eparation between the Commander and the soldiers that He had ordered to
the front, as if He were sitting at ease on a hill overlooking the
battlefield from a safe distance and sending His men to death. But the
next words bring Him and them together--'The Lord also working with
them, and confirming the word with signs following.' And so, brethren, a
work begun, continued, and ended by the same immortal Hand, is the work
on which the redemption of the world depends.

II. Notice, secondly, that we have here the assurance of the triumph of
the Gospel.

No doubt, in the long-forgotten days in which my text was spoken, there
were plenty of over-prudent calculators in the little band of exiles who
said, 'What is the use of our trying to build in face of all this
opposition and with these poor resources of ours?' They would throw cold
water enough on the works of Zerubbabel, and on Zechariah who inspired
them. But there came the great word of promise to them, 'He shall bring
forth the headstone with shoutings.' The text is the cure for all such
calculations by us Christian people, and by others than Christian
people. When we begin to count up resources, and to measure these
against the work to be done, there is little wonder if good men and bad
men sometimes concur in thinking that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has
very little chance of conquering the world. And that is perfectly true,
unless you take Him into the calculation, and then the probabilities
look altogether different. We are but like a long row of ciphers, but
put one significant figure in front of the row of ciphers and it comes
to be of value. And so, if you are calculating the probabilities of the
success of Christianity in the world and forget to start with Christ,
you have left out the principal factor in the problem. Churches lose
their fervour, their members die and pass away. He renews and purifies
the corrupted Church, and He liveth for ever. Therefore, because we may
say, with calm confidence, 'His hands have laid the foundation of the
house, and His hands are at work on all the courses of it as it rises,'
we may be perfectly sure that the Temple which He founded, at which He
still toils, shall be completed, and not stand a gaunt ruin, looking on
which passers-by will mockingly say, 'This man began to build and was
not able to finish.' When Brennus conquered Rome, and the gold for the
city's ransom was being weighed, he clashed his sword into the scale to
ou