The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 344

'lhould be copkd by us Rnd, particularly, m&de applica.ble to tho standing we gin to nen in the visible Church (vors. 47, 48). 111. OUR OOM:MON RELATION TO Gon THE SOURCE OF RUMAN SACREDNESS. "What God bath clean~ed, call not thou common" (ver. 15). Probably or possibly it rnny have been intended by this vision to confirm and illustrate the words of our Lord when he "made all things pure" (new rendering). But, bowel'or this may be, the words certainly denote that we are not to consider common or profane those whom God has redC('med from profanity. And who are these? Not only (1) those of our race who have been actually redeemed and renewed-those who arc "washed and cleansed and sancti- fioo by the renewing of the Holy Ghost;" but also-and this is the main thought-(2) all tbc children of men in virtue of their common relation to the Divine ~'ather and Saviour. As those who are "all his offspring," and who are all free to become his sons and daughters by spiritual resemblance; as those for whom the Son of God shed his 1,lood and to whom he sends his me~sage of love and life,-all are worthy of our "hon.our" (l Pet. ii. 17); none are to be "lightly esteemed."-C. Ver. 38.-Tlie imitable and inimi'.ta1ile in Jesus Christ. I. THAT IN CHRIST WHICH Is INJM:ITADLE BY us. 1. God sent him on a mission altogether higher than our own. He" anointed him" to be the Redeemer of a world, to be it.a Saviour by suffering and <lying in its stead, by revealing truth whicl1 it could not possibly have discovered. 2. God dwelt in him as he does not &nd could not do in us. He was anointed "with the Holy Ghost," and God "gave not the Spirit by measure unto him." 3. He was armed with a power which was irresistible: the "winds and the waves obeyed" him; sickness fled at his touch ; death itself was obedient to his voice; the spirit-world owned his presence and yielded to his authority; be "healed all that were possessed of the devil." Our function in the world, our posesssion by God, our power over the forces around us,-tbi.s is in striking contrast with the work and present power of Jesus Christ. IL TEAT IN CnnisT WEICH IS nrrrABLE BY us. 1. We are charged with a holy and beni,,,"ll mission; we are "anointed" to do a good if not a great work in the world (see John xx. 21). We are "sent n by our Lord to "bear witness unto the truth," both in word and deed ; " to work and ~ and think for him ; " to "serve our generation by the will of God." 2. We are to be those in whom God dwells by his Spirit (see 1 Cor. iii. 16; 2 Cor. vL 16; Eph. ii. 22). 3. We are to be possessed of spiritual power (Eph. iii. 16, 19 ; vi. 10; CoL i. 11). 4. We are to be the sources and channels of blessing; we are to "go about doing good" (Heb. xiii. 16). We may" do good" everywhere and al ways-the smile of encouragement, the look of love, the sigh of sympathy, the touch of kindness, the word of truth, the act of integrity, every manifestation of the Spirit of Christ is "doing good." And all is to be done under the same condition. For: 5. We are to have the continual presence and sanction of our heavenly Father: "God was with him."-C. Vers. 1-8.-The piou., centurion. L TBE SCENE OP THE STORY. It was at Cresarea. Hitherto we have heard of Juruea, Samaria, and Galilee. Here the fiery baptism had descended, and here the martyrs had sealed their testimony in blood. Now the second part of the early Church history begins, and the great thought of the £Ospel, the conversion of the Gentiles to Christ, begins to be an accomplished fact. H. THE GENTILE SUBJECT OF CONVERSION. 1. ..d centurion ; a captain ; a soldier. An old proverb says that "There is no faith and piety with men who tollow the camp." Kot always so, and Cornelius is an early type o~ ~hose who have united t~e calling of the soldier with simple faith and loyalty to a Divm? Master. Whatever v1~w be taken of the military profession, such an exampl~ mak«:9 1t cl~ar that God has his chosen in pl.e.ces, r.s it may seem to us, the m?st unhkel~, m ca!hngs t~~ most unf~vourable, ~s we IIlJl,y think, to the growth of piety. But m reality, rehg1on shows its power m transmuting the raw material of external circumstance. Were piety dependent on happy external circumstances, it wonld be merely a matter of grace of manners, We cannot expect elegance of the boor, refinement of savages and roughs, but the sparks of Divine love may be struck from the roughest flint of human nature. Thoee characters which preilO!lt natlllll,lly t4e grea~ resi11tance ~ the gospel ~99UIC oft~n its pfightes~ OJI, L 1-48.] THE AOTS OF THE APOSTLE&