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From Heaven With Love
bending from His throne to hear the cry of the oppressed. To every
sincere prayer He answers, “Here am I.” He uplifts the distressed
and downtrodden. In every temptation and trial the angel of His
presence is near to deliver.
Jesus continued: As you confess Me before men, so I will con-
fess you before God and the holy angels. You are to be My witnesses
upon earth; so I will be your representative in heaven. The Father
beholds not your faulty character, but He sees you clothed in My
perfection. And everyone who shares My sacrifice for the lost shall
be a sharer in the glory and joy of the redeemed.
He who would confess Christ must have Christ abiding in him.
The disciples might speak fluently on doctrines, but unless they
possessed Christlike meekness and love, they were not confessing
Him. A spirit contrary to the spirit of Christ would deny Him. Men
may deny Christ by evilspeaking, by foolish talking, by words that
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are untruthful or unkind. They may deny Him by shunning life’s
burdens, by conforming to the world, by uncourteous behavior, by
justifying self, by cherishing doubt, and borrowing trouble. And
“whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before
My Father which is in heaven.”
The Saviour said, “I have not come to send peace, but a sword.”
This strife is not the effect of the gospel, but of opposition to it. Of
all persecution, the hardest to bear is in the home, the estrangement
of dearest earthly friends. But Jesus declared, “He that loveth father
or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son
or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh
not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.”
“He that receiveth you, receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me
receiveth Him that sent Me.” No act of kindness shown in His name
will fail to be rewarded. He includes the feeblest and lowliest of the
family of God. “Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these
little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I
say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”
Thus the Saviour ended His instruction. The chosen Twelve
went out, as He had gone, “to preach the gospel to the poor, ... to
heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and
recovering of sight to the blind.”
Luke 4:18
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