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Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing
“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”—Matthew 5:10.
Jesus does not present to His followers the hope of attaining earthly
glory and riches, and of having a life free from trial, but He presents
to them the privilege of walking with their Master in the paths of
self-denial and reproach, because the world knows them not.
He who came to redeem the lost world was opposed by the united
forces of the adversaries of God and man. In an unpitying confederacy,
evil men and evil angels arrayed themselves against the Prince of
Peace. Though His every word and act breathed of divine compassion,
His unlikeness to the world provoked the bitterest hostility. Because
He would give no license for the exercise of the evil passions of our
nature, He aroused the fiercest opposition and enmity. So it is with all
who will live godly in Christ Jesus. Between righteousness and sin,
love and hatred, truth and falsehood, there is an irrepressible conflict.
When one presents the love of Christ and the beauty of holiness, he is
drawing away the subjects of Satan’s kingdom, and the prince of evil is
aroused to resist it. Persecution and reproach await all who are imbued
with the Spirit of Christ. The character of the persecution changes
with the times, but the principle—the spirit that underlies it—is the
same that has slain the chosen of the Lord ever since the days of Abel.
As men seek to come into harmony with God, they will find that
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the offense of the cross has not ceased. Principalities and powers
and wicked spirits in high places are arrayed against all who yield
obedience to the law of heaven. Therefore, so far from causing grief,
persecution should bring joy to the disciples of Christ, for it is an
evidence that they are following in the steps of their Master.
While the Lord has not promised His people exemption from trials,
He has promised that which is far better. He has said, “As thy days, so
shall thy strength be.” “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength
is made perfect in weakness.”
Deuteronomy 33:25
;
2 Corinthians 12:9
.
If you are called to go through the fiery furnace for His sake, Jesus
will be by your side even as He was with the faithful three in Babylon.
Those who love their Redeemer will rejoice at every opportunity of
sharing with Him humiliation and reproach. The love they bear their
Lord makes suffering for His sake sweet.