The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 343

HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-8.-Piety, its pl,a,ce, its associations, and its reward. We gather- L TH.AT GoD RAS ms SERVANTS IN UllEXl'ECTED PLACES. We look for piety in certain quarters where it may be supposed to flourish; in others we do not look to see it; yet in these latter it may be found. Who would have expected that a centurion in a Roman regiment would prove to be a worshipper of God-one that "feared God with all his house"? He and his family must have been living in a way that contrasted strangely with the great majority of those in a similar position. We must never con- clude that men are irreligious because of the class to which they belong or of the occupation in which they are engaged. Sometimes, in spite of the most uncongenial surroundings, and sometimes taking part in avocations which few godly men could possibly embrace, there are found simple-ht:8rt:ed and sincere Chri~tian m~n. Christ has his servants, not only on the exvosed b1lls1de and the open plam, but m the most secluded glen, hidden where no eye can see them, living in the very last place where we should go to find them. II. 'JHAT PIE'.l'Y SHOULD BE INSEPA.BABLY ASSOCIATED WITH CHAllITY. Cornelius was "a devout man, . . . who gave much alms to the people" (ver. 2). In certain lands and at certain times, as in the country and at the period to which our text belongs, devotion and almsgiving were very closely conjoined in the public m!n~. It is qui~ possible, as was then too painfully evident, that these may be found ex1stmg together 1n outward form, with no acceptableness to God. But it is not the less trne that God demands of us that reverent thought directed toward him should be found in close connection with generous thought directed toward our brother (see 1 John iv. 20), Christian charity :-;hould be both deep 11.11d broad. 1. It should spring from a deep sei:ise of the worth on. x. 1-48.J THE .ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 339 -------------------------~---- - of human souls whom Christ pities and seeks to BBVe. 2. It should extend beyond occasional gifts to those who are in extremity of want. It should incluile an intelligent endeavour to do that which is renlly best for the lasting well-being of the people. Ill. THAT A SPIRIT OF DEVOUT INQUIRY IS ONE SURE SIGN OF OENUINENEBB IN RELIGION, Taking the expression, "Thy prayers .•• are come up for a memorial" (ver. 4) with" he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do" (ver. 6), we conclude that Cornelius was deeply conscious that he needed to know more of God than he knew, and that he was prayerfully endeavouring to find his way into the path of truth and heavenly wisdom. 'l'his is a mark of reality. Those who complacently conclude that they know all that is to be known, that wis,lom dwells with them as in its chief home, that they have no need for spiritual solicitude as to themselves,-these are they whose piety we may dis- trnst. But the humble and earnest seeker after more li~ht and truth is the man about whose moral integrity there cannot be two opinions. He bears the stamp of sincerity on his brow. IV. THAT Goo WILL FULFIL TIIE DESIRE OF HIM WIIO IS THUS SEEKING AND STRIVIXO. God gave to this devout inquirer that which he sought. He granted him a vision, and instructed him how to obtain the further truth he needed that he might find rest unto his soul (vcrs. 3-6). Thus he will treat us also. Only we must fulfil his Divine and constant conditions, viz.: 1. Earnest, repeated, patient inquiry (Matt. vii. 7, 8). 2. Living up to the light we have (John vii. 17). Half-hearted or impatient prayer will wait in vain for the door to be opened into the kingdom. Inconsistent piety will never know the doctrine which is of God. But let a man seek with his whole soul and let him live according to the known will of God, and then let him" rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him," and God will give him his heart's desires (Ps. xxxvii. 4, 7).-C. Vere. 9-48.-Man in God's sight; or, Divine impartiaWy. The incidellt of the conversion of Cornelius is suggestive of some important trnths, but of one in particular, viz. the perfectness of tho Divine impartiality. We look first, however, at- I. Tm;: PART OF THE PHYSICAL IN THE APPREHE:KSION OF THE SPIRITUAL. Peter went up to pray (ver. 9); but he was very hun~y and desired bodily refreshment (ver. 10). This state of body was probably favourable to his "falling into a trance" (ver. 11); however that may be, it evidently had something to do with the character of the vision which he beheld. The contents of the great sheet, the invitation to "kill ancl eat," answered very c:osely to his physical cravings. In truth, our spiritual apprehensions depend in no small degree on our bodily condition. We may safely conclude that: 1. Fasting, as such, bas a very small place, if it have any at all, in the Christian dispensa- tion. (It had only the very smallest in the Law, though Pharisaic accretions had made it a prominent feat-ure of Jewi~h piety in our Lord's time.) 2. Abstinence rather thar. indulgence is favourable to spiritual apprehension. S. Bodily health is the best condi- tion for religious service. II. THE ADSOLUTE NOTHINGNESS OF OUR PHYSICAL DISTINCTIONS IN THE SIGHT OF THE SUPREME. Peter did not at first perceive the full significance of the vision, in which he was bidden to partake of anything before him: he "doubted what this vision shoul,1 mean" (ver. 17). But the coincidence of the vision with the coming of the messen- gers of Cornelius, and the statement of the centurion himself, removed all difficulty and doubt, and he used the noble words recorded (vers. 34, 35). Not that he meant to say that God was indifferent to the consideration whether men believed what was true or what was false; that is a gross perversion of his language, which tho apostle would have resented with the greatest indignation. He meant that God regarded with equal acceptance all who held and loved the truth, whether they were sons of Abraham or whether they stood quite outside the sacred circle. 'l'be lesson for us is that most valuable one, viz. that no physical distinctions of any kind affect our position in the sight of God. "The accident of birth" has no bearincr on our place in bis kingdom. Neither age, nor sex, nor class, nor race has anything whatever to do with the estimate he forms of us or with the sphere he will assign us. 'l'his absolute indifference on God's part to distinctions of which we make so much, applies: 1. To the remission of sins now; that depends wholly on our spiritual relation to Jesus Christ (ver. 43). 2. To his judgment of ua after death; that also will be decided by our attitude towards him (ver, 42), 3, To his comm1111icatio11 o! spe(:ial gifts (vers. 44, 45). This impartialit~  840 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [Oll.X.1~.