up this revival

God will use anyone he pleases that is available to start his revival

Acts 8:14 KJV 1900

14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

They gave them apostolic guidance

Acts 9:26 KJV 1900

26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.

At this point it has been 10 years since the day of pentecost and not one gentile has been saved.

Meaning if something does not change there will be no multi ethnic church, only Jews only!

Finally after 10 years God has had enough. Which comes to my main character.

Acts 10:1–5 KJV 1900

1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, 2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. 3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 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. 5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:

Centurion =

Centurion. Commander of 100 men in the Roman army. There were generally 6 centurions in each cohort and 10 cohorts in a legion. Each legion had 6 tribunes to whom its centurions were subordinate

The Centurions were the backbone of the roman army, and also the success of the roman army. There were adventures, go getters and fearless, unafraid.

Very stable in their personality. It seems like when you read about a Centurion in the N.T. they are cast in favorable light.

They seem to be amenable towards to things of faith or the people of God.

Example:

There was a centurion in Capernaum, that was where Jesus headquaters his ministry for 3-1/2 years by the sea of Galilee. Bible says that the synagogue was built and paid for by a centurion.

It was the same centurion that came to Jesus and said here in scriptures:

Matthew 8:5–10 KJV 1900 5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Now lets read about the centurion, by the name of Cornelius. Scripture says that he was:

1. Dutiful is beautiful

(A DEVOUT MAN)

DEVOUT MAN = Exhibiting proper veneration (reverence) and practice towards those whom such is owed. To have reverence for someone or something means that you revere, or, highly respect and honor, that person or thing. Reverence starts in the heart and manifests in the actions.

If you really KNOW me, you know that i can be a jokester at times and sometimes go overboard. However especially growing up i have the privilege to have my brother, and other leaders that taught me to have reverence for the things of God.

A. Devout = in the word

B. Church conduct

C. consistent in biblical studies, church etc.

Growing up i remember my parents

my father battle skin cancer and mom raising three crazy kids and

the constant faithfulness

That is something that we terrible lack! I will be the first to admit that i am a sucker for these mainline speakers such as:

A. Judah Smith B. Steven Furtick (been listening to him for years!) C. Paul Washer D. David Platt E. Francis Chan F. Former David Wilkerson G. John Macarther H. John Piper J. Jeff Arnold

K. Jacob Rodriguez lol

But,

theses are all commentaries of people giving their own interpretation of scriptures!

There is nothing like diving into the WORD of God itself! Getting it straight from the source! Knowing your Doctrine!

When i was a former youth pastor, i would always say “if you cannot defend and know why you believe what you believe, then you are a religious person”.

“FATHERLY FEAR”

“ONE THAT FEARED GOD WITH HIS WHOLE HOUSE”

The fear of God is not to be scared of God. some think it, is a kind of fear that a prisoner in a torture chamber has for his tormentor, the jailer, or the executioner. It’s that kind of dreadful anxiety in which someone is frightened by the clear and present danger that is represented by another person. Or it’s the kind of fear that a slave would have at the hands of a malicious master who would come with the whip and torment the slave.

The fear of the lord is kinda like “filial” fear

drawing from the Latin concept from which we get the idea of family. It refers to the fear that a child has for his father. In this regard, Luther is thinking of a child who has tremendous respect and love for his father or mother and who dearly wants to please them. He has a fear or an anxiety of offending the one he loves, not because he’s afraid of torture or even of punishment, but rather because he’s afraid of displeasing the one who is, in that child’s world, the source of security and love.

It is also like when you get married. The person you LOVE you also fear!

The existence of God does not necessarily mean that you are going to change your life.

But, when you live with the awareness that God is watching you, and he is present.

It changes how you live your life!

(not like some of us, we only fear God at church but at work nobody knows your a christian)

“the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Fearing the Lord means to be in awe of his holiness, to give him complete reverence and to honor him as the God of great glory, majesty, purity and power.

Having the fear of God is not to be scared of God - like Adam who was afraid and scared and hid himself from God.

The fear of God allows you to go to scared, being scared of God causes you to run from him.

Exodus 20:18–20 KJV 1900

18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. 19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. 20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

They feared dying but God wanted to replace the fear of death with the fear of God!

The fear of death causes them not want to hear the voice of God

But when you have you fear of God like moses, look at verse 21

Exodus 20:21 KJV 1900

21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

Moses drew NEAR!

The fear of God allows you draw closer to GOD!

QUESTIONS:

Has God blinded your eyes? Or are you aware of his presence, holy spirit, power and glory?

John 12:40 KJV 1900

40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

(Explain)

We live in a time where fear is everywhere (people are afraid).

People live in the fear of:

The future

fear of loosing their job

fear of their health

etc.

5. fear of covid-19 and its possy

All of these fears are inferior. God does not want to remove fear but replace it.

So you have a good healthy fear that does not paralyze you!

God wants to give you a fear that gives you wisdom and a hate towards and fear that gives you gives you Gods blessing towards your life.

HAVE THE FEAR OF THE LORD!

“THE POWER OF SAME”

“AND PRAYED TO GOD/ALWAYS”

The Power was not that Cornelius prayed(although that is great, but the sinner prays, everyone prays)it was that he prayed, “ALWAYS”

Example: of Odell Beckham = the catch!

When we allow the craziness or laziness of the world into our lives, we often find ourselves asking, “Why am I not as close to God as I want to be?” When we sacrifice consistency in our relationship with God, we not only begin to miss God, we begin to miss the work He is doing on our behalf.

The apostle Paul reminds us that even “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). God is always working in our lives, but if we don’t spend time tuning our hearts to His voice, we will miss when He speaks. Want to grow closer to God? Be consistent.

God desires to speak into us!

John 15:4 KJV 1900

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

To abide is to endure without yielding, to continue in a place, to remain stable. Abiding is simply spending time together, day in and day out. What many us of do instead is pop in for a quick chat with God when it’s convenient then disappear for weeks. 

Consistency is the key to close relationship in our everyday lives and our spiritual lives. Consistency in our time with God starts with simple changes, but those simple changes can make a big impact.

(Abiding in christ)

“Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away”

Taketh away = greek word = airo = to lift up

The branch was wrap around trellis so it would fall into the dust/ground

The greatest enemy the enemy of Gods people in the O.T, were the philistine

philistine = Wallowing in the dust - the serpent

Psalm 1:1–3 KJV 1900

1 Blessed is the man That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

We have to be like:

Jacob - i wont let go until you bless me

The blind man

Luke 18:38–40 KJV 1900

38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 39 And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,

3. Ruth

There are many more!

CONCLUSION

Consistency leads to you enter a new level/revival!

“He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius”

A. first thing we see is that he called him by name - he had intimacy with God, (chambers) bible verse: “depart from me for i never knew you”.

B. Reminds of the demons when a certain apostles tried to cast demons but could not and the demons say Peter and John i know, but who are you? lol

C. when you are consistent, God will speak to you at the peak of day, what i get out of this is that the supernatural with be a natural thing.

D. thy prayers are left as a memorial before God.

The memorial was a reminder not necessarily for God or cornelius, but for Peter and the Apostles, and the gospel to to br preached to the ends of the world!

Your consistency is a reminder to God and because of it, it will be the pathway to a great revival!

Acts 11:20–21 KJV 1900

20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.

The hand of the lord was lifted off of the the other group and was placed this group.

This is the group where the bible says, “they flipped the word upside down”

Church do you want to flip the world upside down?

lets be:

Devout

Have the fear of the Lord

Consistant