JANUARY 30.
"And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually ; and when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa" Acts 10 :7, 8.
SUCH was his obedience to the heavenly vision. It was
immediate, and well executed.
He did not himself go for Peter. This he would have readily done, but he was
ordered by the angel to send. His presence was proper and necessary at home. He
was a man in office, and in command. He had a weighty trust reposed in him, and
we are to abide with God in our callings.
The messengers he employed were " two of his household servants ;" this shows him to have been a man of some estate besides his profession and a " devout soldier of them that waited on him continually." Observe here, the officer himself was a devout man, and he has not only devoted, but devout soldiers. The master was godly, and the servants are the same ; for it is said, Cornelius feared God, with all his house ; like Joshua, who said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." This correspondence between the head and the members of the family may be accounted for two ways. First, such a man will choose, as far as he can, those that are religious to attend him-saying with David, "Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me ; he that walketh in a perfect way, lie shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house ; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight." And secondly, he will be likely to render them such, if they arc not such when he engages them. For he will be sure to use all the means in his power, and his own temper and example will harmonize with his efforts ; and the grace of God, which lie will never fail to implore, will honor him. Thus they who are blessed, are also blessings, and for them the desert rejoices as a rose. Some are favored, by their opportunities and talents, to cultivate a large expanse of barrenness : but let us see, let us all see whether we cannot convert a small spot, at least, from waste to smiling verdure ; and cultivate, if not the neighboring moor, yet a cottage garden ; and let the traveller say, as he passes by, "The blessing of the Lord be upon thee." Many a domestic has been thankful that he ever entered a pious family : there he has been made wise unto salvation, and has become a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus. What a disgrace is it, for a Christian master and mistress to let a servant leave their family unable to read the Bible, or without a Bible to read!
" So, having declared these things to them, he sent them to Joppa." Here we have not a harsh injunction to a trembling slave; not a bare order, couched in a few unexplained terms ; not the sealed instructions, the orders of a tyrant, who is to be implicitly obeyed, and is afraid to trust. Here is intercourse-openness. Here is confidence in the master, reposing on principle in the servants. How happy, where the distinctions of life are preserved-and they are to be preserved-and yet there is union and harmony, and condescension and kindness and unreserve on the one side, and respect and obedience, without encroachment, on the other. How happy, where authority is softened by gentleness, and submission by love ; where indulgence breeds nothing like irreverence. and goodness is rewarded by diligence and fidelity. And in what connections, in what families, is all this most likely to be found? " Men do not gather grapes from thorns, nor figs from thistles." Piety is the spring, the guard, the refinement, the glory of morality.
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TO REV. WILLIAM JAY'S MORNING EXERCISES