June 18

Acts x.—34. Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons;

35. But, in every nation, he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

36. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all);

37. That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached:

38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

39. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

40. Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly;

41. Not to all the people, but unto witnesses

chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.

42. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.

43. To him give all the prophets witness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

44. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

45. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

46. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,

47. Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost, as well as we?

48. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

While Peter was wondering what the vision of the sheet full of all sorts of creatures might signify, the messengers sent by Cornelius arrived; and perceiving that God had summoned him to carry the gospel to the Gentiles, without requiring them to conform to Jewish customs, he hastened to give this Roman officer instruction in the way of salvation. How grand the truths of the gospel which Peter here announced! Religion, which hitherto had been as much a matter of race and nation as the color of one's skin or the country of one's birth, is declared to be a state of the heart toward the one universal Lord; a reverent, devout, trusting, obedient spirit: this, which is the essence of true faith, is accepted of God, as the frame

of mind which the gospel was intended both to induce and to meet. To Cornelius and his friends, in this frame, Peter declared, first, the historical facts upon which the gospel rests,—the life, the works, the teaching, the death, of Jesus of Nazareth; next the crowning truth of the resurrection, which proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God; and then, upon this basis of fact, the assurance, which the facts make credible, that to receive Christ as the risen Saviour is to receive remission of sins, and the necessity for this faith enforced by the announcement that Christ shall come again to be our Judge. This is the gospel of fact, the gospel of faith, the gospel of hope, the gospel of salvation.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 2, 123, 187.

O Lord, our heavenly Father! we humbly beseech thee to accept this our evening sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; mercifully granting unto us, by the merits and death of thy son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood, the remission of our sins, and all the blessings of eternal life.

Grant that the words which we have this day heard with our outward ears may through thy grace be so grafted inwardly in our hearts, that they may bring forth in us fruit to the honor and glory of thy name. May we ever prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God! and may thy goodness to us as a family draw us to thee in the communion of thy saints!

Bless the education of the young, the instruction of the ignorant, the visitation of the sick, the distribution of thy Word, and all the means employed to bring men to Christ.

Father of mercies, and God of all comfort, who dost comfort thy children in all their tribulation, we commend to the love and grace of thy Spirit all who are in any way afflicted, praying that

thou wouldest succor, sustain, and sanctify them, and prepare them for the issue of their trials, whether it be life or death. Pitifully behold the widow and the orphan, the poor, the destitute, and the forsaken, the captive, the prisoner, and him who is doomed to die; and inspire them with confidence in thy fatherly love, and help them to trust in thy mercy. We commend to thy special favor all who are dear to us by the ties of nature and affection, that it may please thee to adopt them into thy redeemed family, enrich them with thy heavenly blessing, and at last receive them into the presence of thy glory.

O God! thou knowest our frame, and rememberest that we are dust: look upon us in our weakness and necessity, and supply our need according to the riches of thy glory. Grant that we may retire to rest pardoned and accepted in thy Beloved. Watch over us during the night: and may we rise in the morning full of life and joy! and, passing all our days here in thy fear, may we finally come to thine everlasting joy, through Jesus Christ! Amen.