January 1928
19
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
was the awed whisper that passed from one to another, “even the wind and the sea obey Him ?’’ When the tremendous truth of Christ’s personality is realized, no miracle of His seems unusual. Over winds and waves, over the movement of fishes and the growth of trees, over fevers and infirmities, oyer diseases of the body and the still more terrible diseases of the mind, His prerog
ative was absolute. At His word the plague-eaten flesh of the leper was restored to soundness, the dead lived again. He, was able to do more by â touch of His fingers than all the doctors of the day could do with years of treatment. He knew so much of the processes of chemistry that He could make better wine from water than others could pro duce from, all the vineyards of Palestine. In every branch of science Christ is supreme. -¿yC* S''£- ^ gfe
Christ and a Pagan M ystic—Cornelius B y T h e E ditor - iñ -C h ie f
ES, Cornelius was a mystic, a pagan who had immediate knowledge of God. He was neither a Hebrew nor a Christian, yet he knew God and evidently had heard of Jesus Christ and some thing of what He had done while He was here in tjje flesh. We are told that he was regarded as a devout man, and God bears testimony to the fact that his alms and prayers had come up as a memorial before Him. His touch with God was so real that his prayer was a living thing, and effective. This life and experience finally led him to Jesus Christ ;1 and he accepted Him as. his Savior and became .one with Him, consummating the mystic experience in a living union with his Lord. This interesting story of this pagan settles a number of very important questions that are more or less acute in the thinking of Christians in our own day. First of all, it settles the fact that a man may know. God and have very real dealings with Him, affecting his life and conduct, before he is a Christian. This is definitely stated regarding Cornelius; and, as far as the fact is con cerned, it is not left to the speculation of men. We are not concerned at the present moment with the question as to how this was possible, but rather with the recognition of the fact as revealed by God Himself. Inasmuch as this man did know God and had real dealings with Him with out being a Christian, is there any reason for believing that others who would follow the same line as he followed could not have an experience of God? In the light of the evidence presented in this case, it would seem to us that the burden of proof would rest upon the man who would deny the possibility of real dealings with God on the part of men who are not Christians. D oes G oodness C ount F or A n y t h in g ? In the second place, this settles the question as to whether a man may live a good life which can be recog nized by God in Some way as devout without being a Chris tian. The fact that he was recognized as a good man, or a devout man, does not necessarily mean that he was satis fied or that he was wholly happy.- In fact,-the story would indicate that he was not satisfied, and that would account for his search for further light. In all probability he was as dissatisfied with-his own life as was the Apostle Paul, who, before he became a Christian, lived, regarding the law, blameless. This must not blind us to the fact that he was recognized as a good and devout man. If he could live a good and devout life without being a Christian, then there is no -reason why we should not believe that other men might be able to do the same thing. In the third place, this story settles the question as to whether a man may offer service that in some way may be accepted by God as a memorial before he is a Christian.
We.are told that Cornelius’ alms had come up before God in such a way as to be recognized as a memorial. What the full significance of this is we are not able to say, and, for that matter, we are not concerned with that phase of the subject at this time. Whatever the final and fullest meaning of the fact may be, there can be absolutely no question as to the fact that his alms were accepted and recognized as a memorial. If he could:offer alms that were acceptable to God and came up before Him as a memorial while he was not a Christian, is it not possible that others also may offer alms, that may be in some way acceptable to God as a memorial ? A n U nsaved M a n ’ s P rayer H eard In the fourth place, the story settles the question as to whether a man can pray so that he is heard before he is a
(Keystone) HERE'S A “TOTEM POLE” , AN ALASKAN DEITY AT WRANGEL, ALASKA. THE HIDEOUS FACES ARE BRIGHTLY PAINTED..
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