THE experience of Cornelius should bring great encouragement to those who are seeking the Lord with an earnest purpose to do His will. A heavenly messenger was sent to Cornelius for the express purpose of bringing him into touch with one who could teach him more about God. To-day angels of God draw near to those who in humility of heart seek for divine guidance. Heavenly messengers are passing through the length and breadth of the earth, seeking to comfort the sorrowing, to protect the impenitent, to win the hearts of men to Christ. No one is neglected or passed by. God is no respecter of persons, and He has an equal care for all the souls He has created.
To the worker for Christ, also, the experience of Cornelius should bring strength and courage. Angels of God are co-operating with His servants in their efforts to bring to the full light of truth those who are walking in all the light they have. They unite with men in sympathy and labor for the saving of the lost. We can not see them personally; nevertheless they are with us, guiding, directing, protecting.
Angels protected Lot, and led him safely out from the midst of Sodom. So they protected Elisha in the little mountain city. When the encircling hills were filled with the horses and chariots of the king of Syria and the great host of his armed men, Elisha beheld the nearer hill-slopes covered with the armies of God,—horses and chariots of fire round about the servant of God.
So in all ages, angels have been near to Christ's faithful followers. The vast confederacy of evil is arrayed against all who would overcome; but Christ would have us look to the things which are not seen, to the armies of heaven encamped about all who love God, to deliver them. From what dangers, seen and unseen, we have been preserved through the interposition of the angels, we shall never know, till in the light of eternity we see the meaning of the providences of God. Then we shall know that the whole family of heaven was interested in the family here below, and that messengers from the throne of God attended our steps from day to day.
The Beautiful Minnehaha Falls, near Minneapolis, Minn.
The very angels, who, when Satan was seeking the supremacy, fought the battle in the heavenly courts, and triumphed on the side of God; the very angels who shouted for joy over the creation of the world and its sinless inhabitants; the angels who witnessed the fall of man and his expulsion from his Eden home,—these very heavenly messengers are most intensely interested in the work of all who are seeking to restore the image of God in man.
Heaven and earth are no wider apart to-day than when the shepherds listened to the angels' song. Humanity is still as much the object of Heaven's solicitude as when common men of common occupations met angels at noon-day, and talked with heavenly messengers in the vineyards and the fields. Angels from the courts above attend the steps of those who come and go at God's command.
Heavenly beings still visit the earth, as in the days when they walked and talked with Abraham and with Moses. Amidst the busy activities of our great cities, amidst the multitudes that crowd the thoroughfares and fill the marts of trade, where from morning till evening people act as if business and sport and pleasure were all there is to life, where there are so few to contemplate unseen realities,—even here heaven has its watchers and its holy ones. There are invisible agencies observing every word and deed of human beings. In every assembly for business or pleasure, in every gathering for worship, there are more listeners than can be seen with human sight. Sometimes the heavenly intelligences draw aside the curtain which hides the unseen world, that our thoughts may be withdrawn from the hurry and rush of life, to consider that there are unseen witnesses to all we do or say.
We need to understand better than we do the mission of the heavenly visitants. It would be well to consider that in all our work we have the co-operation and care of heavenly beings. Invisible armies of light and power attend the meek and lowly ones who believe and claim the promises of God. Cherubim and seraphim and angels that excel in strength,—ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands,—stand at His right hand, "all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation."
"Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."2
FAITH AND THE NEW LIFE CHANNEL.
BY WILLIAM COVERT.
THE Lord brings into being. He gives form and beauty. His power sustains and makes happy. All His works are manifestations of love. "The Lord is good to all; and His tender mercies are over all His works." Ps. 145:9.
The study of God's works teaches man of His love. Love increases faith, while faith makes love stronger. Faith is constantly storing up joy. It is the vehicle in which the substance of all happiness is carried. It is also the road over which this vehicle is drawn. It is the power which moves the load, and the guide which directs the way. It is the hammer that drives, and the nail that is driven. It is the rule that measures, and the board that fills the measure. It drives out want, and brings in plenty. It carries death away, and returns with life.
"To those who pray, the Lord will give
A faith that grasps the heaven's power,
And meekly holds it fast;
That scales aloft the highest tower,
And sweetly bides at rest."
Justification by Faith.
The first step in the new life is to believe. Every subsequent step is believing. Faith accepts God's promise of pardon. He that fully believes the promise, simply takes the gift. He does nothing to merit what he receives. Indeed there is nothing he can do to merit it. It is not to be sold. And even if it could be obtained by purchase, man has nothing to give. For his own salvation he is helpless to do, and unable to pay, anything.
But life and liberty come through a surer way,—simply to choose to live, and so be free. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1.
Justification is an act on the part of God toward the believer. Webster says the verb "to justify" means in theology, "to pardon and clear from guilt; to absolve or acquit from merited punishment, and accept as righteous on account of the merits of the Saviour, or by the application of Christ's atonement for the offender." The person who is justified from sin has the merit of the Saviour imputed to him. It is the sinner's privilege to ask for this favor, and receive it. "Ask, and ye shall receive" is the admonition and the promise.
If by faith the seeker accepts the gift, he is then declared free from his sins. The gift is the righteousness of Christ. His former self is set aside, and that gift which he now has taken is henceforth to stand for him. In heaven he is accounted as conformable to God's law,—conformable because Christ's own obedience to the law is accounted as the obedience of the justified one. Being justified, his condemnation is canceled.
The Lord does nothing for any man only that which He does freely. The object and the way of justification are both stated in the following summary: "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness; . . . , that He might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. 3:24-26.
What Faith Includes.
Faith in Christ embraces all that Christ is. It includes all that He has been. Faith accepts the death of Christ as a cancellation of the death penalty. Faith connects with the life of Christ, and lives in Him. It lets go of self, and unites all to Christ. Faith merges the whole being of the believer into the Lord's life. "The just shall live by faith" (Rom. 1:17) is a truth which can be realized only by believing.
What Faith Does.
Faith severs from death, and joins to life. Faith works a new creation; and so it is written: "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:8-10.
Re-creation in Jesus Christ takes one back into the good works of creation,—those in which it was ordained that he should walk in the beginning. Faith brings Christ into the life to abide, therefore the apostle's prayer: "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; . . . , that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Eph. 3:17-19.
Faith is not a substitute for works. It really works. It brings Christ within, to dwell, and to work the works of God. Its work is constantly conforming the life of the Christian to that which is right. It is the same influence, the same power, and the same life, actuating the child of God here that will move him in the eternal world,—the life of Christ.
