Life Of Cornelius

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, the times shall be over, and the morning breaks eternal bright and fair. I would like to invite Joshua Daniel to our program, The Time When the True God Tested Us. Our soul has to stand before God. The time when the true God tested us. Now, when you turn to the 10th chapter of Acts, you see a Roman Captain, a complete stranger, even to the Ten Commandments. Here was a Roman Captain, and the Bible gives a beautiful description of this man. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian Brand. A devout man and one that feared God with all his house. What? You see, very often you find a good father, but the children are not at all Christian. Here we see this Roman Captain was able to pass on his godliness to his whole family. The Bible says he gave much alms. You know, a great author in Europe told me, a man who had lectured in many parts of the world, he said, Today I can't find anyone who will do voluntary work. I find that in many churches, sometimes in big halls, church halls, there is nobody even to dust the pulpit. For everything you have to give money. What, have we become a bunch of coolies? This man felt he should share what he had with the people whom he was ruling. He belonged to the ruling class. And Romans ruled that part of the world. But he felt he should give help to many. Now we don't have that attitude in many people. A village woman came to me. What did she say? Oh, in our village, three people were raised from the dead. See, from my childhood, I saw practical Christianity. The miracles of the Bible were set before me. God says, I will show you great and mighty things. See, everything today is around money. But this man had the right attitude. Cornelius thought, I'm going to do good with my money. So he gave much alms to the people. And the next statement is, he prayed to God always. How is it possible? Here was a Roman captain. Today, we are distracted by everything. You know, you see people with this mobile phone walking out of the church because it is buzzing in their pockets. They can't even pray to God without disturbing. This man learned to pray to God always. You know, when I was a boy, I was taught to pray in the morning. And in the evening, of course, formally, praying, Lord, I thank you, and so on and so forth. But when I got a new heart, as a boy of 15 years, when my sin was gone, then I began to enjoy prayer. See, I was a cricket player, and a hockey player, and a soccer player. So I had many matches to play. But I would not miss that time going alone and praying to the Lord. It became such a joy to me. You see, God spoke to this man and said, Your prayers have come up for a memorial before God. What? Your prayers have come up before God. See, can't we pray for this nation? You know, when I deal with doctors and nurses, I tell them, get a clean conscience. Did you take anything from the hospital or the patient? I asked a girl who was in one of my meetings in Europe. Search your heart. Did you take anything that belongs to the hospital? Search your heart. She told me, Yes, and I will return it. Another nurse told me in Germany, We are not allowed to eat the food of the patient. But I have eaten the food of the patient. Another surgeon said, I have taken things from the hospital. I must return it. You know my friends, Whatever your branch of learning, there are temptations. Jesus said, I am the truth. I am the life. Without Christ, there is no life. Only existing. Oh my, I see many tired people. Some of the young people have been saying in UK, United Kingdom, Britain, We have tasted everything. We have exhausted all these pleasures. But we have no joy. You see, we belong to a generation which is adulterous. The actors promote fornication. Our entertainments glorify fornication. And even in the church, we don't see purity. My dear people, This stranger, the angel of God came to him and said, Your prayers have come before God. Send for Peter. And he is living in Joppa with Simon. And so he sent one of his devout soldiers. And two of his servants. My dear people, We have lost prayer life. We have lost our heritage. What a heritage of faith. Now what do I want to give to my children? Not property. Not money. What do I want to give to my children? I want to give them a heritage of faith. When Peter came to Cornelius, Cornelius was ready. He had called his friends together. 24th verse. And had called together his kinsmen and near friends. Do you see that? Don't you have any friends? You know, I am a traveler. I believe in being very polite. It doesn't cost me anything. I travel so much by aircraft. In one plane in America, One of those girls in the aircraft said, You know the stewardesses? The people who serve in the aircraft? You are my favorite passenger. Why? What did I do? Nothing special. Do you know you can be such a loving person? You can be so polite. You know, I was a patient in the heart clinic in Cleveland. How lovingly the nurses took care of me. I found that the nurses can be like angels. It's a great profession. But, when I was leaving the hospital, they would be so sad. They would say, of course you must leave. But they would be so sad. My dear friends, Don't you have friends and kinsmen? To whom you can give this light? And when this captain gathered his friends and kinsmen, What did he preach? 36th verse The word which God sent unto the children of Israel. Preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. What did he say? 38th verse God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. For God was with him. What did Jesus do? He went about healing all that were oppressed of the devil. My dear friends, I have seen so much fear and oppression. In families. Husbands suffering. Women suffering. Children suffering. And when Jesus comes, the demons are cast out and they are free. You know, I believe the righteousness which Jesus gives us is infectious. It spreads to others. So, after Peter had preached just briefly, What happened? The power of God came upon all these Gentiles. One day, a leprosy patient said to me, Please come to our colony. All leprosy patients there. And please preach to us. So, I went to their little hut, their shed. I preached the word of God. The power of God came upon them and they began to weep and confess their sins. You know, my friends, when the word of God goes out, one Hindu woman wrote to me, My daughter was paralyzed and we were listening to your telecast. Suddenly, she was healed. Another man wrote to me, When I was listening to the word of God, I suddenly felt healed. So, immediately, I went to the hospital and wanted to have a thorough check because I was an AIDS patient. And the check was made. I was healed. He sent his word and healed them. Suppose you fill this platform with preachers, people like me, and drive out the Holy Spirit, what can we do? I am only a man. You see, that is exactly what we have done. Husbands and wives, they never pray together. No family prayer. The boy comes in at 9 o'clock at night. The girl comes in at 10 o'clock. Just goes to the fridge, eats something and goes to sleep. No family prayer. It is worse than a hotel. In a hotel, you have got breakfast time so many hours. We are destroying our family. But the family of this Cornelius was ready for God's visitation. And the people said, Look, these men have received the same blessing which we apostles received. And of course, they decided to follow Jesus. And they were baptized. If you and I were filled with God's power and God's holiness, and if every father and mother here had a clean heart and lifted up holy hands, no guilt on those hands, what a blessing will come to that family. And the Holy Spirit will fill the members of the family and use them. My dear people, I don't think I am fit to preach in Calcutta. See, I don't like show. I don't like impressing people. What is God going to say? You went to Calcutta. You preached for three days. But you did not pray till those dear people were transformed. May God forgive me. I want you to be blessed. I want your family to be blessed. Let us pray. Let us tell God, Oh God, give me a new heart, like Cornelius. Let my prayer come before you. Wash me in your precious blood, the blood which you shed for my salvation. Forgive me, oh Lord. I want you to work in my family. Ask God's blessing upon you and your family. God is listening to your prayer. Oh Great Father, Oh Loving Father, We have played at Christianity in India. Faithful men like William Carey, Oh, with what love and sacrifice they labor. But we have been like coolies, looking for some reward. Forgive us, Lord Jesus. Please, Lord, bless these dear people. And all through them, do great things. We ask in Jesus' almighty name. Amen. Nizhudevudu Manalu Parikshinsu Samayam Tapala Sanchi 6071 Chennai 6000 034 Ma Phone Number 044 282 222 395 Ema Kadikramu Every week on the same channel at the same time Please watch and receive blessings.