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| Chapter LXX
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Chapter LXX.
But if all the Romans, according to the
supposition of Celsus, embrace the Christian faith, they will, when
they pray, overcome their enemies; or rather, they will not war at all,
being guarded by that divine power which promised to save five entire
cities for the sake of fifty just persons. For men of God are
assuredly the salt of the earth: they preserve the order of the
world;4969
| 4969 [Comp. Cowper,
Task, book vi., sub finem.] | and society is held
together as long as the salt is uncorrupted: for “if the
salt have lost its savour, it is neither fit for the land nor for the
dunghill; but it shall be cast out, and trodden under foot of
men. He that hath ears, let him hear”4970
the meaning of these words. When God
gives to the tempter permission to persecute us, then we suffer
persecution; and when God wishes us to be free from suffering, even in
the midst of a world that hates us, we enjoy a wonderful peace,
trusting in the protection of Him who said, “Be of good cheer, I
have overcome the world.”4971
And
truly He has overcome the world. Wherefore the world prevails
only so long as it is the pleasure of Him who received from the Father
power to overcome the world; and from His victory we take
courage. Should He even wish us again to contend and struggle for
our religion, let the enemy come against us, and we will say to them,
“I can do all things, through Christ Jesus our Lord, which
strengtheneth me.”4972
For of
“two sparrows which are sold for a farthing,” as the
Scripture says, “not one of them falls on the ground without our
Father in heaven.”4973
And so
completely does the Divine Providence embrace all things, that not even
the hairs of our head fail to be numbered by Him.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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