e alone is worth more than a whole
army of ten thousand men. In our army in the Civil War there were some
whose presence sent a cheer all along the line. As they passed on
cheer upon cheer went up. The men knew who was going to lead them, and
they were sure of having success. "The boys" liked to fight under such
generals as that. Let us encourage ourselves in the Lord, and
encourage each other; then we shall have good success.

We read in the book of First Chronicles that Joab cheered on those who
were helping him in warfare. "Be of good courage, and let us behave
ourselves valiantly for our people and for the cities of our God; and
let the Lord do that which is good in His sight." Let us go forward in
this spirit, and the Lord will make us to triumph over our foes. If we
cannot be in the battle ourselves let us not seek to discourage
others. A Highland chief of the M'Gregor clan fell wounded at the
battle of Sheriff-Muir. Seeing their leader fall, the clan wavered,
and gave the foe an advantage. The old chieftain, perceiving this,
raised himself on his elbow, while the blood streamed from his wounds,
and cried out, "I am not dead, my children; I am looking at you to see
you do your duty." This roused them to new energy and almost
superhuman effort. So, when our strength fails and our hearts sink
within us, the Captain of our salvation cries: "Lo, I am with you
alway, even to the end of the world. I will never leave nor forsake
thee. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of
life."

A friend of mine was telling me that a worker came to him very much
cast down. Everything was going wrong, and he was greatly depressed.
My friend turned upon him and said: "Do you have any doubt about the
final result of things? Is Jesus Christ going to set up His Kingdom,
and reign from the rivers to the ends of the earth? Is He going to
succeed or not?" The man said that of course Christ was going to
triumph; he had never thought of it in that light. If people would
sometimes take a look into the future and remember the promises, they
would not be cast down. Dear friends, Christ is going to reign. Let us
go out and do the work He has given us to do. If it happens to be dark
round about us, let us remember it is light somewhere else. If we are
not succeeding just as we would like, others, it may be, are
succeeding better.

Think of the opportunities we have, compared with the early
Christians. Look at the mighty obst