“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.” -Acts 10:4
Our nation’s capital is filled with memorials
and monuments. The Jefferson, Lincoln,
and Washington to name a few. They were built
to remind us, remind us of history; our history. Whether it be Presidents who lead us
faithfully, battles fought bravely, or crisis we overcame; the memorial stands
as a remembrance. So that we will never forget, and that we may aspire to emulate the character of those who we retain
in stone.
Cornelius was a devout Italian man who feared
God. He was not of Jewish decent, and clearly
a man of some means and accomplishments.
No doubt there was much that could be attributed to his character, but the
Bible takes care to point out this singular point about him. That his prayers and alms ascended into
heaven for a memorial before God. When
you think of the temporal memorial’s built today, they are crafted with stone. Fashioned with material that is sturdy and
will stand the test of time. For that is
the point of a memorial, to stand. In
God’s presence, Cornelius’s memorial was not made with stone, but of prayers
and alms. His devotion to God was so
earnest and often that it built up a structure in heaven that God would not
ignore. In my minds eye, I like to
imagine that Cornelius was an older man who feared God and prayed often through
the years; desiring a deeper relationship, though none could be given. God looked at his memorial and said, “I have
not forgot you.” Then Jesus Christ comes
into the world from a virgin Mary, he is raised up and sent out to preach the
gospel. Crucified on a cruel crossed, laid
in a borrowed tomb, only to terry there three days and come out victorious. All the while, seventy-five miles north, Cornelius
is still building his memorial by praying, fasting, and giving. He is making it so he cannot be ignored. Fifty days pass in Jerusalem, and while tarrying
in the upper room the Holy Ghost sweeps through that place and Peter takes to
preaching. He would preach and save
three thousand souls, and the New Testament church would be shot out of that room
like a rocket. All this action is going
on in Jerusalem, and Cornelius is still praying. Finally, one day, Cornelius would go to
prayer at the ninth hour, and God would respond in a vision and tell him “thy
prayer is heard!” What a wonderful blessing,
to know that your prayer is heard by God.
He would instruct Cornelius to send for Peter, meanwhile God would talk
to Peter and get his mind right, and finally they would both meet and have a second
Pentecost. Proving once and for all that
God is no respecter of person and he that feareth God and worketh
righteousness is accepted with Him.
He didn’t forget about Cornelius and how could he, because a memorial
was built.
The devotion and dedication of Cornelius, and
the memorial he built serves as an example to us all. We can impact heaven. Not just for ourselves but for those around
us. Cornelius saved himself and his
whole house. Most likely, many who read
this (including myself) will never have a memorial or monument built in our
name or for our sake, but we can have a memorial in heaven. Not built with stone, but with devotion to Almighty
God.
