Christians can maintain an untarnished reputation if they are Christians, which means Christlike. God has made every provision that through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ they should not fail or be discouraged in a dark, troubled future, which He knew must come. The Lord Jesus Christ is grieved for His disciples, that they must pass through manifold afflictions from the world. He prepares them for that time of trial, of great temptation to lose their faith, by presenting before their minds the hopeful part of the future. He must mingle the bright, hopeful lines with the dark. “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” John 15:26. (UL 137.4) MC VC