worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

Notice, brethren, the faith of this centurion-faith as strong as his humility. He is content with a word from Christ-content that the Lord should simply say that his servant should recover. He asks no sign; he does not press him to come and stand over the patient and rebuke the palsy, or even to put forth His hand, as he had just done in the case of the leper; but say in a word and my servant shall be healed. Notice, I say, his faith, and notice the arguments by which he supported himself in believing.

For I (he said) am a man in authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, go, and he goeth, and to another, come, and he cometh, and to my servant, do this, and he doeth it. The reasoning is from the less to the greater; and the meaning would seem to be this :-If I, a man under authority, not commander-in-chief, but only a subaltern, if I am yet obeyed when I give my orders to those under me; if my servants do not dispute my words, but come and go, as I command them, so that, sitting still myself, I have my orders executed-how much more shalt Thou be obeyed, when thou sayest in a word what Thy will is-Thou who art not like me in a lower office of command, but art the highest over all; who hast at Thy beck all the ministering spirits; how much more, when Thou speakest, shall it be done, and when Thou willest, shall it be accomplished!

Such appears to be the sense of this most remarkable speech of the centurion; and certainly it shews how very nobly he thought of Christ. To him the Lord

appears as the the only true Master: Lord of life and health and all things to them belonging. Nor did such faith go uncommended; it called forth from our Lord words of warm admiration :- When Jesus heard him He marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And then, in a strain of solemn warning to the faithless Jews who were about Him, but of hope and strong encouragement to the dispersed Gentiles, He continues, And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth-while He closes with this gracious sentence to the centurion, whose faith had called forth His praise,-Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. The Evangelist has added what,. after such words from the Saviour, causes no surprise, that the servant was healed in that selfsame hour.

And now, brethren, let us try to glean some lessons for our own use, from this miracle of our Lord. No doubt the chief use of the miracle to us, is the example it affords us of faith and humility, as exhibited in the character of the centurion-faith and humility the more remarkable, as coming from a person of his position, and of his religion. For who was this centurion? He was, as the word literally translated means, captain of a hundred soldiers, and he was not a Jew but a Gentile. But though born among the Gentiles, and brought up among the Gentiles, he was not without that which is

the basis of all true religion-like that other centurion mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, Cornelius, this man was known among the Jews for works of piety and charity: it was said of him by the Elders who had gone as his messengers to Christ, That he was worthy of the Lord's help because he loveth our nation, and hath built us a synagogue.

In fact this centurion had just those features which make a man acceptable with God. He was devout, he was a man that gave much alms, and had a fellow feeling for the poor and the suffering. That he was a soldier, with all these amiable qualities, need not surprise us. There have always been in that profession bright examples of piety and goodness. The two last wars in which our country has taken part have produced-you know it-more than one signal instance in proof of this assertion. Both in the Crimea and in India, England has been honoured, not more by the valour, than by the manly piety of her captains. There it has been shewn that the best soldier, the readiest in all the practices of war, the most enduring of hardship, the most skilled in manœuvre, the most undaunted in the field of battle, has been also the best Christian. Long may we have a succession of such captains. Long may our men be led by officers like those we have now to deplore! Long may the historian, who writes the annals of our wars, have to record of our heroes, not simply, what I take it, might be recorded of every British soldier-that they did their duty to their country and jeopardized their lives, and were valiant in fight, but that with all this

that they were men of faith and holiness, men who gave no offence in anything, devout men, and such as feared God, and prayed to God always!

But to return to the example of this centurion. I said he is an example of humility and faith—I might add, he is also an example of the relationship that should exist between master and servant. His servant, we are told Probably he was a good

by St. Luke was dear unto him. servant; probably his service towards his master was of that kind commended by the Apostle, single hearted service, service rendered with a good will, as before God and not only before man; and so when he fell sick, his master had a care for him. He did not, as he might have done, put him out of the house; he did not spare any trouble to relieve him in his sickness; and when the usual remedies failed, and he was like to die, he sent, as we have seen, to obtain for him the Lord's help.

And surely, brethren, this is what ought to be the case amongst ourselves. The tie that binds servants to masters, and masters to servants, would be all the stronger were it a tie, not simply of mutual necessity, but of mutual kindliness and common interest. We should, I think, try more than we often do, to realize in our families the great fact, that we are one body in Jesus Christ. It is not good when a servant renders just so much service as he is obliged to render and no more; and it is not good when a master forgets past faithfulness in a servant, and, at the first stroke of sickness, rids himself of him. And therefore, as I said, whether master or servant, we may learn something from the history before us. If a servant, we may learn to shew all good fidelity, and

if a master, we may learn to recompense a good servant, and shew, by the care we have for his welfare,-for his welfare of body and soul, that he is indeed dear to us.

In the last place, let us learn a more general lessonthe lesson which not this miracle alone teaches us, but which is also the lesson of several like incidents in the Gospel-a lesson of unselfishness, and of unselfishness exhibited in one particular direction-let us learn to pray for one another. This, surely, is a great duty, again and again commanded us in the Bible. If we neglect to perform it, if, when we approach God in prayer for blessings on ourselves, we never remain a little longer on our knees that we may also implore His blessing on our brethren, if we are thus limited and selfish in our prayers, I will not say that our religion is altogether vain, but I will say that, at the best, it is one-sided and imperfect. The centurion is a standing witness against such selfishness; his prayer was not "Lord heal my soul," but, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

Think of it, brethren, when next you enter into your closet to pray, and let your religion be as wide and as unselfish as was his. Give a place in your prayers to all. Pray for yourselves indeed, but not for yourselves alone: pray for your friends, and those nearest and dearest to you, but not for them only: pray for those who cannot, or will not pray for themselves: pray for the sinner lying at home grievously tormented: pray for the hard hearted pray for those who hate you: pray for the sick, and all that are in any danger, necessity, or tribulation: pray for those who are in authority; for those too who