'Cast not away your confidence, which hath great recompense of
reward.' 'We are made partakers of Christ if we hold fast the
beginning of our confidence firm unto the end.' 'He that overcometh
and keepeth My words unto the end, to him will I give authority.'
Lives which derive their impulse from communion with God will not come
to a dead stop half-way on their road, like a motor the fuel of which
fails; and it will be impossible for any man to 'endure unto the end'
and so to be heir of the promise--'the same shall be saved,' unless he
draws his persistency from Him who 'fainteth not, neither is weary'
and who 'reneweth strength to them that have no might' so that in all
the monotonous levels they shall 'walk and not faint,' and in all the
crises, demanding brief spurts of energy, 'they shall run and not be
weary,' and at last 'shall mount up with wings as eagles.' A path
ordered and a path persisted in ought to be the path of every
Christian man.

The text finally tells of the prosperity and growing power which
attends such a course. 'Jotham became mighty.' That was simple outward
blessing. His kingdom prospered, and, according to the theocratic
constitution of Judah, faithfulness to God and material well-being
went together. You cannot apply these words, of course, to the outward
lives of Christians. It is no doubt true that 'Godliness _is_
profitable for all things,' but there are a great many other things
besides the godliness of the man that does them which determine
whether a man's undertakings shall prosper in the world's sense or
not. It would be a pitiable thing if the full revelation of God in
Christ did not teach us Christians more about the meaning and the
worth of outward success and inward prosperity than the Old Testament
could teach. I hope we have learned that lesson; at least, it is not
the fault of our lesson book if we have not. Although it is true that