January 10
Morning Exercises for the Closet"A devout man, and one that feared God, with all his house; which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway." Acts 10:2.
WE should beware of general and indiscriminate reflections upon communities and professions. They are injurious; they tend to make and keep the parties what they are generally supposed to be. They are unjust, for there are always exceptions. And they are ungenerous; for the more temptations men have to resist, the more evils they have to subdue, the more difficulties they have to struggle with, the more deserving and commendable is the individual that succeeds; or rather, the more is the grace of God glorified in him. Can there be no excellency connected with arms? In the New Testament we meet with no less than four centurions, and all are spoken of with approbation: the centurion who came to our Lord on the behalf of his servant; the centurion that watched at the cross; the centurion that behaved so courteously to Paul in his voyage; and Cornelius, here spoken of.
He is supposed to have been a proselyte, but he was not. Yet he worshipped God, the knowledge of whom he probably obtained by residing with his men in Judea. He was a "devout man," and three fine unions are mentioned in his character and conduct.