Commander of the Faithful

“ But she replied, “O my lord, there have betided him many stresses and his charms are changed and his favour faded; and indeed the Commander of the Faithful vouchsafed me a month; wherefore I will tend him the rest of the month and then bring him to do his service to the Commander of the Faithful.” Quoth Er Reshid, “True; the condition was for a month; but tell me what hath betided him.” ”

“ No successful organization ever existed that did not have a commander who was obeyed, and the best commanders are those who have themselves learned well the lesson of exact and faithful obedience. If you ever expect or hope to rule others, my son, first learn the lesson of obedience and learn to rule your own disposition. ”

“ The Christian’s fight is good because fought under the best of generals. The Leader and Commander of all believers is our divine Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ—a Savior of perfect wisdom, infinite love and almighty power. The Captain of our salvation never fails to lead His soldiers to victory. He never makes any useless movements, never errs in judgment, never commits any mistake. His eye is on all His followers, from the greatest of them even to the least. The humblest servant in His army is not forgotten. The weakest and most sickly is cared for, remembered and kept unto salvation. ”

“ Christ, the commander, the true lord of victories,
ordained me for conflict. I burn the living,
unnumbered mortals, over all the earth.
I afflict them with pain, yet never I touch them,
whenever my lord bids me to battle. ”

“ The delight of Christ would be especially with men, because in His own nature God and man would meet in an eternal combination. The commander who can pluck victory out of the jaws of defeat, by the combination of certain forces not yet brought upon the field with others which have been already defeated, is allowed to give evidence of the highest military skill. ”

“ The commander had so good an opinion of our religious, that he trusted to nothing without them, nor had any confidence in the good outcome of any undertaking without them. He chose, as an excellent Christian, to attribute all his prosperity to the servants of God, in whom he put greater trust than in his own strength. For at the end difficulties are removed more easily by prayers than by human strength; and God always desires that the glory of things be attributed to Him, as the one who really does them. He who does not guide himself thus is in great error. ”

“ And if they hearken to you, it will be proper for you to keep peace with them; but if they trust in their own strength, as superior to yours, and will not do you justice, lead your army against them, making use of God as your supreme Commander, but ordaining for a lieutenant under him one that is of the greatest courage among you ”

“ Commander, when, in all human history, to any given thousand men in arms there has been given a work so proud, so precious, so full of hope and glory, as the work committed to you. (Applause.) And may the infinite mercy of Almighty God attend you every hour of every day, through all the experiences and vicissitude of that dangerous life in which you have embarked! may the God of our fathers cover your heads in the day of battle! may he shield you with the arms of everlasting power! ”

“ We must be on the watch, must post guards, must undertake military expeditions, must shed our blood to the uttermost; in short, we must patiently submit to all things which are unpleasant and grievous, and the more readily because God our commander has appointed for us eternal rewards for our labours. ”

“ But, Sir, at this eventful period, we deem it our duty, and feel it a pleasure, respectfully to approach our Commander-in-Chief, and to make him a solemn proffer of our lives and fortunes in the service of our country. It is not, Sir, for soldiers to boast; but we know the troops whom we have the honor to command; we have been eye witnesses to their zeal in the cause of freedom; we have been their companions in many toils and many sufferings, and if our beloved country calls, we shall again cast the eye of confidence along their embattled ranks. ”

“ They and their words are nought to him whose trembling ears have heard, and whose obedient heart has received, a higher command, and to whom, 'across the storm,' comes the deeper voice of the one true Commander, whom alone it is a glory absolutely to obey, even 'the Lord, before whom I stand.' People talk about the consciousness of 'a mission.' The important point, on the settling of which depends the whole character of our lives, is—Who do you suppose gave you your 'mission'? ”

“ Do thy ministers ever slight thee like sacrificial priests slighting men that are fallen (and incapable of performing any more sacrifices) or like wives slighting husbands that are proud and incontinent in their behaviour? Is the commander of thy forces possessed of sufficient confidence, brave, intelligent, patient, well-conducted, of good birth, devoted to thee, and competent? Treatest thou with consideration and regard the chief officers of thy army that are skilled in every kind of welfare, are forward, well-behaved, and endued with prowess? ”

“ The soldier is here under command, and therefore must be quiet, and take his lot; so must the Christian reverence the Lord's dispensations, in ordering matters, so as they shall never have one hour's quietness, while, as others have more rest and peace, and stand at their post fighting, resolving never to yield, but rather to cover the ground with their dead bodies, till the commander-in-chief think good to relieve them. ”

“ To conclude, As our great Commander is known to the World, or at least to the greatest part of it, to be Temperate, Sober, Careful, Couragious, Politick, Skilful, so he is Courteous, Mild, Affable, Humble, and Condescending to People of the meanest Condition. ”

“ The cure for this and all the evils, dangers, and injuries that we have described, and many another most grievous one, is that the commander of the expedition be a man of approved Christian zeal and clemency; free from all covetousness, and eager for the honor of the service of God and his king; by nature humane and full of zeal for the common good, and for the salvation of souls. ”

“ Where is the great commander-in-chief? come hither, all ye saints whom God justified, and let us fall down in the presence of the invisible Father, in order that the Lord God may hear us, and have mercy on sinners. Then Michael, the commander-in-chief, and all the saints fell on their faces in the presence of the invisible Father, saying: Have mercy, Lord, on the Christian sinners. ”

“ The skill of a commander, the courage and devotion of a soldier, the learning of a scholar, the grace of a high-bred gentleman, and all the social and domestic virtues of a husband, father, and friend, were blended together, strengthened, harmonized and adorned by the spirit of a true Christian—the result of the influence of the Holy Spirit on his heart and of a humble reliance on the merits of a crucified Saviour. ”

