Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. THE COURAGE PECULIAR TO TIMES AND PLACES. " / am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." By the believers of the first age it was understood that the Gospel should, in the end, prevail over all opposition ! and that all nations should at length come and do homage to Christ. And yet there were moments when the indulgence of such a hope must have been difficult; and when any thing must have seemed probable rather than the occurrence of those events which were actually at the door. Justin Martyr, perhaps, would have been scarcely less astounded than Antoninus, if both had together been told that two centuries only would see the religion of Galilee—the religion of Roman Emperors, and of the Roman World ! And let it be imagined that Justin, and the faithful of his time, could have seen in vision (and in its fair colours) the present firm establishment of the faith of Christ; and could have known that it should become the profession of all highly-civilized nations, and be most honoured in that country which was to take the lead in the world, by extent of power, by wealth, by energy, liberty, and intelligence- In the midst of such a revelation of the bright futurity, must not the martyr have deemed it a whisper from the False Spirit, had it been added, that, even in the age and in the country of the greatest triumph of the Gospel, there should be as much room as at first, for the constancy of itschampions, in maintaining their profession ; and that they, like Paul, when he thought of opening his ministry at Rome, should often have need to animate their confidence by the declaration—" We are not ashamed of the religion of Christ ?" Christianity has very much ground to pass over, and to conquer, before Christians may lay aside their courage. And if what is most important in ...