Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 271, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1917 — CHRIST CONQUEROR [ARTICLE]

CHRIST CONQUEROR

Ultimate Victory Will Crown the/ World Work of the Son of God. “He went forth conquering and to conquer.”—Rev. 6:2. Time was when the church dwelt almost exclusively upon the sufferingsand sorrows of Christ, and overlooked his majesty and glory. It 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 a weary man before his foes,'and forgot to think of him as a mighty conqueror, who possesses invincible power. In the book of Revelation he is represented in the latter aspect. He is not represented 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 wbrld is convulsed 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 aggressive. Not-satisfied with acting on the defensive, he goes forth. His army is not one of occupation, but of aggression. 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

He goes forth to conquer. .This idea is put in the strongest possible form — “conquering and to conquer;” that is, victory succeeding victory. He triumphs over all oppositions, but not at once. Many a fierce struggle is called for before the forces of evil are vanquished. But the cause of righteousness will win in the end. We follow a leader who has never been beaten. He came into this, world to destroy the power of sin. It .was a gigantic struggle, and at first he seemed to be baffled. Looked at from the human point of view his death was a failure; but it was in reality a victory. By it he vanquished sin and death, Through all his earthly life he was a 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-'dld he go down to defeat. The work of conquest which he began upon earth he is now carrying on with greater grower.

The power by which Christ conquers Is the same as that by which he conquered 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 "one sacrifice of sin forever,” and then sitting down at God’s right band, “from henceforth expecting until his enemies be made his footstool” (Chap. 10:12, 13). His expectation of coming victory was based upon his sacrifice for sin. He knew of no greater power than the cross. It was the highest revelation of divine suffering, redeeming love, conceivable. No greater power unto salvation can be brought to bear upon the hearts of men. It is God’s utmost. This is the weapon which we today are to yield in the battle for righteousness. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual.” They may appear to be feeble, but they are “mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” The cross is no failure. Following the crucified, we follow a conquering king.—Rev. James M. Campbell, D. D.