THE GOOD CENTURION. BY THE REV. R. W. BROWNE, M.A. PREBENDARY OF ST. PAUL'S, AND CHAPLAIN TO HER MAJESTY'S FORCES IN LONDON. SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE; SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORY, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, 4, ROYAL EXCHANGE, AND 16, HANOVER STREET, HANOVER SQUARE; AND BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. to increase your faith. Say to Him, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief"." And let not any one suppose, as many in their folly and ignorance are inclined to do, that the profession of a soldier has little or nothing to do with thoughts concerning religion, and the duties inculcated by religion; still less let the soldier himself think that he has more excuse if he indulges in vice and profligacy. Depend upon it, if any one gives himself up to impiety and wickedness, it is not the situation of life which he has chosen that is in fault, but his own heart; and, therefore, he is without excuse. If we look into the Bible, we find that the history of the Jews is, I may say, a military history; and many more than I could here enumerate of those great and pious men who are there spoken of with praise, were the military champions and defenders of God's people. In the New Testament, one of the first things of which we read is St. John the Baptist's preaching to soldiers, and warning them against those sins to which as soldiers they were especially liable. It was a centurion who confessed Christ when He hung upon the cross, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God"." It was an officer of the highest military rank, the Roman pro-consul, Sergius Paulus, who was converted by the preaching of St. Paul'. It was a soldier who saved that Apostle's life 7 Mark ix. 24. Luke iii. 14. 1 Acts xiii. 12. 4 at the Island of Melita 2. It was a soldier whom St. Peter converted first amongst the Gentiles, who is said to have been "a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway ;" and to whom it was declared likewise, that his prayers and his alms had come up for a memorial before God. And in this good officer's household there was one of lower rank likewise, who was, like him, "a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually +." What, then, do these examples teach you? They teach you, that if you make the profession which you follow an excuse for not serving God faithfully and devoutly; if because you are soldiers of an earthly sovereign, you think you have an excuse for not being faithful soldiers of your heavenly King, and fighting under his banner against sin, the world, and the devil; then you yourselves alone are the causes of your profession, being an hindrance to a religious life. If the life of a military man is more full of temptations than that of others, it is yourselves who make it so. Beware, then, of slandering, and bringing a scandal on that honourable calling on which you have entered. Nay, consider that if all, even the worst, be true that has been said of the temptations which assail the soldier, God, who has been pleased to put your faith and obedience to so severe a trial, "will with the temptation also make a way to 2 Acts xxvii. 43. 3 Acts X. 2. 4 Ver. 7. escape, that ye may be able to bear it 5." Put your trust, therefore, in Him; and for yourselves, if your state of life be on this account perilous, you must be the more upon your guard, in proportion as your line of march is through a country more full of snares, and pitfalls, and ambuscades; you must exert the firmer and more unyielding bravery, in proportion as the open enemies with whom you have to cope are more dangerous and powerful. This if you do, and if you pray to God earnestly, sincerely, and continually, for his grace to help you in time of need, through the all-prevailing Name of his Son Jesus Christ, He will give you power and strength to have victory, and to triumph against the devil, the world, and the flesh. 5 1 Cor. x. 13. THE END. GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, LONDON. CORNELIUS; OR, A SOLDIER THE FIRST-FRUITS OF THE GENTILES. BY THE REV. R. W. BROWNE, M.A. PREBENDARY OF ST. PAUL'S, AND CHAPLAIN TO HER MAJESTY'S FORCES IN LONDON. SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORY, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, 4, ROYAL EXCHANGE, AND 16, HANOVER STREET, HANOVER SQUARE AND BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. |