The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-04-19
THE sUNDAY-sCHooL LESSON.
April 20, 19O2-Acts n, 3~4-f4-Peter
and Cornelius.

gems received his latest military assignment ne
may have commisserated the III luck that cast
his lot among the offensive and turbulent Jews
How little could he discern in it the kindly
leading Of Providence! Military service among
the Judean hills was Gods way for him into
the kingdom. His faith in Roman mythology
already shaken. grasps most gratefully Hebrew
monetheism. and is still further prepared 10 re-
eeive the doctrine Of the cross.
The humility and moral earnsstness or THIS
imperial captain is put to the seYerest test
imaginable. He is asked TO send for a Gaileah
peasant amid the disgusting sights and eVl
odors OF a tanners house. and from such an
uncanny source obtain instruction concerning his
supreme interests. That was a worse ordeal
than a Methodist 'mourners' bench" The
seeker shows his downright sincerity by not
caviling or delaying. Scarcely is the angel gone
before his trusty servants are on their way TO
Joppa.
The Galilean stood in as Imperative need OF
preparation for his share in the transaction as
the Roman. Racial and religious preJudices
the most inveterate were 10 be overcome Peter
proved as humble and morally earnest as Cor
nelius. and was soon on his way to Caesarea'
alert for the falntest hint Of the divine viii.
Cornelius was not plying his investigations
in either Hebrewism or Christianity 'landes-
timely or selhshly. When he had obtained a
sure footing upon some new height, he was
not content until he had drawn as many OF
his friends and kinsmen as possible up TO his
own altitude. He has e house ful OF the"
now. They are sitting in subdued expectancy
waiting the rising Of the sun OF righteousness
upon their hearts. Cornelius describes theif
state Of mind when he says: Now therefore,
are we all here present before God TO hear all
things that are commanded thee OF Cod a
beautiful description Of entire preparedness to
--.e,-o Tho axvooteH divine teaching. Some one
says it is "a sentence worthy of being written
over every pulpit in Christendom-" Would
il describe or condemn the average congregation
of to-day?
Peter, in his exordium, c~onfesses his tate per
ception of what was always true. that a God
who is Justices very self cannot be swerved
by the mere accidents of birth and environment
but only in response to personal qualities OF
heart will bestow His favor. He rehearses the
facts Of gospel history, with which his auditors
must probably be somewhat acquainted. 1t is
likely we have here but the faintest outline Of
a sermon that may have consumed considerable
time in its delivery. AS Peter. AT length. reached
the very core Of the gospel, the forgiveness of
sins through the Inefable Name, their hearts,
all tender and trustful. receive at once both gift
and Giver. Instantly there is a sound which
Peter could not fail TO recognize. The radiant
Shekinah is there. 1t separates into tongues
one of which rests upon each gentle. The
VA@ "a NANN 1855 49,
Pentecost of the ~gentiles" is come.
The old proverb. What God does IS well
done" never had a better exemplihcation than
In the manner Providence took to rid the church
Of its prejudice, break down the middle wall
of PARTITION and prepare for the unrestricted
admission of the gentle.
Paul was no favorite of the wish-Christia
faction. They suspected. disliked him. Had he
been forward at this time in this matter, rup-
ture and schism would have been Inevitable.
Paul afterward conserved, by mis- appeal TO the
council at Jerusalem and the invincible logic
of his ~epistles, the fruits Of a providential
Intervention. Philip, the evangelist. was a
resident of Caesarea, a neighbor Of Cornelius,
but he lacked the prestige Of the apostolate.
Peter. on the other hand-the true apostle
of the circumcision most authoritative, above
suspicion of any possibility Of betraying Juda-
ism-to Peter the all-signihcant vision came.
He was Gods best man for the hour Again,
the conspicuous candidate for full and immediate
admission into the Christian Church without
submission to the Hebrew rite was admirably
chosen-a man at once openhearted and open
handed; ''of good report among all The nation
of the Jews" so much Of a Jew and 30 much
of a gentle to form a connecting link between
both people.
The place where this transcendent scene was
to be enacted was as fifty chosen as the human
instrument and subject: Caesarea. the superb for
eign city on Hebrew soil. the political capital,
the very citadel of gentileism. The time. too,
was as apt. The ten years OF comparatively
f~ruitless toll among the gentiles must have be-
gun 10 convince the church that the world would
never accept the gospel plus Judaism, circum-
cision and all. The cruel murder Of Stephen
had helped to prove the spirit Of Judaism and
Christianity irrecOncilable. The conversion Of
the Ethiopian and all samaria flashed upon
the Jewish-Christian consciousness the truth
that God was no respecter OF persons, and that
jew and gentle We're fellOw-heirs, share and
share alike, to the inheritance OF grace.
Providence takes the irrepressible and per-
picking problem Of the status Of the gentle to-
ward Judaism and Christianity. He gives an
unmistakable formulary for its solution in every
instance As Cornelius and his companions,
un~circumcised %gentiles, had received a pente-
costaI enusion precisely like that which the Jew
ish disciples had received. the distinction OF
Jew and gentle was evidently abolished. Hence
forth it was undoubtedly the divine viii that
the gentle should become a Christian without
first becoming a Jew. SO a partition more i'm
penetrable than China's famed wall melted away.
THE TEACHER's LANTERN.
The conjunction Of d prepared preacher and
a prepared congregation. as in Cornelius's house.
is sure to be accompanied with gracious results.
Signs and wonders follow The ictus is almost
always laid upon the preachers or teachers
responsibility. But there is an obligation OF
the nearer and scholar as well. Jesus emphasizes
it: Take heed how ye heart"
The change OF habit in Peter, as Indicated
throughout this incident, is worthy OF remark.
The ceremonial law has already begun TO lose
the tenacity OF its grip upon him. else he would
never have made his home with a tanner. Tan
neTies were classed with eorpses. as things TO
be Stunned if ceremonial pollution was TO be
avoided. Some one suggests that Peter went 10
the tannery TO lodge with the express purpose
Of neutralizing any spirit Of adulation that
might be awakened in the people consequent
upon his unparalleled miracle.
Another troublesome trait is gone. Where is
the characteristic Tashness that 20 often precipi-
tated the apostle into apparently insxtricabie
difficulties? Instead OF starting of lell-mell
for Caesarea. he takes the Mary messengers in.
and. while refreshing them. learns the ninutest
detail Of how the case lies at the other end
Of the route. After selecting certain laymen OF
elders Of Jopps, OF judicial spirit and influential
character. he takes them with him As wiz
nesses OF what was 10 t~ranspiTe. He .hus fore
arms himself against any emergency.
The double vision. saint and soldier, in Acts
X f. finely used by Paley a. an evidence of
. p
-