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Beyond the Gloom to Glory, December 20
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2
Timothy 3:12
.
In the experience of the apostle John under persecution, there is a lesson
of wonderful strength and comfort for the Christian. God does not prevent the
plottings of wicked men, but He causes their devices to work for good to those
who in trial and conflict maintain their faith and loyalty....
It is the work of faith to rest in God in the darkest hour, to feel, however
sorely tried and tempest-tossed, that our Father is at the helm. The eye of faith
alone can look beyond the things of time to estimate aright the worth of the
eternal riches.
Jesus does not present to His followers the hope of attaining earthly glory
and riches, of living a life free from trial. Instead He calls upon them to follow
Him in the path of self-denial and reproach. He who came to redeem the world
was opposed by the united forces of evil.... So it will be with all who will live
godly in Christ Jesus. Persecution and reproach await all who are imbued with
the Spirit of Christ....
In all ages Satan has persecuted the people of God. He has tortured them
and put them to death, but in dying they became conquerors. They bore witness
to the power of One mightier than Satan. Wicked men may torture and kill the
body, but they cannot touch the life that is hid with Christ in God. They can
incarcerate men and women in prison walls, but they cannot bind the spirit.
Through trial and persecution the glory—the character—of God is revealed
in His chosen ones.... They follow Christ through sore conflicts; they endure
self-denial and experience bitter disappointments; but thus they learn the guilt
and woe of sin, and they look upon it with abhorrence. Being partakers of
Christ’s sufferings, they can look beyond the gloom to the glory, saying, “I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (
Romans 8:18
)
[361]
36
Ibid., 574-577
.
375