word
spoken in behalf of truth has its influence and every deed done for the
right weighs in the final account, it is immaterial to the Christian
whether his eyes behold victory or whether he dies in the midst of the
conflict.

"Yea, tho thou lie upon the dust,
When they who helped thee flee in fear,
Die full of hope and manly trust,
Like those who fell in battle here.

Another hand thy sword shall wield,
Another hand the standard wave,
Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed,
The blast of triumph o'er thy grave."

Only those who _believe_ attempt the seemingly impossible, and, by
attempting, prove that one, with God, can chase a thousand and that two
can put ten thousand to flight. I can imagine that the early Christians
who were carried into the coliseum to make a spectacle for those more
savage than the beasts, were entreated by their doubting companions not
to endanger their lives. But, kneeling in the center of the arena, they
prayed and sang until they were devoured. How helpless they seemed, and,
measured by every human rule, how hopeless was their cause! And yet
within a few decades the power which they invoked proved mightier than
the legions of the emperor and the faith in which they died was
triumphant o'er all the land. It is said that those who went to mock at
their sufferings returned asking themselves, "What is it that can enter
into the heart of man and make him die as these die?" They were greater
conquerors in their death than they could have been had they purchased
life by a surrender of their faith.

What would have been the fate of the church if the early Christians had
had as little faith as many of our Christians of to-day? And if the
Christians of to-day had the faith of the martyrs, how long would it be
before the fulfilment of the prophecy that "every knee shall bow and
every tongue confess?"

I am glad that He, who is called the Prince of Peace--who can bring
peace to every troubled heart and whose teachings, exemplified in life,
will bring peace between man and man, between community and community,
between State and State, between nation and nation throughout the
world--I am glad that He brings courage as well as peace so that those
who follow Him may take up and each day bravely do the duties that to
that day fall.

As the Christian grows older he appreciates more and more the
completeness with which Christ satisfies the longings of