sary for his salvation : and, rather than he should be left with- out an interest in it, God sent an angel to inform him where he might find a person who should " tell him those words whereby he should be saved." That such a man as Cornelius could not have been saved under other circumstances, is what I am by no means prepared to say : for I believe that, " in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him :" and that, though no man can merit any thing at God's hands, yet God would rather work a miracle for such a person, than suffer him to perish for want of that mea- sure of knowledge as, under his circumstances, was necessary for his salvation. But of such matters we can speak only by conjecture, because there is but little revealed concerning them. Of those who live under the Gospel dispensation, we can speak with certainty : and if the knowledge of the Gospel was necessary for Cornelius, then]
The knowledge of it must be necessary for us also —
[We are ready to imagine that a moral and religious character will give us a title to acceptance with God. But it is not by that that any man can be saved. There are " words which must be told us :" and what those words are, we know from the discourse of Peter on this occasion. We must be informed respecting the person, work, and office, of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must know, that " He, though Lord of all," became a man for us, and died upon the cross for the effecting of " our peace" with God, and was raised from the dead by God, and is appointed both to judge the world, and to save the world0. I say, to this the whole Scriptures bear witness; and this testimony we must receive as the ground of all our hopes : and by an humble affiance in the Lord Jesus Christ, as so revealed, we are to obtain " the remission of our sinsd." There is no " other foundation than this on which any man can builde;" " no other way whereby any man can come unto the Father f;" "no other name given under heaven whereby any man can be saved5." Without a distinct knowledge of the Gospel, our prayers will not avail ; nor will our alms avail : nor will a devout spirit, joined to the fear of God, avail : there is a way of salvation provided for us through the atoning blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and in that way alone can we ever come to God, or find acceptance with him. If we attempt to seek his favour in any other way, we shall seek it in vain'1."]
0 Acts x. 36 — 42. d Acts x. 43. e 1 Cor. iii. 11.
f John xiv. 6. s Acts iv. 12.
h Rom. ix. 31—33. and x. 3, 4. VOL. XIV. C C