Would wc know the issue of such a life? Look at him; and see him seated at the right hand of God, and all his ene- mies become his footstool. Such shall be the end of all who tread in his steps : " having suffered with him, they shall surely reign with him\"
Take him then, beloved, as your example ; and be content to " suffer with him, that you may also be glorified together y."]
2. How we are to approve ourselves his faithful servants —
[If we are to bear injuries from others, we must, beyond all doubt, be " good and gentle" ourselves ; " shewing all meek- ness to all men :" and, however injured by others, we must endure unto the end. We must not draw back through fear of sufferings ; or faint under them, when they are inflicted on us. If we enlist under the banners of an earthly prince, we expect to fight his battles: we do not, when we hear of an enemy, desert and hide ourselves. We do not, when we meet him in the field, lay down our arms. We rather gird ourselves to the fight, and say, ' Now is the time for me to display my zeal in the cause I have espoused, and my fidelity to him whom I have engaged to serve.' Thus, then, must you do in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You must not be ashamed of wearing, if I may so speak, his uniform ; and of shewing, in the face of the whole universe, on whose side you are.
Yet, remember that it is with his armour only that you must go forth to the battle. You must " be armed with righteous- ness on the right hand and on the left." Your breast-plate, in particular, must be of that material : " your helmet must be the hope of salvation ;" and your sword, " the sword of the Spirit, the word of Godz." It was " by death that the Lord Jesus Christ overcame deatha;" and it is " by patiently en- during, that you also must obtain the promise of an eternal inheritance^" Keep, then, your eyes fixed on the " Captain of your salvation ;" and, " being faithful unto death, you shall receive at his hands the crown of life0."]
* 2 Tim. ii. 12. y Rom. viii. 17. z Eph. vi. 14—17.
a Heb. ii. 14. b Heb. vi. 15, c Rev. ii. 10.