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and lost the dignity of godlike manhood, the Creator is to be glorified
in their redemption.
* * * * *
Christ rejoiced that He could do more for His followers than they
could ask or think. He knew that the truth, armed with the omnipotence
of the Holy Spirit, would conquer in the contest with evil; and that the
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blood-stained banner would wave triumphantly over His followers. He
knew that the life of His trusting disciples would be like His,—a series
of uninterrupted victories, not seen to be such here, but recognized as
such in the great hereafter.
“These things I have spoken unto you,” He said, “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
,] Christ did not fail,
neither was He discouraged; and His followers are to manifest a faith
of the same enduring nature. They are to live as He lived, and work as
He worked, because they depend on Him as the great Master-worker.
Courage, energy, and perseverance they must possess. Though
apparent impossibilities obstruct their way, by His grace they are to
go forward. Instead of deploring difficulties, they are called upon
to surmount them. They are to despair of nothing, and to hope for
everything. With the golden chain of His matchless love, Christ had
bound them to the throne of God. It is His purpose that the highest
influence in the universe, emanating from the Source of all power,
shall be theirs. They are to have power to resist evil, power that neither
earth, nor death, nor hell can master, power that will enable them to
overcome as Christ overcame.
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