Christian Confidence.
Consider the sources of our confidence in our Christian influence.
I. There is the constancy of Christ Himself. The constancy of Christ is as much an article of our confidence as His beneficence. His image in the gospel story is that of one without variableness or shadow of turning. When He was on earth, not weariness, nor want, nor scorn, nor cruelty, nor the neglect of His people, nor the imperfections of His disciples, could shake His fidelity, or change the current of His unvarying grace. And now that He has passed away from the gloom and trouble of earth into the serene air of heaven; now that He has laid aside the weakness of humanity, while He retains manhood's tender sympathy and helpful purpose; now that He has established His kingdom in the world and only lives to direct and to advance it; what room is there for fears of His inconstancy to cross and cloud our souls? We have no such fears. We rise into the region of certainty whenever we approach the Saviour.
II. Christ is not only the object of Christian trust; He is the spirit of the Christian life. The measure of our Christian confidence determines the measure of our Christian usefulness; spiritual influence is only the outward side of Christian character. The heart prepares its own reception. We take with us the atmosphere in which we mix with others. Nothing can finally withstand the affectionate purpose of benediction, the spirit that, daunted or undaunted, cries still, "I have blessed thee, and thou shalt be blessed." The fact that we have human souls to deal with, each one wrapped in its own experience, often wayward, often perverse, can no more avail than our consciousness of our own imperfection and instability, to suppress the confidence of Christian believers: "I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ."
A. Mackennal, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxxii., p. 284.
References: Romans 15:29. J. Vaughan, Sermons,6th series, p. 1; G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines,p. 1.Romans 15:33. J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit,vol. xi., p. 293.Romans 16:7. E. Garbett, Experiences of the Inner Life,p. 51.Romans 16:10. G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines,p. 426. Romans 16:23. A. Maclaren, Week-day Evening Addresses,p. 124.