Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1917-11-28
or UUu.
"He went forth conquering and to

lie went rOrtn cOnQGerlnS anu lo
conquer. 6:2.
Time was when the church dwelt al
most exclusively upon the sufferings
and sorrows of Christ, and overlooked
his majesty and glory. 1t thought Of
him as the lamb of God, and forgot
to think of him as ''the lion of the tribe
of JUDAH" it thought of him as
weary man before his foes, and forgot
to think of him as mighty conqueror,
who possesses invincible power. In
the book of Revelation he is represent
ed in the latter aspect. He is not rep
resented as coming to his kingdom. he
is already a king. On his head are
many crowns. Once he was scornfully
rejected by the people, who cried, "The
Crucified! may his name and memory
be blotted out" Now everything is
changed. He rides forth "conquering
and to conquer"
To this vision of Christ it behooves
us to turn in the present day when
the larger portion of the world is con-
Ivulsed by fightings without and fears
within. He is the one upon whom the
hopes of humanity center; the one who
is at the head of the forces which
makes for the establishment of the
kingdom of God on the earth.
He is represented as taking the ag-
gressive. Not satisfied with acting on
the defensive, he goes forth. Ills army
is not one of occupation, but of aggres-
sion. His presence as its leader and
commander is inspiriting. Someone
has said that an army of sheep would
have been formidable led by Napoleon;
for he would have transformed them
into lions. So we, catching the spirit
of our leader, became heroic, and go
forth with him to meet the great world
struggles, without fear.
He goes forth to conquer. This idea
is put in the strongest possible form
"conquering and to conquer" that is,
victory succeeding victory. He tri-
umphs over all oppositions, but not at
once Many fierce struggle is called
for before the forces of evil are van
luiShed. But the cause of righteous
ness will win in the end.
We follow leader who has never
been beaten. He came into this world
to destroy the power of sin. 1t was
q gigantic struggle, and at first he
seemed to be bafled. Looked at from
the human point of view his death
was a failure; but it was in reality
q victory. BY 1t he vanquished sin
and death.
Through all his earthly life he was
q victor. He conquered disease; he
ruled the forces Of nature; he cast
out evil spirits; he delivered men from
the power of evil. Never once did he
go down to defeat. The work Of con-
quest which he began upon earth he is
now carrying on with greater power.
The power by which Christ conquers
is the same as that by which he con-
quered when here in the flesh. he
'conquers by the power Of truth and
love. His weapon Of conquest is the
cross.
In the epiStle to the Hebrews Jesus
is represented as making zone sacri.
fee of sin forever" and then sitting
down at Gods right hand, from
henceforth expecting until his enemies
be made his footstool" (Chap. 1912,
i13). His expectation Of coming vic
tory was based upvu his SaCr1nce Tor
sin. He knew of no greater power
than the cross. 1t was the highest
revelation of divine suffering, redeem
ing love, conceivable. No greater pow
er unto salvation can be brought to
bear upon the hearts oG men. 1t is
Gods utmost.
This is the weapon which we today
are to yield in the battle for righteous
ness. "The weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but spiritual" They
may appear to be feeble, but they are
''mighty through Gcd to the pulling
down of strongholds." The cross Is
no failure. Following the crucified,
We follow conquering king.-Rev.
James NJ. Campbell, D. D.