The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-19
Second Quarter, Lesson III; April 90,
 1909; Acts x, 34-44.
Peter and Cornelius.

When that centurion of the proud Cor nelian gems received his latest military assignment, he may have commiserated the ill-luck that cast his lot among the offensive and turbeent Jews. How little could he discern in it the kindly leading of Providence Military service among the Judean hills was Gods ., ,,way f9r raln him n mythology, already shaken, grasps more gratefully Hebrew monotheism. and is still further prepared to receive the doc Urine of the cross.
 The humility and moral earnestness of fhis imperial. captain is put to the se- verest test Imaginable. He is asked to Eend for Galilean peasant amid the dis gusting sights and evil odors ot tan ner's house. and from such an uncanny source obtain instructions concerning ms supreme interests. That was worse or deal than Methodist 'mourners bench.~ The seeker shows his downright sheer ity by not caviling or delaying. Scarcely is the angel gone before his trusty ser wants 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 to be overcome. Peter proved as humble and morally earnest as Cornelius, and was soon on his way to Caesarea. alert for the faintest hint of the Divine
 Cornelius was not plying his investi- gations in either Hebrewism or Christi.
 
 he had obtained a sure footing upon some new height, he was not content until he had drawn as many Of his frioflds and kinsmen as possible up 10 his own altitude He has house full of them now They are sitting in subdued ex- pectancy. waiting the rising of the Sun of righteousness upon their hearts. cor neliifs describes their state Of mind Whei. he says: Now, therefore, are we all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God" "a beautiful description of entire prepared ness to receive the expected Divine teach ing" Some one says 1t Is "a sentence worthy of being written over every pull nit in Christendom." Would 1t describe or condemn the average congregation of today? ,,
 Peter, in his exordium. confesses his hate perception of what was always true that a Gcd who Is Justices very self can mot 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 ine facts of gospel history, with whlch ms auditors must probably be somewhat ac- uuainted. It is likely we have here but the faintest outline of a sermon that may have consumed considerable time in lts delivery. As Peter. at fengtn, [eacheo the very core of the Gospel. the forgive ness of sins through the Ineffable Name, their hearts, all tender and trustful, re- ceive at once both gift and Glver. ln- stantly there is a sound which reter couio
 
 1nah is there. It separates into tongues, one of which rests upon each Gentiie' s'The Pentecost of the Gentiles' is come.
 The old proverb. What God does is well done never had a better eXcmplifi- cation than in the manner Providence took to rid the Church of it's prejudice, break down the middle wall of parti- aion." and prepare for the unrestricted admission of the Gentle.
 Paul was no favorite of the Jewish Christian faction. They suspected. dis liked him. Had he been forward at this dime in this matter rupture and schism would have been inevitable Paul after ward conserved, by his appeal to the Council at Jerusalem and the invincible sogic of his epistles, the fruits of q Proyidential intervention. Philip. the evangelist was a resident of CaesaEea a neighbor of Cornelius: but he lacked the prestige of the apostolate. Peter, or hhe other hand-the true apostle of the circumcision" most authoritative, above suspicion of any possibility of betrayine Judaisin-to Peter the all-signihcant vision came. He was Gods best man for the hour Again the conspicuous nan6idate for full and immediate admis- chosen-a man at once open-hearted and open-handed; ''of good report among all the nation of the Jews;' so much of a Jew and so much of Gentle as to form "a connecting link between both people.
 The place where this transcendent scene was to be enacted was as titlY chosen as hhe human instrument and subject: Cae- sarea. the superb foreign city on Hebrew soil the political capital the very Cita- del of Cientileism The time, too. was as apt The ten years of comparatively