Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1880-06-05
SERMON PREACHED BY THF REV.
ALLEN CLARK, AT CONGREGA-
TIONAL CHURCH, BRADFORD,
SABBATH MORNING, MAY 3Oth.

TIONAL CHURCH, BRADFORD,
SABBATH MORNING, MAY 3Oth.
ga good soldier of Jesus Christi
I'd Tim. 23.
Also "By it he being dead yet speak
eth. Heb. II IA.
The Apostle Paul lived in a mill
tary age. With the exception of a
few years about the time of the
Saviours birth, the Temple of War
at Rome had not been closed for
more than hundred years. All
this time there had been marchings
and countermarchings of armies,
strife and conflict, wars and rumors
of wars. The Roman Empire, of
which Paul was citizen, and
within which his labors were prin-
cipally confined, was peculiarly dis
tinguished for it's military spirit
and prowess. Thus, iii the Vision
of Daniel, it was symbolized by the
fourth Beast: "Dreadful and terri
ble, and strong exceedingly; and it
had great iron teeth and it devoured
and break in pieces, and stamped
the residue with its feet" That is,
it was a nation given to war and
conquest.
For it's military uses, it had
great military roads constructed,
radiating outward from the city Of
Rome to the utmost limits of the
empire-roads so solidly and won
dertully built that they remain
even unto the present day, unim-
paired by 1900 years OF time. Then
it had also it's immense standing
army, which first served and after
ward ruled the Empire; and garri-
sons in every part of its dominion,
to guard against seditions, revolts,
sudden uprisings and tumults, and
to enforce the laws of the Empire.
Thus the soldier was an every
where present fact in the Roman
domain. Paul had been familiar
with the sight of soldiers and
legions from his youth up. He
had seen them in the city of Tar
sus in Cilicia where he was born.
He had seen them continually in
Jerusalem during the long period
of his education also at Cesarea
where he was imprisoned for three
years, and which was at the time
the Roman seat of power in the
Province of Judea. He had also
seen them in numbers at Antioch,
W here with Barnabas he labOred
for two years, and must have met
them in all the cities of Asia Mi
nor, and Macedonia. Indeed the
soldier had never been out of his
sight. And he spent the last
years of his life. chained to a SOL
dier in u Roman prison.
What more natural, then, than
that he should seek to illustrate
the nature of the christian calling
by reference to the life, duties and
characteristics of soldiers?
And yet that he did SO proves
that there is some real correspOn-
dence between the two. For he
would not have likened the chris
tian life to a warfare unless it in
some measure resembles warfare !;
nor would he have compared a
christian to soldier, unless the
ideal of a christian is, in some
sense. found in a soldier. Taking
this for granted, then, let us con-
slider IN the first place briefly this
morning, what a christian should
be as tested by this ideal /: "a good
soldier of Jesus Christ"
The first quality of a good SOL
dier that occurs TO us, is loyalty, i.e.,
answering fealty to the cause es-
poused. The merest child present
is aware how the cause of Ameri-
can independence was imperiled by
the disloyalty of one man-Bene-
dict Arnold-who because his am
bition was not fully gratified, un-
dertook to betray our most impOr-
tant military post into the hands
of the enemy. His treachery, it is
true, was discovered in time to pre-.
vent the loss of the post, and yet