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failure. He seemed to do little of the work which He longed to do
in uplifting and saving. Satanic agencies were constantly working to
obstruct His way. But He would not be discouraged. Ever before Him
He saw the result of His mission. He knew that truth would finally
triumph in the contest with evil, and to His disciples He said: “These
things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the
world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome
the world.”
John 16:33
. The life of Christ’s disciples is to be like
His, a series of uninterrupted victories, not seen to be such here, but
recognized as such in the great hereafter.
Those who labor for the good of others are working in union with
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the heavenly angels. They have their constant companionship, their
unceasing ministry. Angels of light and power are ever near to protect,
to comfort, to heal, to instruct, to inspire. The highest education, the
truest culture, and the most exalted service possible to human beings
in this world are theirs.
And often our merciful Father encourages His children and
strengthens their faith by permitting them here to see evidence of
the power of His grace upon the hearts and lives of those for whom
they labor. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your
thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth
and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so
shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return
unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and
be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth
before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their
hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of
the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a
name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Isaiah 55:8-13
.
In the transformation of character, the casting out of evil passions,
the development of the sweet graces of God’s Holy Spirit, we see the
fulfillment of the promise, “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir
tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree.” We behold
life’s desert “rejoice, and blossom as the rose.”