THE KING’S BUSINESS
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undoubtedly supernatural revelation that we have in the Bible, and then hesitate to accept even its plainest statements. The man who goes on God’s errands should go “ never doubting,” no matter, how out o f the ordinary His commands may seem. One all-conclusive reason was .given Peter why he should “go with them,” and that was because God had “ sent, them” (v. 20), When God sends men to us and for us they are the men we should go with, whether they are those whom we would naturally have chosen or not. Tuesday, December 19 . Acts 10 : 2 1 - 23 . Peter’s faith was equal to the occasion; he obeyed orders without hesitation or question. He went down to the man and said, “ Behold, I am he whom ye seek: was it the cause wherefore ye are come?” God had revealed it to Peter, that there were three men who were seeking him and that he was to go with them, but where Peter was to go He had not as y e t. revealed. The men who came from Cornelius must tell him that. The servants 'o f Cornelius gave a good account o f him. They said he was “a righteous man,” i.e., a man who conformed his action to the straight line of God’s commands. It is a great thing when a man’s servants thus testify. O f him they said, furthermore, that Cornelius was a “man that feareth God.” , His righteous ness in his dealings with men rooted in a reverential regard for God. The only righteousness that will stand the test to which a man’s righteousness is sure to be put in the wicked world in which we live is the righteousness that roots itself in the fear o f God. The servants went still further and told Peter, who was a Jew, that their Master though not a Jew himself was “well reported o f by all the nation o f the Jews.” Then they went on to( tell how God by an Holy Angel had bidden Peter to come to his house in order that Cornelius might hear words from him. Peter was satisfied. He called them in and lodged them. In the early morning, on the morrow he went with them to Caesearea.
end o f the line saw an angel bidding him send for Simon Peter, and that Peter at the other end o f the line should have a vision preparing him for the call just before the messengers arrived, and should hear the voice o f the Spirit bidding him go just as the messengers arrived. It is beyond honest question that there is a supernatural world, and the possibility o f present contact be tween the supernatural world \and human life. History demonstrates this. One can be an atheist or a deist only by shutting his eyes to the established ^acts o f history. ¡Monday, December 18 . Acts 10 : 11 - 20 . Note how the natural and the super natural play into one another in Bible history. Peter’s hunger was natural and there was nothing more natural than that the hungry man dream o f eating, but God gave a supernatural turn to a dream that had a natural origin. God knows how to do things just right, for just when Peter was in perplexity about the meaning o f the vision about unclean beasts, the “unclean” Gentiles are asking for him at the gate. Though Peter could not see how he could be commanded to eat the unclean animals, nevertheless h e; was promptly persuaded that it was the Lord who bade him to do it. The Spirit in His interpretation o f the vision was vety definite in His words to Peter. He told him just how many men there were down at the gate asking for him (v. 19). So Peter had a very practical test as to whether it was the Spirit o f Truth that was speaking to him. How unlike the confused and uncertain (and oftentimes mistaken) voices that people now-a-days often tell us are voices o f the Spirit. God had done His part. He had sent the vision to^ Peter, and He had sent the Holy Spirit to interpret the vision. Now Peter must do his part. The direc tions were very specific, “Arise, and get thee down, and go with them nothing doubting.” How could Peter doubt when he had received this supernatural vision? Well, he could have doubted the same way men do today when they have received the
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