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406
From Heaven With Love
also. But all these things will they do unto you for My name’s sake,
because they know not Him that sent Me.” The gospel is to be carried
forward in the midst of opposition, peril, loss, and suffering.
As the world’s Redeemer, Christ was constantly confronted with
apparent failure. He seemed to do little of the work He longed to
do. Satanic influences were constantly working to oppose His way.
But He would not be discouraged. Through Isaiah He declares, “I
have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nought, and in
vain: yet surely My judgment is with the Lord, and My work with
My God.”
Isaiah 49:4
.
Upon this word Jesus rested, and He gave Satan no advantage.
When the deepest sorrow was closing about His soul, He said to
His disciples, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in
Me.” “The prince of this world is judged.” Now shall he be cast out.
John 14:30
;
16:11
;
12:31
.
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Christ knew that when He should exclaim, “It is finished,” all
heaven would triumph. His ear caught the distant music and the
shouts of victory in the heavenly courts. He knew that the name
of Christ would be heralded from world to world throughout the
universe. He knew that truth, armed with the Holy Spirit, would
conquer in the contest with evil. 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.
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. Instead of deploring difficulties,
they are to surmount them, to despair of nothing.
Christ designs that heaven’s order and divine harmony shall be
represented in His church and on earth. Thus through His people
He may receive a large revenue of glory. The church, endowed with
the righteousness of Christ, is His depositary, in which the riches of
His grace and love are to appear in full display. Christ looks on His
people in their purity and perfection as the reward of His humiliation
and the supplement of His glory.
With strong, hopeful words the Saviour ended His instruction.
He had finished the work given Him to do. He had manifested the
Father’s name and gathered out those who were to continue His
work among men.