The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 355

and h1111 guided, In measuree that eeemed wiRe, their gropings and seEkings after him. One of the rem11rk11ble ce.ses is that of Cornelius the Roman centurion, a man declared to be of pious che.ractcr, 11nd to have won the Divine acceptance. As illustrating the above statements, mention may ba made of Melchizedek, Balaam, Arauna.h, etc. Accepting the fact that thoro may be genuine religion among the heathen, we may ask by what signs may we hopefully recognize it, and then turn to the story of Corneliu3 for ai<l in making answer. I. '!'he first sign is BELIEF IN GoD, as distinguished from the gods. The conception of ono supreme Being is more common among the heathen than we are wont to admit. It is often lost sight of by the prominence that is given to Rubor<linate divinities, an,! the elaborate worship rendered to them. It is often sadly limited ancl deteriorated by the notion of a second being, who is regarded as a rival of the supreme Being, and energetically destroying his work. Polytheism and dualism represent the two evil tendencies of man's religious nature; but we may reasonably hope that not a few of the heathen have, like Cornelius, risen above the prevailing sentiments, and held firmly their faith in one supreme God. And we must, in all charity, assume that there may he a personal trust of heart on the Ii ving God, when the intellectual conceptions of him, and of his relations with men, are very imperfect and unworthy. To be acceptable, a man's religion must include faith in one God; and we must remember tha.t this was the first gre11.t fact a.nd truth revealed to men, and, however men may ha.ve blotted it over in their souls, they have not blotted it out. II. The second sign is sucH APPREHENSION OF Gon AS BRINGS FEAR. The Bible use of the word" fear" should be carefully explained. It is the word which most suitably expresses the proper attitude of men towards God. It includes awe, reverence, worship, and obedience, and may be best illustrated by the feelings entertained by a good child towards a good and noble parent. The sense of Divine authority should make us fear to do wrong, and the sense of Divine holiness should make us/ear to approach unpre- paredly his presence or to take his Name in vain. "Fear," as an equivalent for "worship," needs explanation, and, rightly explained, it will be seen that it is the very essence of religion, so far as religion affects man's feeling. Wrong senses of the term fear may be considered. Fear which crushes hope and keeps us from God must be wrong; as is also fear that makes us unwilling to accept the grace he offers. III. 'l'he third sign is BUCH APPREHENSION OF GoD AS LEADS TO PRAYER. Not merely to prayer as a sudden act, forced on by calamity or distress, but to prayer as the daily expression of the cherished spirit of dependence on God-a daily leaning on God and waiting for him, which is indicated by the description of Cornelius as a" devout man." Miss Cobbe strikingly says, "Our belief in the personality of God is in a peculiar manner allied to the mo1·al side of religion. Iu proportion as that moral side is developed in us, so, we may almost say, is the clea.rn.ess of our conviction that it i8 indeed 11, living God who rules the world, and no mere creative intelligence. No1v, this mol'al side comes out only in its full luminousness in prayer. Prayer is in its essence the approach of the finite and fallible moral agent to its in.finite moral Lord, to whom it is conscious of erring allegiance, a.nd to whom it comes for forgiveness and strength. In such prayer all the moral life bursts into vivid consciousness. In prayer there comes to us the true revelation of the personality of God." Illustrate by the charac- teristic feature of the converted Saul of Tarsus, "Behold, he prayeth ! " IV. The fourth sign we may speak of as the RESULTS OF TRUE RELIGION IN PRACTICAL CHARITIES. These are sig'll,s, because they are the natural and necessary fruitage and expression of true piety. Right ideas of God tone ow- relations with our fellow-men, so that we can be " kind eyen to the unthankful 11nd the unholy." Cornelius is marked as one who" gave much alms to the people." The more internal features of true piety are, of necessity, beyond our reading; but our Lord taught us that by men's fruits iu conduct we might know them,'and that, if there is ever the Divine life in souls, it will force its way out into practical charities and goodness of conduct. When, therefore, we find those we call " heathen" exhibiting Christian virtues, we may reasonably hope that there is a right-heartedness towards God of which these are the expressions. By the story of Cornelius we are taught that God may make more or less open responses to such devout nnd prayerful souls by visions, revelations, or inward communications, witnessing thus their 11cceptancll, and guiding the open soul to righteousne~ and truth.  THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [ou. x. 1-48,