“ As a little child is carried by a strong young man, and he who carries it takes it about wherever he pleases, so the grace that works in the deep carries the soul, and lifts it up to the heavens, to the perfect world, to the everlasting rest. But even in grace there are measures and degrees of rank. The commander-in-chief, who has access to the king, differs from the captain. As a house that is filled with smoke discharges it also into the open air, so the evil compressed into the soul is discharged without and produces fruits. ”

“ We know not how to find the way to the waters where we are to be supplied, but Christ is given to be a leader. We know not what to do that we may be qualified or it, and become sharers in it, but he is given for a commander, to show us what to do and enable us to do it. Much difficulty and opposition lie in our way to Christ; we have spiritual enemies to grapple with, but, to animate us for the conflict, we have a good captain, like Joshua, a leader and commander to tread our enemies under our feet and to put us in possession of the land of promise. ”

“ Acquaint yourselves with the King Immortal, and acknowledge His servants. For not in arms do they make their boast, nor do they commit murders: because our Commander has no delight in abundance of strength, nor yet in horsemen and their gallant array, nor yet in illustrious descent ”

“ I do not introduce him here as a saint, for, as is well known, no quality of sanctity ever entered his composition; but rather, as the resolute commander of resolute men, in desperate encounters with a desperate foe; as a man eminently fitted for the rough work given him to do. ”

“ It is the final test of courage and sacrifice which the Divine Commander asks at their hands, in order to crown all their past brave deeds, and entitle them to a still higher place in the realms of unfading glory and bliss, where the souls of those who have truly loved here below will be united, to part no more, but to endure for ever in God.... ”

“ As a captain makes his soldiers valiant by encouraging words and promises, how then should not the true and faithful God make us manful and strong by his divine word of the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. ”

“ He does indeed work in us, and through us. But then—it is He. And to the hard pressed soul there is an unspeakable reality and power in thinking of Him as a separable, let us say simply a personal, Ally, who is also Commander, Lord, Life-Giver ”

“ He is the chief Commander and Shepherd of the heavenly ones, whom all reasonable creatures obey and attend, who tends in order and numbers the multitudes of the blessed angels. For this is the equal and perfect number of immortal creatures, divided according to their races and tribes, man also being here taken into the flock. ”

“ Of great commanders, moreover, no less than of kings, the words of our Collect are true, that their hearts are in God’s rule and governance, and that He disposes and turns them as it seems best to His godly wisdom. ”

“ I never can be made to believe that our glorious Commander designed that we should leave our sacrifices smoking on the altar of God, in the midst of the enemies' land, but rather that we should be pushing onward from victory to victory, until we are established in the Capital of His kingdom. ”

“ This religious can inform your Majesty of all which occurred on the said expedition, as his order sent him on it to confess and administer the sacraments; and he was present during the fight on the commander's ship, and saved himself by swimming. As a trustworthy and disinterested person, he will tell the truth, without being influenced by personal considerations. ”

“ The Commander-in-Chief relies on the courage and loyalty of the volunteer force and looks with confidence for the blessings of Providence on their performance of the sacred duty which circumstances have cast upon them. ”

“ Thus also, in an army, which is ordained to the commander as to its end, it is requisite first that the soldier should be subject to the commander, and the opposite of this is most grievous; and secondly it is requisite that he should be in coordination with the other soldiers. ”

“ And, finally, they so well employ and multiply those talents which the great Commander of heaven and earth hath bestowed upon them here, that assuredly they may expect an eternal reward in the kingdom of heaven hereafter. ”

“ Go forward, as a command from the mouth of God, is worthy of our deepest consideration, and should be regarded as worthy of all acceptation by a nation, a community, a sect, or a church, and should by the individual man, in his life, practice, example, faith, grace, knowledge, wisdom, truth, and holiness. ”

“ While so many, whom God's grace has awakened in our Army and Navy, conceive it to be their duty, as they feel it will be their delight, to receive a fresh commission as ministers of the Gospel of Peace, that they may preach at once to others the Name so dear to themselves; and while the weak in faith seek a sphere more sheltered from temptation, he determined upon the wiser and nobler course of standing firm to the colours under which he was already enrolled. ”

“ Ah, Colonel, Captain, Sergeant, leaders all, whatever name you bear, do you want to lead and rule the people whom God has given you as a charge? Then here is the true secret of power--be for ever pouring out your heart's deepest, tenderest love for them, and most of all for the weak and the most unworthy and sinful amongst them. Do this, and you will not merely be walking after Paul--you will be walking with Christ. ”

“ Not because I am good, or holy, or righteous; but because I have a Saviour; an all-sufficient Saviour, who is able to save even the chief of sinners unto the utmost. Therefore, I am able to say that I can go into the battle fearing no evil. And would to God, for their sakes, that every officer in the army and every soldier in the ranks could declare, in sincerity from the depths of his heart, that God had done such great things for him! ”

“ One great want of the times is a commanding ministry—a ministry of a piety at once sober and earnest, and of mightiest moral power. Give us these men, "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," who will proclaim old truths with new energy, not cumbering them with massive drapery nor hiding them beneath piles of rubbish. ”

“ The Field Officer must lead his Soldiers on to the full realisation of the baptism of the Holy Ghost; he must make them Blood and Fire. The work of the Spirit is to fill the soul with burning zeal for the Salvation of the world. ”

“ How we hesitate and question, when our duty is simply to obey! How we cling to our own ways, modes, and wills, when the Christ is commanding us forward to some higher service! How strangely we forget that in the grammar of life the "Thou willest" should be the first person, and the "I will" a far-off second! When the soldier hears the word of command he becomes deaf to all other voices, even the voice of danger, or the voice of death itself; and when Christ speaks to us His word should completely fill the soul, leaving no room for hesitancy, no place for doubt. ”