that, or the other person or thing.  You will be emancipated from fears and hopes which torture the men who strike their roots no deeper than this visible film of time which floats upon the surface of the great, invisible abyss of Eternity.  If you have Christ for your Master you will be the masters of the world, and of time and sense and men and all besides; and so, being triumphed over by Him, you will share in His triumph.

And again, we may illustrate the same principle in yet another way.  Such absolute and entire submission of will and love as I have been speaking about is the highest honour of a man.  It was a degradation to be dragged at the chariot-wheels of conquering general, emperor, or consul—­it broke the heart of many a barbarian king, and led some of them to suicide rather than face the degradation.  It is a degradation to submit ourselves, even as much as many of us do, to the domination of human authorities, or to depend upon men as much as many of us do for our completeness and our satisfaction.  But it is the highest ennobling of humanity that it shall lay itself down at Christ’s feet, and let Him put His foot upon its neck.  It is the exaltation of human nature to submit to Christ.  The true nobility are those that ‘come over with the Conqueror.’  When we yield ourselves to Him, and let Him be our King, then the patent of nobility is given to us, and we are lifted in the scale of being.  All our powers and faculties are heightened in their exercise, and made more blessed in their employment, because we have bowed ourselves to His control.  And so to be triumphed over by Christ is to triumph with Christ.

And the same thought may be yet further illustrated.  That submission which I have been speaking about so unites us to our Lord that we share in all that belongs to Him and thus partake in His triumph.  If in will and heart we have yielded ourselves to Him, he that is thus joined to the Lord is one spirit, and all ’mine is Thine, and all Thine is mine.’  He is the Heir of all things, and all things of which He is the Heir are our possession.  ’All things are yours, and ye are Christ’s.’  Thus His dominion is the dominion of all that love Him, and His heritage is the heritage of all those that have joined themselves to Him; and no sparkle of the glory that falls upon His head but is reflected on the heads of His servants.  The ‘many crowns’ that He wears are the crowns with which He crowns His followers.

Thus, my brother, to be overcome by God is to overcome the world, to be triumphed over by Christ is to share in His triumph; and he over whom Incarnate Love wins the victory, like the patriarch of old in his mystical struggle, conquers in the hour of surrender; and to him it is said:  ’As a prince thou hast power with God and hast prevailed.’

III.  Lastly, a further picture of the ideal of the Christian life is set before us here in the thought of these conquered captives being led as the trophies and the witnesses of His overcoming power.