About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision
an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” 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. (Acts 10:3-4 )
Imagine what it would be like to
be blind from birth. You have never seen
a fiery sunset, never observed the mountains in their dazzling palette of
autumn colors, never witnessed a beautiful butterfly flitting among blooming
flowers on gossamer wings, and never gazed on the gleam of a child’s eyes and
glow of their smile on Christmas morning.
Then you have an operation. The
doctor removes your bandages. Your pulse
quickens as light floods in. You lose
your breath, overwhelmed by the explosion of color. Can you imagine what joy you would feel?
On a spiritual level that is akin
to the miracle of Acts 10 . The Gentiles who were blind to truth—sitting in
the darkness of sin—would come into the light of God’s love! This marked a breakthrough moment in earth’s
history—the dawn of a new day. Hope
arose and its brilliant promise through the Gospel now illuminated the possibility
of anyone, anywhere coming to faith! Oh
happy day!
God had been at work, preparing a
sinner and a soul-winner simultaneously.
Cornelius was a religious man, but not a regenerate man. He was a sincere man, but not a saved
man. The Holy Spirit was at work,
however, in His heart, drawing him to something more, something else—Someone—namely
the Savior. Miles away, God was breaking
down the prejudice in the heart of Simon Peter.
The old fisherman was going to be a fisher of men—and this prize catch
would come from a different stream than he had ever cast the Gospel before!
Why didn’t God just use the angel
to communicate the Gospel while the celestial messenger was at Cornelius’
home? Why didn’t God Himself not speak
audibly to Cornelius and call him to salvation in a vision as He spoke to
Peter? God, in His providence has chosen
saved sinners to reach out to the unsaved.
He uses vessels of flesh and blood—full of frailty and marked by their
own failures—to fill with His love and then pour that love out upon others.
What is a Gospel witness? Peter proclaimed Jesus. If you promote the church, people can find
fault with the church. If you point to
the preacher, people can find flaws in the pastor. If you push the programs, people can find
reasons they don’t like those programs.
But, if we point to Jesus, none can legitimately find fault in Him! He is the Light of the World—and we must
bring people to encounter Him. Then, as
old John Newton would sing,
I once
was lost but now am found,
WAS BLIND
BUT NOW I SEE.
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